Who is Robert Kubica?Alfa Romeo F1 reserve driver career
Robert Kubica will race this weekend’s Dutch Grand Prix in place of Kimi Raikkonen, who has tested positive for covid-19. Who is the Alfa Romeo F1 reverse driver, which teams has he raced and where did he win his only Formula 1 Grand Prix?
Kubica, Alfa Romeo’s F1 reserve driver after Raikkonen tests positive
After announcing his retirement from F1 earlier this week, Raikkonen will now miss the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort.
The seasoned Finn is isolating in his hotel and has not shown any symptoms.
F1’s return to Dutch soil, which he missed, was his first since the 2017 Malaysian Grand Prix.
That day, Raikkonen’s Ferrari crashed on its way to the grid.
Although Raikkonen occupied the front row starting position alongside pole-positioner Lewis Hamilton, Raikkonen was pushed off the grid before the start due to a battery problem.
Raikkonen’s F1 reserve driver for the Alfa Romeo team is Robert Kubica.
Photo by Clive Rose – Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images
Who is Alfa Romeo F1 reserve driver Robert Kubica?
Kubica, 36, replaced Raikkonen in the final practice session at Zandvoort on Saturday morning – finishing 19th. Which F1 teams has Kubica participated in before?
If Kubica does start for Alfa Romeo – it will be his fourth F1 team.
He started his career in 2006 as a test driver for BMW Sauber.
Promoted in the mid-season race seat, he made his first podium at the Italian Grand Prix that year.
He will stay at BMW Sauber until the end of the 2009 season, when BMW pulled out of F1 due to the global financial crisis.
The Alfa Romeo team can be traced back to BMW Sauber.
After BMW pulled out, Peter Sauber once again took over his eponymous outfit.
Due to financial difficulties, the Sauber name will remain until the end of 2018.
Although the cars now carry the Alfa Romeo name, this is nothing more than a sponsorship event.
Under Alfa’s sponsorship, the cars were actually designed and built by Sauber.
After leaving the Hinwil-based team, Kubica moved to Renault’s F1 team in 2010.
He won three podiums, including a third at Monaco, and a stunning qualifying lap put him on the front row.
Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images
Rally accidents and the return of F1 after nine years
Kubica’s promising early F1 career ended in a horrific rally accident in early 2011.
During pre-season testing, he took part in the Andorra Rally.
He hit the guardrail and suffered near-fatal injuries.
He had a partial amputation of his forearm, multiple fractures and blood loss in the accident.
Kubica is not expected to drive a single-seater again.
Due to the large cockpit space in such cars, he was able to compete in rallying and DTM.
In the cramped space of an F1 cockpit, Kubica is believed to struggle in tight corners – because of the limited movement of his arms.
However, in 2017 he tested for his old Renault team. He was eventually signed by Williams as a reserve driver in 2018.
Photo by Peter J Fox/Getty Images,
In 2019, he returned to the F1 circuit for the first time since the 10-season Abu Dhabi final.
The Williams family is very uncompetitive.
Kubica scored the team’s only point of the year with a tenth-place finish at the Wet German Grand Prix.
He was replaced by Nicholas Latifi in 2020.
Kubica then signed with Alfa Romeo as a substitute and third driver.
That means he’ll be driving in the absence of one of the two regular drivers – like this weekend’s race at Zandvoort.
If Alfa Romeo’s replacement driver actually starts the Dutch Grand Prix, it will be Kubica’s 98th F1 race.
Has Kubica ever won an F1 Grand Prix?
Kubica benefited from an odd pit lane collision between Raikkonen and Lewis Hamilton at the 2008 Canadian Grand Prix to claim his first F1 victory.
The then BMW Sauber driver beat teammate Nick Heidfeld one-two after Hamilton rear-ended Raikkonen at the end of the pit lane.
This is the first and only time a Polish driver has ever won an F1 Grand Prix.
The victory also saw Kubica top the drivers’ standings for the first time.
A year ago, he suffered a major accident at the Gilles Villeneuve circuit.
Approaching the hairpin, Kubica bumped into another vehicle and was spit on the concrete guardrail.
He then flew across the track, the BMW shedding parts and leaning against an obstacle on the outside of the track.
Fortunately, he wasn’t injured, although he did miss next week’s United States Grand Prix.
This opening ceremony saw a young Sebastian Vettel make his F1 debut.
However, BMW didn’t realize they could fight for the 2008 title after Kubica won.
It chose to put all its resources on 2009 cars.
This backfired, as Kubica only finished on the podium at the penultimate race of the season in Brazil.
Photo by Darren Heath/Getty Images
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Jack usually writes or reads anything related to motorsport – from Formula 1 to NASCAR to British truck racing. His work as a motorsport reporter has been published in prestigious outlets such as Autosport, Motorsport.com and Motorsport News. In addition to racing, he is an avid amateur astronomer, podcast listener, and enjoys walks in the park with his three dogs.
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