Robert Kubica Still in the Fight: Why BMW Ace Remains a Title Contender

Admittedly, he has only scored 13 points since his first F1 win in Canada and remained in the lead for a mere fortnight.

But still, Robert Kubica will have a say in this year's title fight.

BMW Sauber experienced a slight hangover after their historic Canadian weekend, when they claimed not only their first ever win, but also secured an unexpected one-two with Kubica ahead of teammate Nick Heidfeld.

The aim of the season had been reached and the Swiss-German team decided therefore to focus on 2009 and the major upcoming technical changes.

As a result, the development of this year’s car was stopped and Robert’s dreams were apparently dashed.

The BMWs suffered from a lack of pace in France, Germany, and above all, Hungary, but the Polish driver managed to claim top-eight finishes each time.

At Silverstone, he was one of the numerous drivers caught by the pouring rain and failed to take the chequered flag—his only mistake so far.

It is here you will find Kubica’s greatest asset this year: consistency.

In 2008, all the big names have wasted plenty of opportunities to clearly pull away, either because of a poor reliability (Kimi Raikkonen in France and Valencia, Felipe Massa, and Lewis Hamilton in Hungary), or after stupid errors (Malaysia and Great Britain for Massa, Australia and Monaco for Raikkonen, Canada and France for Lewis Hamilton).

For the past 15 years, title contention has often been a duel between Michael Schumacher and another driver (Damon Hill, Jacques Villeneuve, Mika Hakkinen, Fernando Alonso).

Since his retirement in 2006, there is no No. 1 driver policy at Maranello, and BMW has steadily risen through the field to become genuine opponents.

Forget the duel and welcome the trio (2007) or the four-way battle (2008).

No doubt that this offers us thrilling and breathtaking races with several candidates for glory as the momentum keeps shifting from one driver to the other.

After four races, Raikkonen was seemingly cruising to a back-to-back title. After the German Grand Prix and even the Hungarian qualifying session, everybody saw Hamilton claiming the crown.

Now, it's Massa's turn to be carried by the sweet whirl of victory.

What about tomorrow? Kubica could be the next on the list.

Of course, he seems no longer able to match Ferrari’s and McLaren’s paces, but his recent podium in Valencia proves that he will be ready to grab any opportunity that comes along.

His situation echoes Heinz Harald Frentzen’s when, back in 1999, the German driver remained in the title contention behind the wheel of a Jordan-Mugen-Honda up until the last two races of the season.

Already Ferrari and McLaren were the dominant teams, and Jordan played the part of the surprise troublemaker.

It was the climax year for Eddie Jordan’s team and Frentzen’s best season before a slow but steady decline. Hopefully BMW’s and Kubica’s futures will be more successful.

The main question today is whether those futures will be linked or not.

The Pole is rumored to leave the Hinwill-based team in 2010 if he is not given a car to fight for the crown next year. He could replace reigning world champion Kimi Raikkonen, whose contract with Ferrari ends after 2009.

But right now only 2008 matters, and there is no doubt that the victory-thirsty BMW driver will eye more top three finishes as the last third of the season starts this weekend with the Belgian Grand Prix.

The thrilling, high-speed track of Spa-Francorchamps has always been a landmark to distinguish genuine, skillful drivers from the others.

We will see where Robert Kubica belongs.