Robert Kubica

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Robert Kubica
Robert Kubica in Warsaw, 2006
Nationality	Polish
Car #	10
Current team	BMW Sauber
World Championship career
Races	7
World Championships	0
Wins	0
Podium finishes	1
Pole positions	0
Fastest laps	0
First race	2006 Hungarian Grand Prix
Latest race	2007 Australian Grand Prix
2006 Championship position	16th (6 pts)

Robert Kubica (pronounced: ['robɛrt ku'biʦa]; born: December 7, 1984 in Kraków, Poland) is the first Polish Formula One racing driver, driving for BMW Sauber.

Contents 1 Career 1.1 Pre-Formula One 1.1.1 Karting 1.1.2 Junior Formulas 1.2 Formula One 1.2.1 2006-Present: BMW Sauber 2 Complete Formula One results 3 Footnotes 4 References 5 External links

[edit] Career

[edit] Pre-Formula One

[edit] Karting

Kubica developed his love for cars at the tender age of four when he spotted a small off-road vehicle, powered by a 4 bhp petrol engine. After long talks with his parents, his father bought him the car and young Kubica spent long hours driving around plastic bottles. When he got older it became apparent that he needed better equipment, so his father bought him a go-kart. However, Robert was too young to start racing in the Polish Karting Championship as he was under the age of ten. When he entered the championship, of his three years spent in Poland, he won six titles. After his third season, Kubica decided to switch to a more competitive league in Italy. In 1998 Kubica won the International Italian Karting Championship, as the first foreigner in the history of the series.

He also scored second place in the European Karting Championship and won the Monaco Kart Cup held on part of the Formula One Grand Prix track. A year later, he defended his title in Italy and also competed in the International German Karting Championship. He also won the Monaco Kart Cup for the second time in a row, the Margutti Trophy and Elf Masters races. In 2000, his last season in karting, Robert scored fourth places in both the European and World Championships.

[edit] Junior Formulas

Kubica started his professional career in 2000, as a test driver for a Formula Renault 2000 car. During his first professional season in Formula Renault, Kubica scored his maiden pole position and also became a member of the RDD. In 2002 Robert won four races and scored a second place in the Italian Formula Renault 2000. He was also seventh in the Formula Renault Eurocup. At the end of the year Robert took part in the Brazilian Formula Renault 2000 held at the Interlagos circuit. This one-off appearance resulted in a dominant win.

After Formula Renault, Kubica moved to the Formula 3 Euro Series. However, his move was delayed by a road accident which left him with a broken arm. At his delayed debut at Norisring, Kubica, despite driving with a plastic brace and 18 titanium bolts , won the race. He later finished the season in 12th place. At the end of the year, Kubica won a street race in Sardinia and came in 5th in races held in Macau and Korea. He ended his second season in the Formula 3 Euro Series, spent with the factory Mercedes team, in 7th position. In November 2004, he scored pole position in the Macau F3 Grand Prix, where he broke the lap record but came in 2nd.

In 2005 he won the World Series by Renault championship with the Epsilon Euskadi team, earning Formula One tests with Renault

[edit] Formula One

[edit] 2006-Present: BMW Sauber

Main article: BMW Sauber

In 2006 Kubica became the official 3rd/test driver for the BMW Sauber Formula One team.^[1] His impressive results in both Friday testings and private test sessions, along with the words of BMW Sauber's manager Mario Theissen, led to speculation that he would become Poland's first Formula One racing driver in 2007. In August 2006, Kubica's teammate, Jacques Villeneuve, complained about headaches after his accident during the 2006 German Grand Prix in Hockenheim; he was deemed unfit for racing by the team, against his belief that he could race [1], and Kubica was chosen by the team management to drive at the 2006 Hungarian Grand Prix in Budapest. He excelled in qualifying, lining up on the grid in 9th, and beating his more experienced teammate Nick Heidfeld. In the race, he finished in 7th place, but was disqualified after the race for having an underweight car ^[2]. Team-mate Heidfeld finished third. Villeneuve decided to leave the BMW Sauber team soon after the race,^[3] it looked certain that Kubica would stay on as Heidfeld's team mate until the end of the season and he might also drive for the team next year. This was confirmed after a spokesperson of BMW told reporters that: "Robert Kubica will drive in the remaining races of the season. That is our current plan."^[4]

Kubica had a more disappointing race in Turkey, finishing in 12th place after a mistake in tyre choice. However, he was still ahead of Heidfeld, who was delayed in a first-corner accident.

In his third race, the 2006 Italian Grand Prix, Kubica finished in a personal best third position writing his name into the history book as the first Polish driver to appear on a Formula One podium, as well as the first Polish driver to lead a Grand Prix. He became the third driver in the last decade to finish on the podium within his first three Formula One starts, the others being Ralf Schumacher (Argentina 1997), and Alexander Wurz (Great Britain 1997).

His fourth race, the 2006 Chinese Grand Prix, was again disappointing - he finished 13th, again after a mistake in tyre choice. After a coming off the track at the first turn of the race, he fought his way back from 17th position to 5th, showing notable speed, before pitting. He was the first to change to dry tyres from intermediates after the wet track was starting to dry. This decision was made too early and a very slow next lap under extremely slippery conditions and another pit stop to change back to intermediates cost him his place in the points.

He has a contract for the 2007 season with BMW Sauber as a race driver alongside Nick Heidfeld.^[5]

[edit] Complete Formula One results

(key)

Yr	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	WDC	Points
2006	BMW Sauber	F1.06	BMW V8	BHR TD	MAL TD	AUS TD	SMR TD	EUR TD	ESP TD	MON TD	GBR TD	CAN TD	USA TD	FRA TD	GER TD	HUN DSQ	TUR 12	ITA 3	CHN 13	JPN 9	BRA 9	16th	6
2007	BMW Sauber	F1.07	BMW V8	AUS Ret	MAL	BHR	ESP	MON	CAN	USA	FRA	GBR	GER	HUN	TUR	ITA	BEL	JPN	CHN	BRA		-	0

[edit] Footnotes

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Official web site
• Career details
• A commercial portal with information about Robert Kubica (Polish)
• Robert Kubica fan site (Polish)
• Kubica statistics in Formula1

Sporting positions
Preceded by Heikki Kovalainen	World Series by Renault Drivers' Champion 2005	Succeeded by Alx Danielsson

Constructors and drivers competing in the 2007 Formula One championship
McLaren	Renault	Ferrari	Honda	BMW	Toyota	Red Bull	Williams	Toro Rosso	Spyker	Super Aguri
1 Alonso 2 Hamilton	3 Fisichella 4 Kovalainen	5 Massa 6 Räikkönen	7 Button 8 Barrichello	9 Heidfeld 10 Kubica	11 Schumacher 12 Trulli	14 Coulthard 15 Webber	16 Rosberg 17 Wurz	18 Liuzzi 19 Speed	20 Sutil 21 Albers	22 Sato 23 Davidson

/ BMW Sauber

Personnel: Mario Theissen | Peter Sauber | Willy Rampf | Jörg Zander

Current drivers: Nick Heidfeld | Robert Kubica | Sebastian Vettel | Timo Glock

Formula One cars: F1.06 | F1.07