 Profile
The motto "Where there's a will there's a way" has been the guiding mantra throughout Robert Kubica's career. Robert is the first Polish driver to enter Formula One racing and already paved the way for his subsequent success early in his career. At the tender age of four, his early determination paid off when - after considerable persuasion - he managed to convince his parents to buy him his first offroad vehicle.
Robert soon exhausted the limits of this toy vehicle, however, and began looking for new challenges. He took the usual next step of concentrating on karting. The minimum age to compete in Polish kart events prevented him from attending races as early as he would have liked. But Robert wasn't to be deterred and decided to practise on the closest kart track, located approximately 150 kilometres away, before he was finally able to enter his first race at the age of ten, which he immediately won.
His willpower was tested again when he moved to Italy without his parents at the age of 13 in order to participate in kart races at a higher level. Robert had a tight budget to live on, was forced to fend for himself and quickly matured. Perhaps the strongest proof of his fighting spirit came in his maiden season Formula 3 race. Carrying 18 titanium screws and a splint in his right hand, the legacy of a traffic accident, he won the Formula 3 Euro Series race at the Norisring.
Shortly after being crowned champion of the Renault World Series in December 2005, his determination once again paid off when he received a call by Mario Theissen. The BMW Motorsport Director signed Robert as the official test and reserve driver for the 2006 season, catapulting the youngster into the highest category of racing. The modest racing driver, however, was to receive yet another promotion during the course of the season: At the Hungarian Grand Prix, he had the opportunity to compete in a Formula One race. A huge amount of media interest in the driver quickly followed, especially in his home country of Poland. But Robert remains unaffected by these distractions. "The most important thing is what happens on the track, not any fuss about me personally," he says, once again confirming that his feet are firmly on the ground.
Career
There is no doubt that Robert Kubica is the biggest motor racing talent in his home country of Poland. He debuted in 1998 and immediately won the Italian Junior Kart Championship and came second in the European Junior Kart Championship. It was an auspicious beginning to the Krakow-born racing driver's impressive career.
In 1999 and 2000, Robert was racing karts and won the Italian and German junior titles. He was also widely acclaimed for taking fourth place in the Kart World Championship (Formula A) in the same year.
The switch to open-wheel racing came in 2000, when he competed in his first race in the Italian Formula Renault 2000. The following year he managed second place in the overall drivers' classification. Robert also made a very strong impression in Formula 3. In his first ever race in the Formula 3 Euro Series at the Norisring in 2003 he clinched a sensational victory. He competed for the entire season in 2004 and finished seventh overall.
The BMW Sauber F1 Team driver celebrated another success last year by winning four races to secure the title in the "World Series by Renault". This achievement earned him an F1 test drive for the first time on 1st December 2005.
Robert also proved his exceptional talent during the legendary Formula 3 races in Macau, where he came second twice in succession in 2004 and 2005. His biggest success to date, however, is his third place in the 2006 Italian Grand Prix.
Starts
| Year | Team | | Starts | Pkt. | P. | P1 | P2 | P3 | Punkt. |
| 2006 | BMW Sauber F1 Team | BMW Sauber | 6 | 6 | 16 | - | - | 1 | 1 |
| Razem | 1 | 1 | 6 | 6 | 16 | - | - | 1 | 1 |
P. - final position; P1, P2, P3 - 1st, 2nd, 3rd position; Punkt. - times having scored
Photos
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