Current Robert Kubica

He's fast, Polish and a bloody brilliant racer. To me Kubica is a special talent and has been very unlucky to not find himself in a top team yet.

The thing i like about Kubica is that he's a trier and never gives in say if he was third and had a sniff of second he'd go and chase the second place man down. He's a much toned down version of Lewis Hamilton IMHO he's great at overtaking (Austrailla 2009) exception and if he was in a better car i think he'd a won more races than the current 1 he stands at.

Kubica made his F1 debut at the Hungrian GP in 2006 replacing the injuried Jacque Villeneuve for BMW Sauber. He'd outqualified teammate Nick Heidfeld at the time and finished the race in 7th place only to be DSQ for been under weight. Since Kubica's first and only Pole Position came at the 2008 Bahrain GP, that same season he'd broke his winning duck and won his current and only race in Canada. Kubica has stood on the podium 12 times and in his 76 race he's scored a total of 273 points.

Sad news broke eariler in the year (2011) that Kubica had been involved in a Rally competition and crashed, his life was said to be in the balance, but he's slowly recovering from nasty injuries he substaned in the accident. It remains to be seen whether Kubica will return to motor-racing. But for me Kubica is a talented driver and if we do see him back on the grid i'd be over the moon.

Whether you like him or not Kubica is a cool guy and one that i'd like to see become Champion if he return's to the sport.

How do you rate Kubica?

 

[Hamberg]

One of the best. Top 3 with Hamilton and Alonso and i don't know which order. I think he benefits from all the talent but with a cooler head. Can't wait to see him back.

 

[no-FIAt-please]

IF he comes back as good as he was before I will place him in the top four with (in order) Hamilton, Alonso, Kubica and Vettel. IMO of course.

 

[Cookinflatsix]

Kubica is one of the top 3 racers in this generation

I say racer referring to his obvious interest in driving fast and beating his peers on track, the grid needs more of his type, less interested in off track manouevering and eager to race, to overtake, to win by trying harder and being braver.

I hope he comes back as good as before, physically that is because I would bet everything that he will not be changed mentally

 

[MCLS]

One of the best drivers but never in a car that would consistently challenge for wins, the only time he was in a car that was podium potential he nearly won the championship which speaks volumes

 

[Slyboogy]

I would go as far as to call him "the most complete driver on the grid" (yes we haven't seen him in a title battle) but he is very consistent, knows when to be aggressive, he has precision, and he very rarely makes a mistake. I believe if BMW continued to develop their car in 2008 he would have certainly been in the title battle in the last race, but I think he would have won... (dam BMW as great as a season as it was, it could have been even better )

Every season my respect for this man increased, especially in 2010 where he did a brilliant job in that Renault.

Great driver, but he has had I would say the worst luck...Just hope he returns in a F1 car and back to his best....

 

[Speshal]

You won't see him back in an F1 car unfortunately

 

[Slyboogy]

You won't see him back in an F1 car unfortunately

Have faith

 

[RasputinLives]

I agree with Spesh - I'm afraid we're never going to find out how good Robert could have been

 

[Porceliamone]

Good driver. Dull as dishwater. Won't ever drive competitively in F1 again, unfortunately.

 

[RayInTorontoCanada]

(dam BMW as great as a season as it was, it could have been even better )

In my opinion it was a terrible season and Theissen ought to have been shown the door for throwing in the towel at a moment in the WDC in which Kubica was in joint lead of the title battle following his Canadian GP win. I have been driving their road cars since December, 1998 and I say they were a complete embarrassment to the marque in 2008 and 2009. They were a joke and made fools of BMW owners who thought their brand was serious about it's designs on winning in F1.

I am ashamed of BMW's final two years in Formula One.

 

[FB]

I am ashamed of BMW's final two years in Formula One.

I don't think it was personal Ray

Anyway, back on topic. I too don't believe we will ever see Kubica back in an F1 car. The level of damage he has sustained, no matter how well repaired he is, is always going to leave him short of the guys at the top. I can't rememebr how bad Jean-Pierre Jabouille's leg breaks were (and in a different medical era as well, of course) but he tried and failed to get back into an F1 car. RK's injuries are significantly more serious, almost to level of Alessandro Nannini's.

 

[Greenlantern101]

I think he will do some testing over the winter and decide on his future after that.
He fought hard to get into F1 and he will want to get back.
I wouldn't bet against his return, but it will hinge on how he feels during winter testing.

 

[Bill Boddy]

imo it is very difficult to rate Kubica. he has not had the opportunity to be in a competitive car for a whole season.

2006 Scored a third at Monza, the other 5 races he was in were non-scoring
2007 Beaten 61-39 by Heidfeld (who to be fair has beaten most of his teammates)
2008 Beat Heidfeld 79-60 (revenge?)
2009 Beaten 19-17 by Heidfeld (were they taking it in turns?)
2010 Beat Petrov 135-27. Petrov was a pay driver in his first F1 season, he took a long time to realise that it is best to stay on the circuit but eventually became a reasonable driver.

Not exactly the stuff of Senna.

 

[RayInTorontoCanada]

Some pundits look at his exceptional performances at "drivers circuits" like Monaco, Spa and Suzuka last year and suggest he fullfilled the requirement of a Top Tier driver while a minority wonder why he was only in a Renault.

I don't know how good he really is but to the detractors I can say that when BMW left, he was left with few seats in an era of deep top-line talent.

In my opinion, Kubica drove just as well as Hamilton and Massa and Raikkonen in 2008 but without making the notable mistakes they made. Alonso may have had his bias, but the Spaniard rated Kubica driver of 2008. The fact that Hamilton once stated privately that Kubica was the one driver he was worried about most says everything I need to know.

If Alonso and Hamilton are rating you, you must have something special in you. Sadly, we might never see Kubica go toe-to-toe with those two again. Shame.

 

[Cookinflatsix]

Kubica was a bit similar to Kimi, except maybe not as marketable. More talented and I think faster and smarter

 

[The Pits]

Personally, I find it difficult to quantify Robert Kubica. I believe him to be a very good driver, however, I sometimes question my logic as to how I actually arrive at that conclusion.

He is a race winner, and in 08 he did very well indeed, up against some strong opposition. However, I cannot place in my head how good or bad the 08/09 BMW was, or indeed how good the Renault was last year.

He did very well at spa and Monaco last year, but could or should he have done better? In spa he made an error which handed the place to webber. Understandable given the conditions I suppose, but personally, I would rate him slightly below the top 3, and in a similar level to buttok and rosberg.

I do like him a great deal, and I would dearly love to see him disprove my assessment, and I really hope to see him back in the car as soon as is humanly possible.

 

[RayInTorontoCanada]

Kubica was a bit similar to Kimi, except maybe not as marketable. More talented and I think faster and smarter

It's completely unproven that he was more talented than Raikkonen. Faster? Unproven. Smarter? Aha ha!!! I doubt you could get any smarter than convincing Ferrari to pay you $50 Million a year whilst having them send Schumacher off to the Stud Farm! For that is exactly what Kimi did to di Montezemolo and Schuey in 2005/6!!!

 

[Cookinflatsix]

It's completely unproven that he was more talented than Raikkonen. Faster? Unproven. Smarter? Aha ha!!! I doubt you could get any smarter than convincing Ferrari to pay you $50 Million a year whilst having them send Schumacher off to the Stud Farm! For that is exactly what Kimi did to di Montezemolo and Schuey in 2005/6!!!

You said 'In my opinion, Kubica drove just as well as Hamilton and Massa and Raikkonen in 2008 but without making the notable mistakes they made'

Like I said, Kimi is more marketable that the unfortunately 'proportional facial feature' challenged Robert. Lets not forget The Robertsons

 

[Slyboogy]

You said 'In my opinion, Kubica drove just as well as Hamilton and Massa and Raikkonen in 2008 but without making the notable mistakes they made'

Like I said, Kimi is more marketable that the unfortunately 'proportional facial feature' challenged Robert. Lets not forget The Robertsons

That's a bit too harsh...