Yep, D.M.N., make a poll please on this thread

I think it's both... I was never part of the Kubica bandwagon, and I thought it was ridiculous that Autosport itself ranked him the best driver in the world in 2008, because he's just not.. yet.

To be so close to his teammate at BMW (I'm not trying to bring this whole Kubica/Heidfeld thing again), a teammate who was very good yes, but not one of the best in the field surely, was not a sign that this was a Champion in waiting. 2009 only served to confirm that in my mind, that Kubica was going to end up in the Jean Alesi mould: A very good driver that's not quite got the edge or that last little bit to become a true top driver.

This year he's really starting to win me over, not as the 'best of the field', but as one of those drivers who is in the Massa/Vettel/Webber category of the very good drivers, who will win races, who with the right car could do more (apart from Vettel), and really shines on the circuits that focus the mind most. We've seen all that from Kubica this year, in Australia and Monaco we saw the focus and claustrophilia(!) of Kubica, and at places like Spa and the other classic circuits he is putting his car in with the top teams..

He's having one of those years where you get a driver breaking through into the higher reaches of the championship standing (Schumacher 92, Senna in 93 splitting the dominant Williams), above some other guys who should be above given the car they have... I'm not saying the Renault is bad but it's clearly not, but there is a difference between sitting in a F10 and an R30, and Kubica is cutting down that difference.

superb observation, coming to think of it - you are absolutely right.
why hanen't I thought of that before?

What does that mean? claustrophilia? anyone?

opposite of claustrophobia i think;) Meaning he likes them tight

do you know what claustrophobia is? now... reverse it.
he has been always talking how he liked driving 2mm from concrete walls.

it separates boys from men.

[edit] P.S. i think it was Brundle at Monaco this year (Friday? Saturday?), who said that "what Kubica is doing is scary".

The best one: Monza 2007 on Rosberg. That was a blast
Anybody have a video of it? I couldn’t find it on youtube.

can't find also, but i found Rosberg's reaction
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75qEwZEShgw 0:36

I hadn't till this afternoon... couldn't find anything 'better' to put really... rather than 'he likes the narrower tracks' which is a bit meh..

I think that was due to McLaren holding out to try and grab Raikkonen as Whitmarsh believed that Alonso was going to replace him. Kubica is a great driver, but I can understand why they would rather have had Kimi in the team. By the time Raikkonen said no, Kubica was already tied with Renault. I also doubt McLaren would have wanted to pay Renault to break his contract when the reigning WDC was available (I believe Kubica is better, but Button made more sense from a PR point of view).

This is just because Lewis was starting from the back of the grid (where overtaking is easier) more often due to qualification errors/penalties, etc.
And don't forget that he had a top car with the most powerful engine all this time (plus the best KERS in 2009).

It can't be siplified in that way. Lewis is more aggresive driver, willing to take some risks, Robert prefers to play it safe, he is not as aggresive as Hamilton when it comes to overtaking.

Well, it doesn't make him worse driver... he's just more of a Prost-type, while Lewis is more of a Senna-type.

No news here.

Bobby Kuby to Nascar

Can't wait to read the headlines: " Pole on pole ".

I thought he has been a world class driver for quite awhile now. To be honest Im a little surprised this thread was started and that many seem to think he may not be or more so that he definately will be very soon but not yet. I thought it was a pretty much unanimous decision quite awhile ago and was one of the few things that dont get argued about haha.

One thing about kubica is he certainly seems to be the driver with the fewest haters

Actually it can be simplified like that. The Renault this year has ranged from about as good as the Ferrari/McLaren to more of a match for the Force India/Sauber/Williams. Yet even when it was the 5th-6th best car for a track Kubica still made Q3 (only non red-bull driver to do so I believe) every time, so he was qualifying where he was supposed to be. Hamilton has had a few mess up's where he started below P10 (and the McLaren has at worst been the 4th best car on a given weekend) so he had a clear speed advantage and made his way through the pack. Kubica has only ended up at the back of the grid once this year after a spin in Bahrain and he did manage to overtake quite a few cars (and not all of them were new teams).

Now if given the circumstances I don't know how aggressive Robert can/would be. But for the most part he's mixing it up with the tail end of the Ferrari's and McLaren's at most races and those are cars that unless there is a big tire difference or a driver makes a mistake the Renault simply isn't going to be quick enough to get the job done (though maybe in the coming races with the F-duct it will be).

interesting title to the thread
the fact we are talking about an F1 driver means he has to already be a world class driver IMO.
That being said i do think the way he has conducted himself this year has shown he has matured and is now a far better driver than he showed last year.
IMHO last year he was in the third tier of drivers this year he has firmly put himself into the second tier.

wtf

oh, an internet forum, you know... RK has just been promoted to a 'B category'
and this particular thread is getting funnier and funnier.

I'm glad to see that Renault have provided him with a car to get some decent results, its hard to judge his actual performances given his teammate, it be good to see Renault put another top driver in the other car to give Kubica more competition

Kubica, "no risk" driver? Since when?
Kubica Sutil Canada 2010

Kubica is not a play it safe driver imo.

i take it IMHO or In My Humble Opinion is too much for you to understand as clearly an opinion not a statement of fact

But still, I have in memory several races 2007-2008 where he was stuck behind a clearly slower driver/car with much more fuel onboard, like Trulli or Sutil, and couldn't overtake them, where in similar situations Nick hadn't bigger problems with that, though, maybe it's different now, we will see.

Really weird opinion, 3rd trier that was the trier of the cars performance in 2009, not driver skills, or you thinking seriously that he just got from 1st trier in 2008 to 3r in 2009 because of?

3rd tier?? 3rd???????????? wtf was justified I am aware it is your opinion and I say wtf.

Fixed it for You. Now, it sounds more ... well, sane

Frankly, I cannot imagine how on earth anyone can think that Kubica is or was at any point of his career, a third tier driver. Whatever he is right up there with Hamilton and Alonso or not, is an open question but come on - third tier with the likes of ... Liuzzi ??!! The only one possibility is that someone is judging cars rather than drivers. But, lets make an assumption for a minute that 2009Kubica really was a third tier driver. This third tier driver pulled out an amazing podium drive at Interlagos and only the 'crash kid' stopped from picking up another podium finish at the season opener in Australia, in a dog of a car. You call this, third tier driving? And yes, he was demotivated, but who would not be in his position? They (BMW) were meant to fight for the title and ended up ... pulling out of the sport. I haven't noticed Alonso being any more motivated last year and nobody called him a third tier driver because of that.

...since he would have gone straight into the back of Sutil if he hadn't made that move. It was either guaranteed accident, or potential accident. I know which one I would have chosen.



How about this one in Valencia?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSval75GTq4

Pretty impressive if you ask me ;)