KUBICA IS HEALED

No-one had more on the line at Le Mans 2025 than Robert Kubica.

The one-time Formula One firebrand was lucky to survive a rally crash in 2011 that nearly took his right arm and and put an end to his Formula One ambitions – including a signed contract for a Ferrari F1 race place for 2012.

Kubica has steadily rebuilt his career since falling off the radar in F1 – after a string of Free Practice cameos including Williams – and focussed on sports cars.

As soon as the pace of the Ferrari 499P was obvious this year, after back-to-back Le Mans wins for the Italian factory team, he knew he had a sniff.

Building on speed and consistency through the race he and his co-drivers in the shocking yellow Ferrari were jousting with the racer red factory cars at the front of the field.

So Kubica wanted to win at Le Mans. He needed to win at Le Mans.

When things got tough, he was even on the radio to push the politics – demanding equal treatment to the factory Ferrari squad. He had let them past in the early running, now they should let him go ahead to take the fight to Porsche and Toyota.

“Fortunately I managed to control everything, always concentrating with no mistakes,” Kubica said.

“When I needed to I pushed and when I didn’t I conserved my tyres and managed to bring it home.”

He did more than that.

He drove it home, running the final hours at Le Mans to ensure there were zero mistakes. Or, if there were dramas, fighting would be in his hands and not relying on someone else.

“I was not supposed to do five stints at the end of the race. It is three hours and something in the car but fortunately I was able to control everything with a cool head, no mistakes and managed to bring it home," the Polish hero said.

He knew what failure felt like at Le Mans, once losing a class win within sight of the flag.

“I’ve always been close. OK, the first three years I raced in LMP2, but out of the last five Le Mans my cars have been racing in the top three positions."

Kubica has always been stoic about his rally injuries, which left him with a mis-shaped and weakened right arm. The 40-year-old has never given up.

“We deserve it," he said of the win, but also speaking for himself.

"Great job from everyone, we have been strong. It has not been a smooth one but we deserve it, we have been fast. Only two mistakes we could have avoided, but that’s Le Mans.

"I’m happy for Ferrari, three years in a row with three different crews and cars. Congratulations to them, it’s amazing.”

Although the focus was always on Kubica, the Le Mans win was also a breakthrough for Chinese driver Yifei Ye and newcomer Phil Hanson. Ye is actually a factory driver with Ferrari while 24-year-old Hanson has been a winner in lower-level sports car competition including a class win at Le Mans.

It was also a landmark win for Ferrari, as its three-straight run of wins means it gets to keep the perpetual Le Mans trophy at its race base in Maranello, Italy.

It was also the first three-peak for Ferrari since then 1960s, when Enzo Ferrari's cars won six times in a row between 1960 and 1965.