Robert Kubica

Kubica was born in Krakow, Poland. He began karting at age ten, winning six Polish karting titles in three years before moving to Italy's more competitive scene. In 1998 he became the first foreigner to win the International Italian Junior Karting Championship, and the following year he repeated that title while also claiming the Monaco Kart Cup twice.

Kubica moved into Formula Renault 2.0 in 2000, becoming part of Renault's driver development programme. He won the World Series by Renault championship in 2005 with Epsilon Euskadi, earning Formula One tests with Renault. His path to F1 passed through the Formula 3 Euro Series from 2003 to 2004, including a debut at Norisring where he raced with a plastic brace and titanium bolts in a recently broken arm and still won.

Kubica joined BMW Sauber as reserve driver in 2006 and made his race debut at the Hungarian Grand Prix as a replacement for Jacques Villeneuve, qualifying ninth and outperforming the more experienced Villeneuve. He was disqualified after the race due to an underweight car but had already demonstrated exceptional pace. At the Italian Grand Prix shortly after, he finished third to become the first Polish driver on a Formula One podium.

In 2008 Kubica took his only Formula One victory at the Canadian Grand Prix, overtaking race leader Lewis Hamilton in the pit-stop phase. BMW Sauber finished first and second at that race, and Kubica briefly led the Drivers' Championship. He ultimately finished fourth overall that season, his best career result in Formula One. At one stage in the championship Formula One journalist Mark Hughes called him "arguably the best driver" in the field.

On 6 February 2011, while competing in the Ronde di Andora rally in Italy, Kubica's car left the road at high speed and struck a crash barrier. The barrier penetrated the cockpit, causing a partial amputation of his right forearm, compound fractures to his right elbow, shoulder, and leg, and significant blood loss. Kubica was trapped in the car for over an hour before rescue workers reached him. He underwent a seven-hour operation followed by further surgery on fractures. The accident ended what had appeared to be a potential world championship challenge.

Years later, Kubica revealed that he had signed a pre-contract with Ferrari for the 2012 season, a move rendered impossible by his injuries.

After a long rehabilitation, Kubica returned to competitive driving in September 2012, winning a minor Italian rally. In 2013 he drove for Citroen in the WRC2 championship, winning five rounds including the Acropolis Rally and Rallye Deutschland. He clinched the inaugural WRC2 title, becoming champion by a clear margin. In 2014 he moved to the main WRC class with M-Sport in a Ford Fiesta RS WRC. Results were inconsistent and hampered by incidents, though he demonstrated competitive pace on occasion.

Kubica completed Formula One tests with Renault and Williams starting in 2017, impressing both organisations despite limitations in his right arm's range of motion. He was confirmed as Williams's reserve driver for 2018, then as a full-time race driver for 2019 alongside George Russell. The FW42 proved to be the slowest car on the grid that season. Kubica scored his only point of the season at the German Grand Prix after being promoted to tenth by post-race penalties, breaking the record for the longest gap between successive points-scoring finishes. He left Williams at the end of the year.

Kubica served as reserve and test driver for Alfa Romeo from 2020 to 2022. He replaced Kimi Raikkonen at the Dutch and Italian Grands Prix in 2021 when Raikkonen tested positive for COVID-19, making him the last man in that Williams seat to score Formula One race starts.

Kubica moved into endurance racing full-time from 2021, first with WRT in the European Le Mans Series where the team won the LMP2 title, then with Prema in the FIA World Endurance Championship in 2022. Returning to WRT for 2023, he secured the FIA WEC LMP2 class championship.

For 2024, Kubica stepped up to the Hypercar class with AF Corse, driving the Ferrari 499P alongside Ye Yifei and Robert Shwartzman. He won the Lone Star Le Mans race in September 2024, becoming only the third driver in history to win both a Formula One race and a WEC race, after Fernando Alonso and Mark Webber.

In 2025, Kubica won the 24 Hours of Le Mans overall with Phil Hanson and Ye Yifei for AF Corse, becoming the first Polish driver to win the event in its overall classification.

Kubica's career is defined as much by adversity as by achievement. His recovery from a potentially career-ending rally accident, return to Formula One after eight years away, and ultimate triumph at Le Mans form one of the most remarkable biographical arcs in modern motorsport. He is universally regarded in Poland as the country's greatest racing driver.