Okay so I got hooked on this Robert Kubica story completely by accident yesterday. Was just messing around on YouTube watching old F1 crashes – you know how those rabbit holes go – and stumbled on that insane 2007 Canada smash of his BMW. Thing looked like a tin can someone crumpled up. Totally brutal.
That got me curious about what happened to the guy. Like, did he walk away? Did he race again? Just typed “Robert Kubica what happened” into the search bar like any normal person would. Expected maybe a short Wiki summary. Man, was I wrong.
Started digging deeper. Read old articles about that 2011 rally crash that basically ended his F1 career the first time round. Horrible stuff. Then I pulled up Wikipedia – gotta start somewhere, right? Scrolled past all his early career wins, straight to the injury details. Partial amputation of his right forearm?! Wait, hold up. How does someone drive an F1 car with only one fully functional hand? My brain couldn’t even process that.
So I dug more. Found this long interview where he talked about the rehab – dude basically relearned how to live and race. Simple things like buttoning a shirt took ages. Felt my own shoulders ache just imagining the physical therapy grind. Months in the hospital? Nah, I’d have given up.
Then I found the comeback chapters. Test driver roles, sportscar stuff… fine, cool, but come on. F1 was the dream. Watched shaky phone footage of him wrestling that Williams during testing in 2018. Commentary was buzzing – engineers stunned his lap times were competitive with that injury. Goosebumps moment, swear.
His 2019 race replays sealed it for me. That P10 finish in Germany? Points! With a backmarker car! Saw him wrestle the wheel on a wet track, all quick left-hand flicks where other drivers use both. Commentators kept shouting about “the miracle comeback,” but watching it… felt raw. Like seeing pure stubbornness made metal.
What stuck with me afterwards? Not the podiums from before the crash. It was him grinning after parking that Williams in the pit lane years later, wrist hanging limp but eyes completely alive. Guy got mangled, rebuilt himself bite by bite, and clawed back to the top tier against every damn odd. Makes my “tough days” feel like whining. Moral of my deep dive? It’s not about being perfect. It’s about not quitting when your wheels fall off. Robert Kubica? Absolute legend fuel.
