Sometimes a driver finds himself a seat in a Formula 1 car more because of his nationality and or commercial viability than any outright talent. Not so the case of Robert Kubica who has shown all the attributes of a front-line racer who just happens to be the first Polish driver to compete in Grand Prix Racing.
Robert began running around in a little off-road vehicle when just four years old and had spent time practicing a go-kart long under the tutelage of his father before he was able to take part in any official competition. So at ten years of age, Kubica began his racing career in the Polish Karting Championship, winning six titles in three years before heading to Italy where he soon showed his considerable talent, emerging as both the Italian and German Champion with the added bonus prestigious wins at Monaco in both 1998 and 1989.
After taking fourth place overall in the both the World and European Karting championships the following season, Kubica finally gradated to Formula Renault in 2001 and was soon a pacesetter in this discipline. Four wins helped him to finish runner-up in the 2002 Italian Championship and a planned assault on the Euro Series F3 championship the following year. Unfortunately, Robert's F3 debut was delayed when he sustained a badly broken arm, as a passenger in a road accident, but upon his return in mid-season he won at Norisring and finished a creditable twelfth overall.
In 2004 Kubica was again front-runner, but outright victory was to elude him and he had to settle for seventh in the final standings.
A crucial decision to opt for World Series by Renault rather than GP2 in 2005 proved to be an astute one, as the Polish driver quickly took control of proceedings against more experienced campaigners. Four wins wrapped up the Championship and guaranteed him an end of season test at Barcelona in the F1 Renault. His lap times were so impressive, that Mario Thiessen of BMW immediately signed him up as the BMW-Sauber team's test driver for 2006.
After excelling in his duties as third driver in Friday testing throughout the first half of season, Kubica was unexpectedly pitched into action in place of the indisposed Jacques Villeneuve for the Hungarian Grand Prix. What a baptism it proved to be for the Pole, who out-qualified his team-mate Heidfeld in practice, and then survived two spins in a rain-hit race to claim a plucky seventh place. Sadly his BMW-Sauber was found to be underweight after post race scrutineering and his points-scoring debut was wiped out.
Nevertheless Robert kept the seat at the expense of Villeneuve and went on to prove to Formula 1 that Poland at last has a potential grand prix star in the making. Indeed he took third on only his third outing in the sport at Monza and then backed that up with three more finishes in China, Japan and Brazil - taking two ninth place finishes in the latter two events.
His outstanding end to the season unsurprisingly earned him a full-time drive in 2007 and, despite the pressure of hype, Kubica didn’t disappoint.
Making the most of the competitive package put together by BMW over the winter, Kubica defied his lack of experience around many of the tracks on the calendar to run his more coveted team-mate close.
Although Kubica was not quite on the same terms as Heidfeld for much part of the year, it was very easy to forget that this was technically his rookie season. Scoring seven top five finishes, Kubica was comfortably classified sixth in the standings, a wonderful achievement in his first season, even if it was overshadowed by the parallels with Lewis Hamilton.
He also survived a massive accident in the Canadian GP with only bruising and, despite having to sit out the following Indianapolis race, was back in harness by France. Unlike Heidfeld, there were no podium finishes en route to sixth overall, but Kubica did rack up three fourth places, in Spain, France and Britain.
As for 2008, like Heidfeld, Kubica - now with added experience - could challenge for victories if his machine will allow and he can get to grips with the loss of traction control. Until then, as far as maiden seasons go, Kubica remains an exciting new talent for the sport.
