When Kubica was four years old his father Artur bought him a small off-road vehicle powered by a 4 bhp petrol engine. His father later bought him a go-kart and Kubica entered the Polish Karting Championship at the age of ten, winning six titles in three years. In 1998, he became the first foreigner to win the International Italian Junior Karting Championship, then defended his Italian title and added the Junior Monaco Kart Cup, the Andrea Margutti Trophy, and the Elf Masters races. In 2000, his final karting season, he scored fourth places in both the European and World Championships.
Kubica entered Formula Renault 2.0 in 2000, joining Renault's driver development programme. In 2002, he won four races and scored second in the Italian Formula Renault 2000, and won a one-off Brazilian Formula Renault race at the Interlagos circuit.
Moving to the Formula 3 Euro Series in 2003, his debut was delayed by a road accident that left him with a broken arm held together by titanium screws. At his delayed debut at Norisring, Kubica won driving with a plastic brace and eighteen titanium bolts in his arm. He finished the year 12th, then spent a second season with the factory Mercedes team, ending seventh. In November 2004 he scored pole at the Macau F3 Grand Prix, broke the lap record, but finished second in the race.
In 2005, Kubica won the World Series by Renault championship with the Epsilon Euskadi team, earning Formula One tests with Renault.
In 2006, Kubica became the official reserve driver for BMW Sauber. When teammate Jacques Villeneuve was deemed unfit to race following an accident at the German Grand Prix, Kubica replaced him at the Hungarian Grand Prix. He qualified ninth, beating Villeneuve's more experienced teammate Nick Heidfeld. He finished seventh in the race but was disqualified for an underweight car. At the Italian Grand Prix he finished third, becoming the first Polish driver to appear on a Formula One podium and the first to lead a Grand Prix — and the first driver since Alexander Wurz in 1997 to finish on the podium within his first three Formula One starts.
At the 2007 Canadian Grand Prix, Kubica suffered a serious crash on lap 27 after making contact with Jarno Trulli's Toyota and hitting a bump in the grass that launched the car nose-first into the concrete retaining wall. The car struck at 300.13 km/h at a 75-degree angle, subjecting him to an average deceleration of 28 g and a peak G-force of 75 G. Despite the violence of the impact, Kubica sustained only a light concussion and a sprained ankle. He missed the following United States Grand Prix, replaced by test driver Sebastian Vettel, then returned at the French Grand Prix, qualifying and finishing fourth.
Kubica's 2008 season began strongly, including the team's first pole position at the Bahrain Grand Prix and second-place finishes at the Malaysian and Monaco Grands Prix. At the Canadian Grand Prix on 8 June 2008, Kubica started second and passed race leader Lewis Hamilton in the first round of pit stops after BMW Sauber completed a faster stop. On leaving the pits, Kubica and Kimi Räikkönen's Ferrari halted at the pit lane exit; Hamilton, running immediately behind, missed the red light and crashed into Räikkönen's car, eliminating both. Kubica then overtook Heidfeld's sister BMW Sauber and built a sufficient margin to hold the lead after his second stop, 22 laps later. The BMW Saubers finished first and second. The win gave Kubica the lead in the Drivers' Championship. He finished the year fourth in the championship — his best career position.
At the 2009 season opener in Melbourne, Kubica was running third and closing on the leaders before making contact with Sebastian Vettel while trying to overtake; his damaged front wing became lodged under the car and he crashed into a wall. Vettel was given a 10-place grid penalty for causing the accident. BMW motorsport director Mario Theissen stated Kubica would have won the race had the incident not occurred. After a difficult mid-season, Kubica finished second at the Brazilian Grand Prix, 7.6 seconds behind winner Mark Webber. On 29 July 2009, BMW announced they would leave Formula One at the end of 2009, making Kubica a free agent.
For 2010, Kubica joined Renault F1, partnering Vitaly Petrov. On 7 July 2010, he extended his contract with Renault through 2012. He scored three podiums during the 2010 season, in Australia, Monaco, and Belgium. Formula One journalist Mark Hughes wrote that Kubica was "arguably the best driver" of the season, highlighting his performances at Monaco, Spa, and Suzuka.
On 6 February 2011, Kubica was seriously injured on the first stage of the Ronde di Andora rally in Testico, driving a Super 2000-specification Škoda Fabia. His car left the road at high speed and struck a crash barrier near the church of San Sebastiano. The barrier penetrated the car's cockpit and hit Kubica while leaving his co-driver unscathed. Kubica was trapped in the car for more than an hour before rescue workers extracted him. He was flown by helicopter to Santa Corona Hospital in Pietra Ligure near Savona, where doctors confirmed partial amputation of his forearm and compound fractures to his right elbow, shoulder, and leg. He underwent a seven-hour operation by seven doctors in two teams, followed by further surgeries. Nick Heidfeld replaced Kubica at Lotus Renault GP from 16 February, and Bruno Senna replaced Heidfeld later in the season. In November 2011, Renault — by then renamed Lotus — confirmed Kubica would not be ready for the start of 2012. In a 2018 interview, Kubica revealed he had signed a pre-contract with Ferrari for the 2012 season before his crash made it impossible.
Kubica's recovery was set back when he re-broke his right leg after slipping on ice near his home in Italy on 11 January 2012. He returned to competition on 9 September 2012, winning the Ronde Gomitolo Di Lana one minute ahead of the runner-up. In 2013, driving for Citroën in WRC2, Kubica won at the Acropolis Rally, the Rally d'Italia, the Rallye Deutschland (by 12.9 seconds over Elfyn Evans), the Rallye de France, and the Rally RACC Catalunya — five victories — to clinch the inaugural WRC-2 Championship over rival Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari. In 2014 he moved to the main WRC class with RK M-Sport, backed by Polish oil company Lotos. He won the Internationale Jänner Rallye and the non-championship Monza Rally Show, where he beat motorcycle legend Valentino Rossi to second. His best WRC main-class result was sixth at the Rally Argentina. In 2016, a lack of funding confined his WRC programme to the Monte Carlo Rally alone.
On 5 June 2017, Renault organised a test for Kubica at Circuit Ricardo Tormo in their 2012 Lotus E20 — his first Formula One event since 2011. Renault managing director Cyril Abiteboul stated that Kubica "was still quick, still consistent" with "no obvious roadblocks" to a return. On 24 July 2017, Kubica completed 142 laps at the Hungaroring, finishing fourth-fastest. He then tested the Williams FW36 at Silverstone on 11 October 2017 and the FW40 at Yas Marina, completing 100 laps.
On 16 January 2018, Kubica was announced as reserve driver of Williams for 2018. At the Spanish Grand Prix he participated in Friday practice, outperforming teammate Lance Stroll. On 22 November 2018, Williams announced Kubica would race full-time in 2019, partnering 2018 Formula 2 champion George Russell. Kubica chose race number 88. The Williams FW42 was the slowest car of the field; at the German Grand Prix Kubica finished 12th but was promoted to tenth after penalties for Räikkönen and Antonio Giovinazzi, scoring his first point since his return and breaking the record for the longest gap between successive points finishes. He ended the season 19th in the championship with 1 point, finishing ahead of Russell. In September 2019, before the Singapore Grand Prix, Kubica announced he would leave Williams at season's end.
For 2020, Kubica joined Alfa Romeo Racing as reserve driver — returning to the team he had debuted with in 2006, when it was still BMW Sauber. Full-time driver Kimi Räikkönen tested positive for COVID-19 at the Dutch Grand Prix weekend; Kubica replaced him, qualifying 18th and finishing 15th. He also deputised at the Italian Grand Prix at Monza, qualifying 19th and finishing 14th. He retained the reserve role through 2022, appearing in multiple free practice sessions.
In 2021, Kubica competed with Orlen Team WRT in the European Le Mans Series, where the team won the LMP2 title. Joining High Class Racing for the final two rounds of the 2021 FIA World Endurance Championship in Bahrain, he contributed to podiums in both the 6 Hours and 8 Hours of Bahrain in the ProAm class.
In 2022, Kubica competed in the WEC across six races with the Prema Orlen Team, including the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the 1,000-mile race at Sebring.
In 2023, Kubica returned to WRT and secured the LMP2 class championship.
For 2024, Kubica stepped up to the Hypercar class with AF Corse, driving the No. 83 Ferrari 499P partnering Ye Yifei and Robert Shwartzman. On 1 September 2024, he won the Lone Star Le Mans race, becoming only the third racing driver in history to win both a Formula 1 race and a WEC race, after Fernando Alonso and Mark Webber.
In 2025, Kubica took victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans with teammates Phil Hanson and Ye Yifei, becoming the first Polish driver to win the event outright. At the final round of the 2025 FIA World Endurance Championship, the 8 Hours of Bahrain, Kubica finished second overall in the No. 83 Ferrari 499P alongside Phil Hanson and Yifei Ye, behind the race-winning Toyota entry.
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