Ace Polish Formula One driver Robert Kubica was less than happy last season when, while leading the title race, his BMW Sauber team decided, instead of supporting him to the end, to focus on developing their car for this campaign.
However, the 24-year-old is determined to set that record straight when he gets his season under way in the first race on Sunday, the Australian Grand Prix.
Kubica — who finished tied for third last season with 75 points — has already shown he has enormous determination by rebounding from a horror crash in the 2007 Canadian Grand Prix to record his maiden Formula One victory in the same race last term.
PHOTO: AP
“Last year, I was pushing to fight until the end because I may never have the chance again,” Kubica told BBC Sport. “I won the race, I was leading the championship, but in the end it does not matter — what matters is to win the championship.”
He is certainly the man that, at least in public, reigning champion Lewis Hamilton says he most fears and he would know, as he has been racing against him since they were karting.
Kubica, whose parents borrowed money from the bank to fulfill his dream of becoming a top class driver, getting him his first off-road car when he was just four, says that he is made of stern stuff because of his tough upbringing.
“I learned to grow up a lot more quickly,” said Kubica, who left school at 14 and, after a successful domestic karting career, moved to live alone in Italy and race karts there.
“I did not have an easy start to life as a driver because I came from a country where there wasn’t a culture of motorsport. It was difficult to find support — but I was lucky,” said Kubica, who scored points in every race save four last season.
Kubica, who was born in Krakow, concedes that he does not fit the popular image of the Formula One driver, that of the playboy.
“I don’t fit perfectly into this F1 world,” said Kubica, who prefers to spend his free time watching rallying, playing poker, snooker or 10-pin bowling. “Many people are in F1 not for the same reason I am here. What I like about F1 has four wheels and a steering wheel.”
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