Robert Kubica recalls his successful years in karting in Italy when he was an aspiring young racer as his best in terms of the quality of his driving.
Kubica - who returned to F1 last season eight years after a devastating rally crash had stopped his promising Grand Prix career dead in its tracks - set off from his native Poland I 1998 as a young aspiring racer to tackle the fast and furious world of karting in Italy.
The unassuming and anonymous 13-year-old, accompanied by his father, quickly made a name for himself despite his very limited means.
"The reason for Italy is because all the main races were there, and still are, as well as the most important chassis and engine manufacturers," he recounted during an Instagram interview with Pirelli's Mario Isola.
"Italy is a kind of center for the world of karting. At that time, it was the strongest championship in Europe, even in the world."
"In Poland, F1 was not on TV, rallies were much more popular and only a few drivers before me tried their hand at karting in the international arena.
"I remember my first race away from Poland, we arrived there by van with one mechanic. At the first free practice, I saw those good-looking official drivers from big teams, all those nice karts, and helmets. I had a regular white helmet, a suit and a kart without any branding."
Despite his impressive talent and pace, Kubica said his father always made sure to keep his expectations in check.
"My father told me to follow a Czech driver, Erik Janis, who was really good," he remembered.
"So, I started going out behind him and after three or five laps, I started going faster than him! Then, I told my dad but he said that he was not pushing, just running the engine. But I did the pole position!
"For a long time, I did not really know if I was good because my father always kept me at a very low profile.
"So, this time, I realized that maybe I was better than what I was always told. I finished second of the race and was kind of shocked!
"Then, I became the first driver from outside of Italy to win the championship there and did it twice in a row, in 1998 and 1999.
"I remember those days as really incredible for me because I really enjoyed them. I was really driving, enjoying myself and my passion, not thinking about Formula 1."
Kubica's fond memories of those early successful days even incite him to reveal a rather surprising belief.
"It seems to me that I’ve never been as good a driver in other categories as I was in karting."
The one-time Grand Prix winner has often been praised by his teams for his exceptional technical feedback, a quality rooted in his passion for set-up work and the skills he honed during his karting days.
"I was very good with carburation, which was very important," he explained.
"In current days, there are a lot of sensors, data, displayed dashes, karting has moved forward as a technology.
"In the past, there was a small dash with RPM numbers and everything you were doing, like fine-tuning the carburation and the engine, it was by your ears.
"I did learn very quickly thanks to my father. There were some hard lessons and I realized that I won much more than I should have won, just because I was more sneaky.
"Sometimes, because of speed, I could not win but I have won some races that were impossible to win."
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