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Another defining season for Kubica, but what about 2026?

Robert Kubica’s 14-year journey towards racing redemption really culminated in June where, alongside co-drivers Ye Yifei and Phil Hanson, Kubica drove the yellow No. 83 AF Corse Ferrari 499P to victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

It was the catalyst to the ‘satellite’ AF Corse Ferrari’s somewhat unexpected campaign for the 2025 FIA World Endurance Championship Hypercar title, which began back in February when Kubica, Ye, and Hanson finished second in a Ferrari podium sweep.

In all but one race, the yellow No. 83 Ferrari scored championship points, and entered the season-ending 8 Hours of Bahrain with a chance to overturn a 13-point deficit to the full factory No. 51 Ferrari 499P of Alessandro Pier Guidi, James Calado, and Antonio Giovinazzi.

Fifth place wasn’t enough for Kubica to win the World Championship in the end, not with the No. 51 team finishing one place behind the No. 83.

But finishing runner-up in the Hypercar World Endurance Drivers’ Championship was another amazing achievement in Kubica’s unbelievable career.

A career that, heading into 2026, has now reached a major crossroads.

“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 told RACER in Bahrain.

“Of course, we are a bit disappointed, but realistically speaking, I think it was a ‘mission impossible’ to win it unless the No. 51, which we all hoped would not happen, would have an issue or something.

“We did, unfortunately, a few mistakes during the year, which definitely didn’t help us in hunting, but as No.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.”

Along with finishing second in the Drivers’ Championship, Kubica and company also won the – admittedly lopsided – duel for the World Cup for Hypercar teams in a clean sweep. Once former Porsche customer Hertz Team JOTA picked up the Cadillac factory deal, the WEC Hypercar World Cup race of 2025 dwindled to a two-team race between AF Corse’s privately-funded No. 83 Ferrari, and Proton Competition’s No. 99 Porsche 963.

Kubica added a Le Mans win to his stellar resume earlier this year. Jakob Ebrey/Getty Images

“We know, in this sport, that racing manufacturer teams, is not the easy stuff,” Kubica said about the disparity between the ever-dwindling private efforts and the ever-growing manufacturer programs in the Hypercar class.

“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 No. 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 Le Mans was the culmination of recovery from 42 fractures and near-amputation of his right arm after a rallying accident in February 2011, the grueling recovery, the ups and downs of his attempt to reclaim his reputation in rallying, giving up a potential 2017 Le Mans debut to chase a once-impossible Formula 1 comeback – and then achieving it – then, when that chapter of his career closed, finally devoting himself towards endurance racing.

It should have brought Kubica unconditional happiness, especially after losing out on an LMP2 class win in 2021 due to a mechanical failure. 

But almost five months after claiming overall honors in the biggest endurance race in the world, the Polish racing legend didn’t quite feel that upon reflection.

“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 confessed. “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 realized, 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, who turns 41 next month, has not yet decided where he’ll be next year in WEC, but he hopes to be a part of something that can give him a chance to race at Le Mans and leave him feeling happy and fulfilled.

“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,” he said. “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. 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.

“I still think in order to be competitive, you have to do full-time WEC, because ultimately it’s about small details. 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.”

Will he come back, and if so, where? Kubica said bluntly, “There is no decision.”