20 minutes with Robert Kubica

Twenty minutes. It's not a huge amount of time in the grand scheme of things, but it's an eternity in a sport where glory or failure can be decided by a tenth of a second. It also happens to be the amount of time that F1 Racing will be sitting down with Robert Kubica for, in the inauthentically serene confines of the Chinese paddock. As Kubica sits chatting to a particularly persistent Polish journalist, he's in good spirits - and it's not surprising: two hours ago he put the car eighth on the grid for Sunday's proceedings in Shanghai, and would go on to finish fifth. Not even a cloud of volcanic ash and European aviation chaos could wipe the smile from his satisfied face.

As the Polish journalist gets the nod from Renault that he has one final question, thoughts turn to the intriguing Kubica. He is usually affable and amusing in person, while retaining the relentless drive and flat-out aggression on the track that has led to his description as a 'real racer' by so many in F1.