Robert Kubica

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Robert Józef Kubica (born 7th December, 1984 in Kraków, Poland) is a Polish racing driver best known for his appearances in Formula One. He won the Formula One World Drivers Championship in 2011 and the FIA Formula E Championship in 2018-19 and as such is considered one of the best drivers of his generation.

Formula One

2007-2011: Ferrari

After a year as test driver with BMW Sauber, Kubica made his F1 racing debut in 2007, driving for Ferrari alongside veteran Luca Badoer when defending champion James James Davies opted to move to McLaren.

By 2010, Kubica was still at Ferrari and was joined by Spaniard Fernando Alonso. Kubica won four races on his way to fourth in the championship, whilst helping Ferrari take the Constructor's championship.

Kubica and Alonso remained together in 2011, with the Ferrari confirmed as one of the most competitive packages on the grid. Kubica took a number of wins in the early part of the season and took a commanding lead - his best challenge coming from Mercedes' Nathan McKane. In the end, Kubica was just too consistent for McKane and secured his World Champion status with a win in Abu Dhabi.

2012: Mercedes

Kubica opted to move to Mercedes on a lucrative one-year deal when his Ferrari contract expired, with 2011 rival McKane moving in the opposite direction. Unfortunately, Mercedes weren't as strong as they were the year before and Kubica & his teammate Nico Rosberg were only occasional contenders for victory. Kubica suffered from two absences, his first being an exclusion from the European Grand Prix and also an injury in the Canada which removed him from the following United States Grand Prix. Kubica finished the season in fifteenth place.

2013: Sauber

Having won the Constructor's Championship the year before, Sauber opted to splash out and bring their one-time test driver back to the team. Sauber were still a strong package, but were vastly outpaced by both Ferrari and Stefan, with Kubica only able to take a single win - finishing the season in sixth place. Kubica opted to take a year out after this season - citing burnout as the main cause.

2015: McLaren

Kubica made his return to the grid in 2015 when he joined rookie driver Daniel Ricciardo at McLaren. Kubica managed eight wins over course of the season but he was outperfomed by Ricciardo and the two Williams drivers in Fernando Alonso and Nico Rosberg. Kubica finished the season in fourth place.

2016: DGNgineering

McLaren made the shock decision to withdraw from Formula One once the team were purchased by the Commonwealth Group. Kubica and Ricciardo were both huge free agents and decided to sign for the DGNgineering team for the 2016 season. Unfortunately for the pair, the team were destined for the midfield and Kubica finished the season in 14th place.

2017: Haas

Stung by the previous year's move, Kubica transferred to the Haas team alongside young Belgian Stoffel Vandoorne. Once again Kubica struggled to escape the midfield - but his season got even worse at the Italian Grand Prix when he suffered a season-ending injury.

Formula E

After failing to make the start of the 2018 F1 season, Kubica spent the year regaining fitness before being announced as Faraday Future Dragon Racing's first driver in the inaugural FIA Formula E Championship season alongside Belgian driver Jérôme d'Ambrosio. Kubica took his first win at the Kent ePrix at Brands Hatch before becoming the first double winner in FE history when he took the flag at the Bucharest ePrix. A season long battle with Robin Frijns came to a head in the final ePrix in Paris when Kubica took the win with Frijns in third - meaning the Pole won the title by a single point - thus becoming the first ever Formula E champion.

Sporting Accolades
Preceded by:
Daniel Melrose
Formula One World Champion
2011
Succeeded by:
Lewis Hamilton