Robert Kubica

Team: Audi
Nationality: Polish
Date of birth: 7 Dec 1984
Active: 2006 - 2022

Robert Kubica finally became a Formula 1 driver again in 2019 after an eight-year absence. The Pole showed his skills for the Williams team, although it was anything but a successful return. After one year at Williams, the one-time Grand Prix winner moved to Alfa Romeo, where he spent three seasons as a test and reserve driver.

Full name: Robert Kubica
Current team: Audi
Date of birth: 07 December 1984
Place of birth: Krakau
Nationality: Polish
Race number: 88
Debut race: Hungarian GP 2006
Last race: Italian GP 2021

F1 years: 7
Best championship position: 1
Number of Grands Prix won: 99
Number of sprint races: 1
Sprint wins: 0 / 1; 0%
WC points: 274
Victories: 1; 1.0%
Wins from pole: 0 / 1; 0%
Hat-tricks: 0
Grand Slams: 0
Most wins in a season: 1
Win streak: 1
Podium finishes: 12; 12.1%
P1 finishes: 1 / 12; 8.3%
P2 finishes: 5 / 12; 41.7%
P3 finishes: 6 / 12; 50.0%
Most podiums in a season: 7
Podium streak: 2

Biography Robert Kubica

At 34, Kubica was one of the older drivers on the grid in his final year as a Formula 1 driver, although he failed to reach his 100th Grand Prix start. The Pole was out of F1 rotation for over six years after he experienced a horrific crash in a rally car in 2011.

Kubica's life was endangered; there was also talk of possible amputations. It did not, thankfully, come to that. However, his chance to drive for Ferrari was taken away: The Pole had signed a contract with the Scuderia for 2012.

Having made his debut at the 2006 Hungarian Grand Prix as Jacques Villeneuve's replacement at BMW Sauber, Kubica would go onto secure 12 podiums in 76 appearances before returning to the grid for one year in 2019. After BMW Sauber and Renault, Williams was the popular Pole's third F1 team. He had not dared to think he would return to Formula 1 after his crash, but he still managed to secure a seat with the Grove-based outfit.

Robert Kubica's return at Williams

Kubica's return wasn't particularly a success, even though the story sufficed.

The Williams FW42 was the slowest car in the field and uncompetitive. Rookie teammate George Russell regularly out-performed him, yet it was Kubica who secured the team's sole point of the season at the German Grand Prix and he felt himself that he did not get the recognition he deserved during his F1 return.

Test and reserve driver at Alfa Romeo

He left Williams after one year and was replaced by Nicholas Latifi. For the 2020 season, he continued in the sport as a test and reserve driver for the Alfa Romeo team, helped by his corporate deal with Poland's ORLEN group.

During the 2021 season, we saw him on the track twice more as a replacement for Kimi Raikkonen, who tested positive for Covid. Kubica competed in the Dutch Grand Prix and the Italian Grand Prix.

The 2023 season marked the end of Robert Kubica's F1 career as he left his role as test and reserve driver at Alfa Romeo. Indeed, Alfa Romeo's main sponsor, Polish oil company ORLEN, made the switch to AlphaTauri. Stake is Alfa Romeo's new title sponsor.