Robert Jozef Kubica is a Polish racing and rally driver.
107 Facts About Robert Kubica
2.
Robert Kubica was the first and, as of 2023, the only Polish racing driver to compete in Formula One.
3.
In June 2008, Kubica took his maiden and only Formula One victory at the Canadian Grand Prix.
4.
Robert Kubica drove for Renault in 2010 and was set to remain with the team in 2011.
5.
Several years later Robert Kubica confirmed he had signed a pre-contract for the 2012 season with Ferrari, a move that was eventually cancelled by his devastating rally crash in early 2011.
6.
On 6 February 2011, Robert Kubica was seriously injured in a crash at the Ronde di Andora rally, in which his right forearm was partially severed.
7.
Robert Kubica told Italian newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport in a bedside interview that he could feel the fingers in his right hand and was determined to make a swift return to Formula One in 2011.
8.
Robert Kubica returned to racing in September 2012, winning a minor rally in Italy.
9.
Robert Kubica was named one of "The Men of the Year 2012" by Top Gear magazine for his return to auto racing.
10.
Robert Kubica went on to win the inaugural WRC-2 title, and moved to the WRC championship full-time in 2014, driving a Ford Fiesta RS WRC prepared by M-Sport.
11.
On 16 January 2018, it was announced that Robert Kubica would become the reserve driver of Williams for the 2018 season.
12.
On 22 November 2018, Robert Kubica was announced as a Williams race driver for the 2019 Formula One season.
13.
Robert Kubica left the Williams team at the end of 2019, moving across to the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters, while maintaining a Formula One presence as reserve and test driver for Alfa Romeo.
14.
Robert Kubica has made several appearances during practice sessions in his role as test driver, and he replaced Kimi Raikkonen at the Dutch and Italian Grands Prix in 2021.
15.
However, Robert Kubica was too young to start racing in the Polish Karting Championship as he was under the age of ten.
16.
In 1998 Robert Kubica became the first foreigner to win the International Italian Junior Karting Championship.
17.
Robert Kubica scored second place in the European Junior Karting Championship and won the Junior Monaco Kart Cup held on part of the Formula One Grand Prix track.
18.
Robert Kubica won the Monaco Kart Cup for the second time in a row, as well as the Margutti Trophy and Elf Masters races.
19.
In 2000, his last season in karting, Robert Kubica scored fourth places in both the European and World Championships.
20.
Robert Kubica started his professional career in 2000, as a test driver for a Formula Renault 2000 car.
21.
In 2002 Robert Kubica won four races and scored a second place in the Italian Formula Renault 2000.
22.
At his delayed debut at Norisring, Robert Kubica, driving with a plastic brace and 18 titanium bolts in his arm, won the race.
23.
Robert Kubica ended his second season in the Formula 3 Euro Series, spent with the factory Mercedes team, in 7th position.
24.
In 2006, Robert Kubica became the official reserve driver for the BMW Sauber Formula One team.
25.
Robert Kubica had a disappointing race at the Turkish Grand Prix, finishing in 12th place after a mistake in tyre choice.
26.
Robert Kubica was the first driver since Alexander Wurz in 1997 to finish on the podium within his first three Formula One starts.
27.
Robert Kubica was the first to change from intermediate tyres to dry tyres after the wet track started to dry.
28.
Robert Kubica performed well during the 2007 season, finishing consistently in point scoring positions.
29.
At the Canadian Grand Prix Robert Kubica had a serious crash approaching the hairpin on lap 27, in which his car made contact with Jarno Trulli's Toyota, and hit a hump in the grass which lifted the car's nose into the air and left him unable to brake or steer.
30.
Shortly afterwards, his manager Daniele Morelli said Robert Kubica was conscious and talking.
31.
Robert Kubica then went on to finish fourth again at the British Grand Prix.
32.
On 8 June 2008 at the Canadian Grand Prix, Robert Kubica achieved his first Formula 1 victory.
33.
Robert Kubica started second on the grid and passed race leader Lewis Hamilton in the first round of pitstops after the BMW Sauber pit crew completed a faster pitstop.
34.
Robert Kubica rejoined the race well positioned for the eventual victory.
35.
Robert Kubica passed Heidfeld's sister BMW Sauber, running one refuelling stop to Kubica's two stop strategy, and gained the necessary 24 seconds over Heidfeld to ensure that he maintained the lead after his second stop 22 laps later.
36.
Robert Kubica later joked that he should thank Hamilton for electing to crash into Raikkonen instead of him.
37.
At the French Grand Prix at Magny-Cours, Robert Kubica finished 5th, reporting that this was a lost race, complaining about aerodynamic problems with the car.
38.
Robert Kubica took an inside line overtaking several cars and emerged in the lead.
39.
Robert Kubica led for 16 laps, but lost his lead to Fernando Alonso at the first round of pit stops.
40.
Robert Kubica finished second after defending his position towards the end of the race against Raikkonen in a faster Ferrari Apart from that, Robert Kubica achieved podiums in a race in Valencia and in the rain affected race at Monza.
41.
BMW motorsport director Mario Theissen claimed that Robert Kubica would have won the race ahead of Jenson Button had it not been for Vettel.
42.
Robert Kubica had an engine failure during second practice in Monaco, and retired from the Grand Prix due to a brake issue.
43.
The car's performance improved and Robert Kubica managed to score his first points of the season with a 7th place.
44.
At the Singapore Grand Prix, Robert Kubica finished 8th, defending his position from Kazuki Nakajima and Raikkonen in the last laps.
45.
Robert Kubica later stated it was "the most difficult point I have ever scored".
46.
At the Brazilian Grand Prix, Robert Kubica scored his first podium of the season despite engine temperature problems by finishing in 2nd place, 7.6 seconds behind winner Mark Webber.
47.
Robert Kubica's position was briefly put in doubt by the team evaluating its future in the sport following the 2009 season in the wake of the "Crashgate" scandal and the parent company's financial problems.
48.
Robert Kubica said he might not stay with Renault, as his contract was only valid if the parent company had a controlling stake in the team, but he then decided to remain with them.
49.
On 7 July 2010, it was confirmed that Robert Kubica had extended his contract with Renault to 2012.
50.
At the opening race of the 2010 season in Bahrain, Robert Kubica was tagged by Adrian Sutil and spun on the opening lap but recovered to 11th.
51.
Robert Kubica felt that had there not been a second safety car period in China he could have finished on the podium.
52.
In Canada, Robert Kubica finished seventh after an eventful race and problems with tyre degradation which made his race difficult, but did set the first fastest lap of his career in the race's closing stages.
53.
Robert Kubica added a fifth in Valencia and seventh in Germany before taking his third podium of the season in Belgium.
54.
Robert Kubica was competitive throughout the weekend, qualifying third, and only a bungled pitstop cost him second to Mark Webber.
55.
Formula One journalist Mark Hughes remarked that Robert Kubica was currently "arguably the best driver", considering the season so far.
56.
Robert Kubica emphasised Kubica's strong showing in tracks where Hughes believed that the differences in driver skills are able to overwhelm the differences in the capability of the cars; namely, Monaco, Spa and Suzuka.
57.
Robert Kubica managed to finish on the podium behind the Red Bulls except in Suzuka where he was strong throughout the weekend nevertheless, despite retiring from the race through no fault of his own.
58.
On 6 February 2011, Robert Kubica was injured in a crash on the first stage of the Ronde di Andora rally.
59.
Robert Kubica was driving a Super 2000-specification Skoda Fabia in Testico when his car left the road at high speed and hit a crash barrier, near the church of San Sebastiano.
60.
Robert Kubica was trapped in the car for more than an hour before rescue workers were able to extricate him.
61.
Robert Kubica was flown by helicopter to Santa Corona Hospital in Pietra Ligure near Savona, where it was confirmed that he had a partial amputation of his forearm, compound fractures to his right elbow, shoulder and leg, as well as significant loss of blood.
62.
The severity of his injuries was the result of the crash barrier penetrating the car's cockpit, and hitting Robert Kubica, while leaving his co-driver unscathed.
63.
Robert Kubica underwent a seven-hour operation by seven doctors split into two teams, without complications.
64.
Robert Kubica was released from hospital to begin his rehabilitation on 24 April 2011.
65.
Robert Kubica's recovery was dealt another setback after he re-broke his right leg, when he reportedly slipped on ice near his home in Italy, on 11 January 2012.
66.
Robert Kubica remained out of competitive racing for most of 2012, but returned to compete in the Ronde Gomitolo Di Lana in a WRC car on 9 September.
67.
Robert Kubica won the rally, finishing one minute ahead of the second placed driver.
68.
Robert Kubica drove for Citroen in the European and World Rally-2 Championships.
69.
Robert Kubica repeated this success at the Rally d'Italia winning ahead of Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari by 4 minutes.
70.
At the 2013 Rally Finland Robert Kubica lost to Jari Ketomaa by nearly 90 seconds.
71.
Robert Kubica re-gained this position at the Rallye de France, again beating Evans, this time by 4 minutes.
72.
Robert Kubica won again at the Rally RACC Catalunya, his fifth victory of the season.
73.
Robert Kubica conducted a number of simulator tests with the Mercedes Formula 1 team which showed promise, but limitations in the range of motion of his injured arm would prevent him from driving in twisty circuits like Monaco due to the tight confines of an F1 cockpit.
74.
In 2014, Robert Kubica started in the first round of the ERC season.
75.
Robert Kubica won the Internationale Janner Rallye to claim his first victory in that championship, after coming very close on a number of occasions in 2014.
76.
Robert Kubica began his WRC campaign by taking the lead of the Monte Carlo Rally through the first two stages, but later retired on the second day after crashing out on SS9.
77.
Robert Kubica suffered from a string of bad luck for the rest of the season, being fast on occasion but rarely managing to convert his speed into results.
78.
Robert Kubica's best result was a 6th place at the Rally Argentina, a place lower than his highest finish in 2013 in a WRC-2 car.
79.
Robert Kubica finished the season in 16th place with 14 points.
80.
Robert Kubica finished the year on a positive note by winning the non-championship Monza Rally Show, beating motorcycle legend Valentino Rossi to second.
81.
On 2 February 2017, Robert Kubica was signed by the ByKolles privateer LMP1 team in the FIA World Endurance Championship.
82.
On 2 May 2017, Robert Kubica partook in an independently organised test of a Formula E car at Donington Park, with an aim of partaking in the New York ePrix.
83.
On 5 June 2017, it was announced that Robert Kubica would be driving in a Renault-organized test of their 2012 car, the Lotus E20, at Circuit Ricardo Tormo, his first Formula One event since his accident in 2011.
84.
Robert Kubica added that there were "no obvious roadblocks" to a Formula One return, and told NBC Sports that Kubica could be an option for 2018.
85.
On 24 July 2017, it was announced that Robert Kubica would participate in the test for Renault, which would be held after the conclusion of the Hungarian Grand Prix.
86.
Robert Kubica completed 142 laps of the Hungaroring on his return, finishing fourth-fastest nearly 1.5 seconds behind Sebastian Vettel.
87.
On 11 October 2017, Robert Kubica completed a one-day test with Williams at Silverstone driving the 2014 FW36.
88.
On 17 October 2017, Robert Kubica had a second day of testing with Williams at the Hungaroring.
89.
Robert Kubica then tested for them at the Yas Marina Circuit following the 2017 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, completing 100 laps in his first test with the team's 2017 FW40.
90.
Robert Kubica completed an additional 28 laps the next day and finished seventh fastest, with Williams technical chief Paddy Lowe reporting that "there are no issues around" his injuries, though doubts soon emerged about whether certain factors had made the times look better.
91.
On 16 January 2018, it was announced that Robert Kubica would become the reserve driver of Williams for the 2018 season.
92.
Robert Kubica took part in his first Grand Prix weekend since the final round of the 2010 campaign, in Friday's first practice session at the 2018 Spanish Grand Prix, outperforming teammate Lance Stroll.
93.
Robert Kubica chose 88 as his driver number, previously used by Rio Haryanto in 2016.
94.
Robert Kubica finished in 12th place at the German Grand Prix, however was promoted to 10th following penalties for Kimi Raikkonen and Antonio Giovinazzi, scoring his first point since his return to F1 and breaking the record of the longest time between successive points finishes.
95.
On 19 September 2019, before the Singapore Grand Prix, Robert Kubica announced his decision to end his stint at Williams after the end of the season.
96.
At the following race in Japan, Robert Kubica criticised the team's decision to remove an upgraded front wing from his car for the race, after he had trialled it during practice sessions.
97.
Robert Kubica ended a difficult season in 19th place in the championship with 1 point, finishing ahead of rookie teammate Russell in the standings.
98.
Robert Kubica decided to leave the team and was replaced by 2019 Formula 2 runner-up Nicholas Latifi.
99.
Robert Kubica joined Alfa Romeo Racing in a reserve driver role for the 2020 season, returning to the team he made his Formula One debut with in 2006.
100.
Robert Kubica competed at the pre-season test at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya and set the fastest laptime during the fourth day of testing.
101.
Robert Kubica was joined by 2019 F2 Championship driver Tatiana Calderon.
102.
Robert Kubica participated in the season-ending Abu Dhabi Young Drivers Test.
103.
Robert Kubica went on to qualify 18th and finish the race in 15th, while his teammate Antonio Giovinazzi dropped from 7th to 14th.
104.
Robert Kubica deputised for Raikkonen in the Italian Grand Prix at Monza.
105.
For 2022, Robert Kubica remained as a reserve and test driver.
106.
Robert Kubica took part in free practice for the Spanish, French, Hungarian and Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
107.
Alfa Romeo's main sponsor Orlen moved to Scuderia AlphaTauri for the 2023 F1 season, resulting in Robert Kubica leaving the team.