Robert Kubica's journey to becoming a grand prix winner was eventful. As a boy with a love of karting, he left his native Poland to race in Italy, later becoming a test driver for Nico Rosberg in the junior formulae. As Formula One wasn’t shown on TV in Poland he had to make do with watching two-year-old repeats of the British Touring Car Championship.

He suffered a badly broken arm in as a passenger in a car crash in 2003, before winning on his Formula 3 Euro Series debut with his arm still in a plastic brace.

An F1 race seat came in 2006, followed by a podium in only his third start. In 2008 he became the first “Pole on pole” in Bahrain before claiming a maiden grand prix win in Montreal, leading the world championship after six rounds. It was at a track where he had a heart-stopping and terrifying accident a year before. Overcoming injury and adversity is what he has done for a long time.

The tale of his return to F1 has been told many times. With the injuries he sustained to his right arm in an horrific rallying crash at the start of 2011 – it was partially severed – it is hard to believe he was able to return to the grid at all. That he is highlights his strongest characteristics.