Kubica the third man keeps title in balance

Robert Kubica goes into Sunday's Chinese grand prix, the penultimate round of the world championship, believing he has a chance of repeating history and beating the current favourites, Lewis Hamilton and Felipe Massa, to the title.

Kubica's second-place finish in the Japanese grand grix last week left the 23-year-old from Kracow third in the championship standings, 12 points behind Hamilton and seven behind Massa. This time last year Kimi Raikkonen was in third place 17 points behind the leader, Hamilton, with two rounds to go and the Finn snatched the drivers' title in the final race at Interlagos by a point.

In 13 of the season's 16 races so far Kubica has finished in the points, including his first win in Canada. Many in the pit lane think that if the BMW Sauber team had focused more on developing the 2008 car than on next year's model, and fussed over the struggling Nick Heidfeld a bit less, the Pole would be in an even stronger position in Shanghai.

Kubica described his second-place finish in Japan as "a real boost for our morale", adding: "Now we have nothing to lose but everything is possible." Ultimately it may be a long shot to expect him to pull off such a miracle, but his march to prominence in the sport's most senior category has been as unexpected as it has been unconventional.

From the age of 13 he lived for much of the time in Italy, isolated from family and friends, after the Italian kart manufacturer CRG spotted his potential. The young Pole moved into car racing with formula Renault in 2001 and, after two years contesting the Italian championship, went into formula three in 2003. He finished seventh in the Euroseries in his second season, then won the 2005 World Series by Renault before becoming BMW Sauber's test driver in 2006.

He moved full-time into formula one when Jacques Villeneuve was fired after the 2006 German grand prix. For Mario Theissen, the BMW Motorsport director, promoting Kubica to the seat vacated by Villeneuve seemed a big risk but Kubica showed the wisdom of the decision by finishing third in only his third race, the Italian grand prix at Monza.

Kubica has a dry sense of humour which was by no means ruffled even by a 170mph, 40G smash that shredded his car in last year's Canadian grand prix. Asked later whether he had seen a video of the accident, he paused before responding: "No, I didn't need to. You see, I was there at the time and I saw it live."

The BMW Sauber technical director, Willy Rampf, has made it clear that the team will make every effort to help Kubica in his quest for the world title. "As long as there is theoretically still a chance to win the world championship, then we will not sleep," Rampf said. "We'll try to concentrate on every detail of the preparation for these races. There won't be any big updates but we can make small changes and we can try to use the potential of the tyres in a more perfect way."

There is no question mark over Kubica's capability. He may have been a little fortunate to win in Canada this year after Hamilton ran into the back of Raikkonen in the pit lane, but it is through avoiding such banana skins that the Pole has achieved such a formidable position. Expect him to make the most of it.
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