What if Kubica's rally crash never happened?
Grand prix history changed for the poorer when Robert Kubica suffered a rally crash before the start of the 2011 Formula 1 season. While his journey back could yet be completed, how might his career have turned out if it hadn't been interrupted?
This wasn't how it happened. But it could have been had fortune been kinder to Robert Kubica.
Kubica was frustrated at the start of the 2011 season, having been unable to contest January's Monte Carlo Rally because employer Renault did not have an S2000-spec car for him and would not allow him to drive a rival manufacturer's car. His planned runout in a Skoda Fabia in the Ronde di Andora Rally between the first and second pre-season Formula 1 tests was also nixed.
But other than being prevented from dabbling in rallying when there was a gap in the F1 schedule, things were looking up. After moving to Renault in 2010 and enjoying a strong season in a car that was good enough for the odd podium but not race wins, expectations were high for the coming campaign.
Share Or Save This Story
How the Senna myth has been transformed
Archive: When the French GP almost produced F1's greatest shock
Autosport 70: How Scheckter instigated Silverstone's most famous F1 incident
Autosport 70: The lost F1 team that launched Newey
Why Haas's shocking 2019 should have F1 worried
How Kubica found the answer to his own incredible F1 challenge
The real step that ended McLaren's F1 nightmare
2019's Albon, Norris and Russell are 2001's Montoya, Raikkonen and Alonso
Gasly disqualified from Azerbaijan qualifying over fuel flow infringement
Leclerc at a loss to explain Azerbaijan GP qualifying record
The F1 safety system calls behind Norris’s Azerbaijan qualifying exit
Verstappen rues bouncing Red Bull that derailed Azerbaijan qualifying
F1 uncovered: A weekend behind the scenes with a team physio
Jon Noble: Why Newey’s myth-busting correction is bad news for Aston Martin’s rivals
How Newey will link Alonso, Honda, and Aston Martin's engineers together for a 2026 title tilt
Ayrton Senna's magic moments, chosen by his race engineers
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
