Thirteen years have passed, but Robert Kubica he remembers how today was the day of the terrible accident in which he risked losing his life. Desperate situation, more surgical operations, a very long rehabilitation and the joy – a bet he won with himself – of returning to driving a Formula 1 car, experienced in 2019 thanks to Williams. The accident that changed the Polish pilot’s life forever occurred in February 2011, during the Andorra Rounds Rallywhile driving a Renault. It was the most serious of his career: today he is 39 years old and races in FIA World Endurance Championship for the team AF Corseat the wheel of the Ferrari 499P.
Kubica and the bad feeling before the accident
Podcast guest GurulandiaKubica told what he remembers of that day and of that bad feeling he had on the eve of the race. A little voice was buzzing in his head, it had almost convinced him to give up everything, but the determination of his team owner pushed him to change his mind. “I was in Valencia for the pre-season tests. I called to tell him ‘let’s leave it alone’ and he replied that Pirelli was already bringing the tires, the road had already been blocked for the tests”.
Kubica: “For six months I didn’t lift a finger”
“Honestly, I remember little of what happened – continued the pilot – because I was in a coma for a long time. I arrived at the hospital with one and a half liters of blood, while a human body has six or seven. The right side of the My body was completely crushed. I suffered 42 fractures and from my toe to my elbow I was all broken.” It took 12 hours of operations to put it back in place and a process of reconstruction, including internal ones. Petrol in the tank to start again, first in life and then on the track. “I am human. For six or seven months I lost all sensitivity and I couldn’t move anything. I tried to move my finger but I could and it was a sensation that only those who have experienced it can understand. The day I succeeded I felt an absurd joy.”
Kubica and the passion for engines
Kubica had decided to participate in a rally race for a reason related to his F1 career. “I was sure that if I could adapt to that riding style I would definitely benefit from it. If it starts to rain and you have slick tyres, the sensitivity that the rally gives you is priceless. When it starts to rain in F1 they immediately give the red flag, while at the Monte Carlo Rally if you enter the track with dry tires and it starts to snow you have to manage on your own and finish the race.” The most important victory, for Kubica, is being able to tell today that terrible afternoon thirteen years ago.
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