At 40 years old, and with success in three different FIA World Championships, there is not much in motor racing that Robert Kubica has not accomplished.
But the Polish ace reached new heights in 2025, starring on the way to 24 Hours of Le Mans victory in June aboard the privateer #83 AF Corse Ferrari 499P, and fighting for a drivers’ world championship, alongside co-drivers Ye Yifei and Phil Hanson.
The yellow 499P was a consistent threat this year, with the Le Mans win backed up by a second-place finish in Qatar and five further points scoring runs, as well as pole position at COTA.
On the Prancing Horse’s most challenging days, at Sāo Paulo and Fuji, it was the #83 Ferrari which led the fleet of 499Ps, picking up valuable points that kept the championship lead of teammates Alessandro Pier Guidi, Antonio Giovinazzi and James Calado to a minimum.
Kubica, Ye and Hanson headed to the Bahrain International Circuit earlier this month second in the championship, only 13 points behind, although they never truly threatened to overhaul the #51 crew, which finished one place ahead of them, during the eight-hour affair.
Still, a fifth-place finish secured Kubica and co. the runner-up spot in the drivers’ world championship, as well as an unprecedented eighth World Cup for Hypercar Teams victory of the season.
“If you would ask me before the year and tell me we will win Le Mans and then fight until the end our factory car, I will sign straight away,” Kubica tells DSC.
“Of course, we are a bit disappointed, but realistically speaking, I think it was a mission impossible to win it unless #51, which we all hope will not happen, will have an issue or something.
“We did, unfortunately, a few mistakes during the year, which definitely didn’t help us in hunting, but as #51 did even more, I think the only reason we were still in the battle, it was because we did less mistakes during the year. So that’s how it is.”
With the manufacturer boom that the Hypercar ruleset has provided top-flight sportscar racing, the associated increase in costs and decrease in grid space has proven challenging for the independent teams which have provided the backbone of endurance racing for decades.
From as many as eight privateer entries in the FIA WEC’s LMP1 era, and four in Hypercar last year, this term saw the #83 Ferrari joined only by the #99 Proton Competition Porsche 963, as the privately funded efforts compete to keep up with the factory giants.
“We know, in this sport, that racing manufacturer teams, is not the easy stuff,” Kubica says.
“I think WEC made huge progress, and the level went massively up, in the last few years. But it’s making life difficult for non-manufacturer cars. So realistically, we achieved something, I would say nearly impossible.
“Of course, we are supported. It’s not like we are left alone by Ferrari. But definitely, it was a difficult battle, if it was at any point, any battle. But anyway, it’s also thanks to the guys in our #83 crew, to my teammates, to Ferrari, which supplied all three cars a really unique Hypercar.
“There is a lot of talented people in this group, and the progress we made this year in such a locked championship, from development point of view, was huge. We did a lot of small steps with understanding better. And I think the winners are back in the office in Maranello, the guys who you don’t see, who are working hard through all the season to improve the car and to give us this opportunity.”
Winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans is a highlight in any career, but the Pole readily admits that the achievement didn’t bring him as much joy as it should have done.
“I think we could and we should enjoy more because we did really extraordinary stuff this year, and unfortunately, probably we enjoyed 10% or 20% of that,” Kubica confesses.
“Winning Le Mans is not every day. For an endurance racing driver, it’s the highest race you can aim to win, and I think we had a poor enjoyment, at least from my side, unfortunately.
“In the end, I realised, a few months later, someone asked me about Le Mans, and it still brings me back emotions, but I would like that there will be only 100% positive emotions. Unfortunately, after the race, there were mixed emotions.”
Kubica’s prototype journey began in Bahrain nine years ago, with a test behind the wheel of ByKolles Racing Team’s AER-powered CLM P1/01 LMP1. The announced 2017 race drive never materialised, but a second opportunity emerged with Team WRT in LMP2 in 2021.
Alongside Ye and Louis Delétraz, he won the European Le Mans Series title, and came up agonisingly short of victory at Le Mans as their ORECA 07 – Gibson expired on the final lap.
Kubica followed this up with three further Le Mans near-misses, finishing as runner-up in LMP2 in both ’22 and ’23, before retiring from contention at the 20-hour mark last year after the #83 Ferrari led, fittingly, 83 laps.
Having now conquered the great race, and with clear doubt as to whether a privateer entry can remain competitive, it raises the question as to whether the Pole has the fire within to go again?
“In the end, I always said that I’m focused on finishing the year,” Kubica states. “And then I will decide, first of all what I feel is the best way for me to continue, because in the end, you have to go home happy.
“This is when you are 40 years old. You are enough mature to understand that it’s not about only setting as fast a lap time as possible, and being happy helps working better and being a better driver. So this is for sure, one of the aspects which I will be looking for.
“I would still like to do Le Mans,” he adds. “Le Mans is something unique, and if I will have an opportunity to race Le Mans in a competitive package, or at least something which I know we can work on it and compete. I would be surprised if I will not be there, but we will see.”
This doesn’t mean that the 40-year-old is targeting a step back from full-time FIA WEC duties, however, with Kubica believing the additional benefits a full-season campaign offers are essential given how competitive the current era is.
“I still think in order to be competitive, you have to do full-time WEC, because ultimately it’s about small details,” he explains.
“If you are not in the car, if you are not in the paddock, in the team, you are missing this, and we are on the level as a paddock here that it’s not enough to only come, drive and win it. Yes, you can do it, but I think this sport is too technical.
So, with the FIA WEC team entry deadline fast approaching, does Kubica know where he will be racing next year?
“There is no decision.”
