Robert Kubica

## Career Overview

### **BMW Sauber (2006 - 2009)**

Robert Kubica made his F1 debut at the 2006 Hungarian Grand Prix. the Pole finished the race in sixth, only to be disqualified after his car was found to be underweight. Only three races into his F1 career, Kubica took his first podium, with third at Italy.

Despite having an improved car for 2007, Kubica would fail to reach the podium at any point throughout the season.

2008 would see the first year Kubica would contest for the Driver's Championship. Despite retiring from the first race of the season, Kubica hit back at Maylaysia, taking a second place finish. Carrying over his momentum to Bahrain, Kubica would take his first ever pole position in F1. Kubica's first race victory came at the Canadian Grand Prix.

BMW slipped a long way off the pace in 2009, so much so it took until the seventh race of the season for Kubica to score points. Making the most of a late upgrade package, Kubica took his only podium of the season at Brazil, with second.

### **Renault (2010 - 2011)**

BMW pulled out of F1 at the end of 2009, prompting Kubica to move to a rebuilding Renault team for 2010. Showing flashes of brilliance, Kubica took second place at the Malaysian Grand Prix, and narrowly missed out on pole position for the Monaco Grand Prix. Kubica's final podium of the season came with third at Belgium.

After setting the fastest lap in the 2011 Pre-Season test, Kubica would be involved in a serious Rally crash, which almost put an end to his F1 career.

### **Haas (2017)**

Kubica returned to F1 with the Williams-BMW B-Team, to allow the pole time to get reacquainted with F1. Showing he still had outright pace, Kubica was promoted to Williams after the Canadian Grand Prix.

### **Williams (2017 - 2019)**

Making the most of his promotion, Kubica would dominate the Singapore Grand Prix - taking pole, fastest lap in the race and the race victory.

In his first full season with the team, Kubica would emerge as an early title contender. However, with three retirements in the opening eight races, reliability woes would see the Pole fall behind team mate Josh Tirowee in the Driver's standings. During the Singapore Grand Prix, on the final lap, Kubica's car would spear into the wall, resulting in the FW40 getting some air time before landing thankfully on the three remaining wheels. Kubica would drop out of title contention after round 17 at C.O.T.A, his three earlier DNFs catching up with him.

Kubica remained with Williams for 2019.

For the second year in a row, Kubica would retire from the opening race with a BMW engine failure. Kubica got off the mark in round 2, with a 4th place finish. Things finally came together for Kubica in the 7th round at Russia, as he finished on the podium for the first time this season. Kubica's second podium of the season came at the German Grand Prix, after starting 11th, on a 1-stop strategy. A disastrous Belgian Grand Prix saw the Pole knocked out in Q1, and only finishing the race in 15th.

The Italian Grand Prix would prove to be a disaster for Williams, with both cars out in Q1, and neither reaching the top 12 in the race. It came to light that BMW hadn't upgraded the Power Units at all throughout the season, prompting speculation that the German giants are to make an exit from F1 at the close of the season. Williams returned to form for the Hungarian Grand Prix, Schumacher finishing 4th with Kubica 8th.

As a whole, Kubica's 2019 season failed to impress, but he and Schumacher did enough to secure both Championships for Williams. The final four races were cancelled.

### **Alfa Romeo Reserve Driver (present)**

After losing his Williams seat due to BMW pulling out F1, Kubica moved to Alfa Romeo as the reserve driver. The Pole proving he's not quite ready to hang up his F1 helmet just yet. Robert also has a great working relationship with Josh Tirowee, from their time as teammates at Williams. Kubica also brings his ORLEN sponsorship money with him, which will no doubt help the team this coming season. ORLEN also become co-title sponsor for the team in what's being called a major multi-year deal, suggesting Kubica is sticking around for a few years to come yet.

## Racing Record (Formula One Results Only)

Results in **bold** indicate Championships won.