Robert Kubica has opened up on his return to Formula 1 in 2019 with Williams, citing how the team’s struggles meant he ended up “at the wrong time and in the wrong place”.
Kubica was renowned for being one of the best on the F1 grid and a potential Ferrari driver when he suffered serious injuries in a rally crash over the winter period in 2011.
Having endured a lengthy rehabilitation process before completing several private tests in F1 machinery from 2017, Kubica was handed the chance to embark upon a remarkable comeback in 2019 with Williams.
However, Williams had slipped to the bottom of the Constructors’ standings the previous year and the team’s fortunes continued to spiral as it missed part of pre-season testing.
Although Kubica scored the uncompetitive FW42 car’s only point, he was completely outclassed by rookie team-mate George Russell, now a race-winner for Mercedes.
“In my opinion, my biggest non-sporting success is that, today, everyone has already got used to the way I am,” Kubica told Polish publication Przeglad Sportowy.
“Nobody questions it anymore. If you want me, it’s the way I am. Nobody assumes any filters.”
“There is a second thought, related to returning to F1,” he continued. “As far as the sporting aspect with Williams is concerned, I couldn’t do worse.
“To be fair – I have a lot of respect for that group because there were quite a few people who really knew what they were doing there.
“But, unfortunately, we were at the wrong time and in the wrong place.”
Kubica relayed how he noticed that his connections within the F1 paddock changed when he was running at the back compared to when he was fighting away at the front.
“A lot depends on which way the wind blows,” he added.
“If it’s going well and you have a positive flow, then suddenly there are lots of ‘friends’ and ‘acquaintances’ around you. And if it’s not going well, suddenly they’re not there.
“I make no secret of the fact that my life has been a good test of friendships. The number of friends and people close to me before the accident versus after the accident has changed dramatically. I think it was also a good life lesson.”
The Polish racer has also revealed the difficulties he encountered during his extensive recovery, noting there were times when his brain “did not accept my body”.
“One stage was particularly difficult for me and even incomprehensible to me at times,” he explained.
“Not many people know about it. There was a moment when my brain and my thoughts did not accept my body. I would wake up at night and have the feeling that my right body part did not belong to me. It felt like it wasn’t mine.
“I will honestly admit that, even now, I find it difficult to recount this well. There were times when I wished I didn’t have that right body part. These were very bad thoughts. Anyway, there were a lot of them during the rehabilitation period.”
Kubica would part ways at the conclusion of that debut season with Williams, signing a deal with the Sauber-run Alfa Romeo squad to fulfil reserve driver duties in 2020.
The one-time F1 race winner remained in that role and even covered for the sidelined Kimi Raikkonen at two rounds in 2021 before he departed along with sponsor PKN Orlen, who went to AlphaTauri, at the end of 2022.
Ahead of competing in the World Endurance Championship’s hypercar category with AF Corse in 2024, Kubica, 39, concedes he is already pondering his life beyond racing.
“I know that my professional life takes up 90 per cent of my time,” he acknowledged.
“It’s like this: when I go for a bike ride, I think about racing. The entire schedule of the day and the year is subordinated to what awaits me in the car. On the one hand, this is positive, but on the other hand, I will soon be 40 years old and thoughts start to arise – what will I do next in life?
“Over the years, I have come to the realisation that you don’t have to race at all costs. I want to find the right atmosphere where I know I feel good.”
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