Robert Kubica has revealed that racing – and winning – for AF Corse Ferrari in the World Endurance Championship helped him heal the deep emotional wound of his collision accident, which disrupted his Formula 1 career.
On 6 February 2011, Kubica was participating in the Ronde di Andora rally as part of his extracurricular activities when he suffered a serious crash, which left him with permanent injuries to his right arm and leg.
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Not only did the Renault driver have to give up that F1 campaign, but what was not known at the time was that he had signed a contract with Ferrari for the 2012 season.
The deal fell through due to a rally accident, as he spent a year and a half away from racing, and it took him six years to return to work in an F1 car.
However, Kubica raced again in the world championship in 2019 and briefly in 2021; most importantly, he switched to endurance racing that same year and went on to win the Le Mans 24 Hours in 2025 with a private AF Corse Ferrari 499P, which he shared with Phil Hanson and Ye Yifei.
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Answering questions from Autosport readers ahead of the 2026 edition of the French enduro, Kubica was asked how winning Le Mans as a Ferrari driver felt in the context of his unfulfilled Ferrari F1 contract.
“We have to be clear because in the end I’m not a Ferrari driver, I’m running behind the wheel of a Ferrari 499P, but I’m an AF Corse driver,” answered Pole.
“It’s really different, it’s impossible to compare those days when I was finally on my way to becoming a Ferrari F1 driver. There’s nothing I can take away from the Hypercar category, but if you’re in Formula 1, I think as a driver who’s made a name for himself there are two things that I’ve always aimed for – hopefully one day I’ll be a world champion or a chance to fight for it, and the second Ferrari was to be an F1 driver.
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“So I didn’t make it [either] for them, I was on my way to become a Ferrari F1 driver, unfortunately due to an accident it didn’t happen.
#83 AF Corse Ferrari 499P: Yifei Ye, Robert Kubica, Philip Hanson
#83 AF Corse Ferrari 499P: Yifei Ye, Robert Kubica, Philip Hanson
“Of course you can’t compare them, but I have to say that one of the reasons why at the end of 2023 I decided to drive for AF Corse is that…
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“Yes there are technical reasons but one of the reasons we said ‘Yes I will go this way with AF Corse’ is that maybe in the future if I don’t go I will regret that I had the chance to drive a Ferrari Hypercar but I didn’t. So this was one of the things that was more emotional than any technical aspect; maybe you will never have this kind of thinking, but this thing has been coming out, but it has been bleeding for many years. way of thinking.”
Kubica, now 41, finished seventh at the 2026 Le Mans 24 Hours with his team-mate, and the field has eluded them so far this season in the highly competitive – albeit controversial – secrets of the Balance of Performance – World Endurance Championship.
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