As part of a daily series in the run-up to the start of pre-season, Motorsport Week brings you brief left-field reflections and stories of teams, drivers and reserve/test drivers that will be part of the Formula 1 paddock in 2019.
Robert Kubica will return to the Formula 1 grid this year after missing eight seasons as a consequence of the serious injuries he sustained in his early 2011 rally accident.
During that absence a large period of Kubica’s rehabilitation was spent in the rallying scene, winning a handful of low-key events before claiming the WRC2 title in 2013.
Kubica committed to a full 2014 campaign in an M-Sport Ford Fiesta RS WRC to take on the likes of Sebastien Ogier and Thierry Neuville. It started well. Kubica mastered unexpectedly snowy conditions on the opening stage of Rally Monte Carlo to lead the way, and built a 36-second advantage by the time the field had completed the second stage. But that proved to be the high point. Kubica relinquished the lead on the next stage and, though he remained firmly in podium contention, eventually crashed out on stage nine, bringing his starring run to an early conclusion.
Kubica went on to score 12 more stage wins across the remainder of 2014 and 2015 but finished in the points only six times amid several accidents and setbacks. The finances ran dry thereafter while Kubica began to explore whether a return to single-seater racing was feasible…
