Robert Kubica

[Mark H]

Lotus Renault GP Race Driver, Car No. 9

Robert Kubica is one of the most highly-rated talents in Grand Prix Racing. Having made his

debut with BMW in 2006, the 26-year-old Pole has established himself as a consistent frontrunner

and has proved his ability as a race-winning driver and championship contender.

Having raced competitively in karts since the age of ten, he moved to single-seaters in 2001,

initially competing in Formula Renault and then in Formula 3. By 2005 he was racing in the

World Series by Renault and after winning the championship he secured a test session with

the Renault F1 Team. This was to prove a springboard to Formula One as he joined BMWSauber

as third driver in 2006 before graduating to a race seat later that year. After four years

with Sauber, he joined the Renault F1 Team for 2010 and finished eighth in the drivers’

championship with three podiums. For 2011, he leads the Lotus Renault GP line-up

determined to continue fighting at the front of the grid.

Key details:

Date of birth: 7 December 1984

Place of birth: Krakow, Poland

Nationality: Polish

Key dates:

2001 - 2002: Italian and European Formula Renault

At the age of 16 Robert began competing in the European and Italian Formula Renault

championships, finishing second in the Italian series in 2002.

2003 - 2004: Formula 3 Euroseries

A part-time campaign in the Formula 3 Euroseries in 2003 saw Robert win his debut race in

the category. A second year in the series led to a seventh place championship finish and a

second place finish at the Macau Grand Prix.

2005: World Series by Renault

Racing for Epsilon Euskadi, Robert was crowned World Series by Renault champion taking

four wins and a further seven podium finishes. As reward for his efforts, he tested for the

Renault F1 Team at the end of year.

2006: Formula 1, BMW-Sauber F1 Team

As third driver for the team, Robert was called up to replace Jacques Villeneuve for the final

third of the season. He made an immediate impact on the sport and finished on the podium in

only his third Grand Prix at Monza.

2007: Formula 1, BMW-Sauber F1 Team

Robert’s first full season in Formula 1 saw the young Pole regularly challenging for points with

three fourth place finishes. By the end of the year he was sixth in the drivers’ championship

and helped the team secure second place in the constructors’ championship.

2008: Formula 1, BMW-Sauber F1 Team

A strong start to the season put Robert in the hunt for the drivers’ championship as he took

his first Grand Prix victory in the Canadian Grand Prix. He eventually ended the year in fourth

place with a total of seven podium finishes.

2009: Formula 1, BMW-Sauber F1 Team

A fourth year with BMW-Sauber was less fruitful, although a second-place finish at the

Brazilian Grand Prix was a highlight. Towards the end of the season the switch to Renault for

2010 was confirmed.

2010: Formula 1, Renault F1 Team

In the hands of Robert, the R30 ran consistently in the top ten and was often in contention for

podiums. A second place in Melbourne was followed by two further podiums in Monaco and

Spa as Robert scored 136 points to finish eighth in the drivers’ championship.

Fast facts about Robert

- Macau street circuit is his favourite track

- He always gets in the car from the left side, right foot first

- Black is his favourite colour

- Away from the track his hobbies include rallying, bowling and snooker

- He doesn’t drink alcohol because he doesn’t like the taste

- He likes to listen to the Black Eyed Peas are on his iPod

Robert Kubica: “Ready to jump back in the car”

Robert talks about his excitement for the season and reveals his thoughts on the new

regulations.

Robert, the new season is just over a month away. How excited are you about the

challenge that awaits you?

After a long winter break you always feel ready to jump back in the car and I’m really looking

forward to this season. As well as my car having new colours, there are some big changes to

the regulations, such as the removal of double diffusers, the introduction of adjustable rear

wings and new Pirelli tyres. So there are a lot of new things to get used to before the first

race, but we will do our best to be as ready as we can for the start of the season.

This is your second season with this team. Does that make it easier to extract the

maximum from yourself and the car?

Obviously when you join a team everything is new and you have to get to know the people

and how they operate. So it’s good that we don’t have to worry about that this year because I

know what to expect. That will make it easier to concentrate on extracting the maximum from

the car and trying to improve performance.

How different do you think the sport will be in 2011 as a result of all the rule changes?

I think it will be quite a bit different, but I wouldn’t say it will be more challenging because

taking an F1 car to the limit is always a challenge. The drivers will definitely be busier with

KERS and the adjustable rear wing, but it probably won’t be any more difficult than last year

when we had to operate the f-duct. In fact, it will be good to have both hands back on the

steering wheel for a change! We will certainly have to concentrate hard during the first few

days of testing to understand the new systems, but I’m sure we will soon get used to them

and everything will become automatic.

Is the adjustable rear wing something that excites you as a driver?

I think it’s clear it will create the opportunity for more overtaking, which is good for Formula 1

and the show, but we need to be careful that it does not give too much advantage to the car

behind. If we see overtaking on every lap of the race because the wing is giving too much

advantage, then I don’t think this will be exciting. The other thing we have to think about is the

gear ratios because it will be a big challenge to find the ideal settings, especially for sixth and

seventh gears. Even if you find a good setting for qualifying, when you can use the wing as

much as you want, you also need to find a good compromise for the race, when its use is

restricted.

How difficult will it be to get through the workload during winter testing to be ready for

the first race?

It’s never easy because the number of days we have for testing is limited, but I think there is

just enough time to be ready for Bahrain. It all depends on how well things go in the early

tests and you have to hope there are no big surprises that cost you time on track. Also, with

so many changes this year, the task facing us is bigger than in previous years and

understanding KERS, the rear wing and the new tyres will need a lot of laps. In fact, learning

about the tyres will be the most time-consuming of all because you need to run each

compound in different conditions and with different fuel loads, and there is so much to

discover. I have my fingers crossed for a good, smooth start to testing so that we can begin

performance work as soon as possible.

What are your hopes and expectations for the year ahead?

My aim, as always, is to deliver a good and consistent performance across the year. That is

the goal for any driver. At the moment it’s difficult to know just how competitive our package

will be, but the engineers have decided to go for an innovative design, which is good. Also,

we had a strong season last year and we hope to move forward again this year and be closer

to the front. That means we will have to race against teams like Ferrari, McLaren and Red

Bull, and we know this will not be easy, but we will be working hard to make sure we can be

part of that fight.

 

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