There are many drivers that come to mind when someone mentions the word ‘talent’ in modern-day Formula 1.
While some will point to the likes of Lewis Hamilton and his jaw-dropping statistics, others will be quick to show Max Verstappen’s aggressive and fearless driving. Others may even point to Sebastian Vettel or Fernando Alonso.
However, for Aston Martin team boss Mike Krack, none of these guys come close to who he believes is the “most talented driver I have ever seen”.
Having worked alongside Robert Kubica at BMW-Sauber, Krack believes that had things worked in his favour, people may have viewed Kubica very differently in retrospect.
Kubica once even had a realistic chance of challenging for the title.
Back in 2008, he was largely seen as a dark horse in the early part of the season.
The Polish driver had accumulated 42 points from seven races which saw him ahead of eventual champion Lewis Hamilton and also Felipe Massa.
Things didn’t quite pan out all that well for Kubica, who finished fourth in the drivers’ standings at the end of the season.
While Kubica was still seen as a promising driver at the time, he suffered some injuries in a rallying event in Italy in 2011 and only made a return to the sport in a Williams seat in 2019.
After a season with Williams, Kubica took up the role of reserve driver for Alfa Romeo.
Why does Krack believe Kubica was the best?
For Krack, there simply was no better driver than Kubica before his injury.
“The best one I’ve ever seen,” Krack said.
To ensure no bias was in play, Krack was then asked if Kubica was better than Sebastian Vettel, who he currently works with at Aston Martin.
“From a pure talent, I think how he has a feeling in describing the car, I think he is really, really, really strong,” Krack said.
BMW left the sport in 2009 after experiencing a tough campaign.
However, Krack believes that they may well have stayed for longer if they had managed to win the 2008 championship.
“I think, yes, I think they would have stayed,” he said.
“But, to be honest, I was not part of it anymore in 2009. The reasons why they pulled out – was it only success or were there other things? I think there was also the financial crisis at the time, so you would have to ask the big players.”