Back during the 2008 Formula One Season, racer Robert Kubica lead the entire championship in his BMW F1.08, which he readily admits wasn’t the fastest car in F1 by a long shot. Yet, despite the car’s natural disadvantage compared to the competition, hard-nosed racing and a little bit of luck allowed Kubica to take the lead. However, halfway through the season BMW decided to suspend development of the F1.08 car, stopping the car from remaining competitive.
BMW suspended the development of the 2008 car to work on the following year’s KERS-equipped car. That lack of continued development, though, led to Kubica’s car losing whatever competitive edge it had left. So despite being very competitive for much of the season, Kubica ended up falling to fourth, with the now-dominant Lewis Hamilton winning the championship.
“Twelve years later, Kubica still looks back on the 2008 season with regret. “I have exactly the same view as I did 12 years ago, because in the end I was involved, and I was in the situation where unfortunately I was feeling that this might be our only chance to fight [for the championship],” he told GP Racing.
“We didn’t have the fastest car, this is a fact. Normally the fastest car is winning the championship, but not always” he continued.
“For whatever reason – the mistakes of others, [us] doing a better job at the beginning of the season – in the end, without the fastest car, we were still leading the championship.”
It’s not only Kubica. Even the team engineers and mechanics feel as if it was a lost season, one that could have ended differently had BMW not essentially given up on it.
“I met some of the mechanics after 10 years, who were there with me, and they had exactly the same view. And they regret it, because in the end we didn’t get another chance.” said Kubica.
That must be frustrating, to have an incredible season and excelling despite having a slower car than much of the competition only to have the season essentially ruined due to corporate management. As a driver, that has to be maddening. Especially when Kubica had the chance to take down Hamilton, who’s now unbeatable.
Now, Kubica is a reserve driver for Alfa Romeo, which is ironic because Alfa is one of BMW’s modern road-car competitors.
[Source: Auto Sport]
