There have been cases in recent years, when Robert Kubica said he had examined the abandonment of Motorsport. No more. These thoughts have passed a long time.
“I thought it was probably time to find new challenges,” Kubica said in an interview in April. “Not that I don’t love the struggles, and I didn’t want to fight, but I thought that as I came close to 40, something I am now, and I was not very happy with where I was.
“In the end, I knew if I stopped. I’ll lose matches. So I went on.
The Kubica route, which will lead to Spa-Francorchamps 6 hours in Belgium on Saturday, has been transferred to the Hypercar category of the FIA ​​World Endurance Championship is worth a Netflix documentary.
After five years in Formula 1 since 2006, four with BMW and then a year with Renault, Kubica signed a contract to join Ferrari. In February 2011, he was almost killed in a crash at Ronde Di Andora Rally in Italy.
Multiple surgeries followed and extensive rehabilitation. Kubica rebuilt his life and career, returning to the races in 2013 and winning the second level of the world of the world that year.
“Formula 1 was my life,” Kubica said. “I didn’t understand a lot of people when I came back to races, because the rally, just because I wanted to give myself a big challenge, the race kept my head very busy and I had to try myself.
“I wanted to see what I could do, how competitive I could be. I didn’t want to be just a number. “
Kubica, who is Polish, wanted to return to Formula 1. After a year as a reserve driver with Williams in 2018, his team gave him a chance next season. Kubica scored a point from 10th in the German Grand Prix.
“My return to Formula 1 was one of the greatest, if not the greatest, achievements of my life,” Kubica said. “But it was a very disappointing year, not only for myself, but for many people in the group.
“It should have been very different. It was still special. No one gave me a chance, but I was working hard for it and I would never do it if I didn’t feel capable of being competitive.”
Kubica continued as a reserve driver with Alfa Romeo for three years, but knew that Formula 1’s dream was over. In 2021, it changed to endurance races.
That year, he won three matches on the way to win the LMP2 category of the European series Le Mans. After eight years he was again a champion. In 2023 and 2024 he won the LMP2 category of the World Endurance Championship and last year reiterated the success of ELMS.
“I never questioned my potential,” Kubica said of the triumph of 2021. “I was 36 at that moment, and took me back to Karting in my days when everything was like discovering something new. It was something special.”
The endurance races allowed Kubica to discover a different aspect of driving. If it is six hours of race or 24 hours, the car should be shared with one or two other drivers.
“DNA is the same because you have to bring the car home as quickly as possible,” he said. “Of course, you share the car, so the approach is different. You must have different skills as a guide compared to Formula 1.
“For example, you have to think as a team.
This year, Kubica is leading the AF Corse in the Hypercar category of the World Endurance Championship, along with Phil Hanson of England and China’s Yifei Ye. The team is connected to Ferrari, which will run 499p.
“All drivers want to win,” said Giuseppe Petrotta, Managing Director of AF Corse, in an interview in April. “We don’t need loser. It’s something we need to manage, get the best for Ferrari.”
After the first two tribes of the year, Qatar 1812 km in February and 6 hours of Imola in April, Kubica and his teammates are second in the rankings.
Petrotta said that Kubica’s experience was invaluable to the team: “It has a professional, victory of mentality. It is focused on every detail, which always pushes us in many directions, focusing on details that were not planned.
“With Robert, his focus is not immediately at the best time, like a new driver, because we don’t need it. He is focused on understanding the tires, car and using all the capabilities for the best result.”
Petrotta said he was surprised by Kubica and the durability he has shown over his career.
“It’s very passionate,” Petrotta said. “You can hear that in some of his radio communications.
“It’s something we need to manage, analyze after a race, but the key is that it is fast and consistent when needed, which helps us and find the best solution for any race.”
After a successful six years with United Autosports, winning the 24 -hour Le Mans LMP2 in 2020 and moved to Hertz Jota team last year, Hanson joined AF Corse this year.
In an interview in April, Hanson said the team “is one of the most hungry I have won with”, and called Kubica “the most hungry racing driver I have met to win and execute”.
Hanson, 15 years older than Kubica, is surprised by the passion and durability of the oldest driver at 40.
“When you think Robert was there and he did so in so many different championships in so many different scanners of motor sport, to keep this level of hunger at his level of experience, it is incredible,” Hanson said.
“He’s not complacent. He’s the last to leave the track, even when things get done, just because it’s so intense in the desire to see all the details, which shows how committed it is to get that result.”
It is Kubica’s mental ability that has amazing Hanson. “When you are in traffic, you are struggling with other cars. This is when mistakes occur because you multitasking to the fifth or sixth degree,” he said.
“For him, he thinks about strategy and other things over it. It is rare to do so many things at this high level where there are so many choices and so many different aspects that come into it.
After reaching the abandonment of motor sport, the “fresh air” Kubica talked about him has rejuvenated him.
The horizon in his career is remote. “I learned a lesson in 2011 not to plan too far,” he said. “Although the project is very tough and the competition is very high. I still have a lot of passion. It has become a way of life.
“I don’t know what will happen in the future, but I know one thing with certainty and that’s what I enjoy what I do and as long as I am healthy and capable, I will continue. I will never go to a race and see it as a job.
