MOTOR SPORT/FORMULA ONE CHAMPIONSHIP: Alan Henrytalks to the rising star of Formula One, BMW Sauber's Robert Kubica, who has been consistently quick since the start of the year

THERE IS an attractive insouciance about Robert Kubica which belies the steel and determination lurking beneath the surface. The 23-year-old propelled BMW Sauber into the spotlight this month by grabbing pole position for the Bahrain grand prix and hoisted the team into the lead of the constructors' championship by finishing the race third, ahead of his team-mate, Nick Heidfeld.

But as the Formula One fraternity rolled into Barcelona this week for tomorrow's first European leg of the championship Kubica was not getting carried away. He knows results can be deceptive and BMW Sauber still have some way to go before they can expect to beat Ferrari and McLaren-Mercedes.

"I think we will have a more predictable race than the first three overseas grands prix," he said. "The conditions this time round are completely different. All the teams know the Barcelona circuit like the back of their hands because we do a lot of testing there. That's why I expect the gaps between the teams to become a lot smaller than in the last races.

"Let's put it this way: if every single race some of the top four drivers go off and have problems and you have no problems and are always consistent, there is always the chance. But, pace-wise, for now we are not able to win a race.

"We have shown in Malaysia and Bahrain we are not very far away, especially in Bahrain, but also in Bahrain there was quite a big difference between the pace of (Felipe) Massa and (Kimi) Raikkonen. I think the key of this season will be consistency to be always on top, and even if you will not win races then maybe you can achieve something very good."

Kubica's sense of perspective was not ruffled even by a horrifying 170mph smash in last year's Canadian grand prix. His car ran into the back of Jarno Trulli's Toyota approaching the braking area for a hairpin at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve and virtually disintegrated as it slammed into the concrete retaining wall and then flew back across the track, shedding components as it did so, before crashing to a halt, almost completely inverted, against the opposite wall on the left.

For a few seconds onlookers feared the worst, but Kubica amazingly escaped unhurt. His dry line in self-deprecatory humour also served to soften the after-effects of his involvement in the biggest accident of the season so far. At Indianapolis the following weekend he was asked whether he'd seen a playback of the accident. He paused before responding: "No, I didn't need to. I was there at the time and I saw it live."

Kubica's path to Formula One was in some ways unconventional. From the age of 13 he spent his time in Italy away from his family and friends. The Italian kart manufacturer CRG had seen his talent and offered him the chance to immerse himself in his chosen sport. The youngster from Poland took it all in his stride, moving into car racing with Formula Renault in 2001.

After two years contesting the Italian championship he moved into Formula Three in 2003-'04, finishing seventh in the hotly contested Euro series in the latter season, then won the 2005 World Series by Renault before being hired by BMW Sauber as test driver in 2006. Finally he moved into Formula One on a full-time basis when Jacques Villeneuve was fired from the team after that year's German grand prix.

The decision by Mario Theissen, the BMW Motorsport director, to promote him looked a gamble but the Pole immediately repaid that confidence by finishing third in his third race, the Italian grand prix at Monza. His struggle to make the transition to Bridgestone tyres contributed to a rather disappointing 2007 season but he regained his career momentum through winter testing and has been consistently quick since the start of the year.

"It is very rewarding," said Theissen. "I have some comments in mind from people who were quite negative on Robert, even earlier this year. It is very good for him, for the team and for everybody to see such a demonstration of strong performance like in qualifying at Bahrain. And in Melbourne he could have been on pole already. It is very good and certainly makes it clear that this was the right decision and that Robert can become one of the stars of Formula One."

Kubica remained self-effacing when asked how long he thought it would take to win his first grand prix. " I don't know," he said. "I was quite upset after Australia because I missed pole in qualifying, as I thought that the opportunity will not come so quickly again. But it came in Bahrain. Okay, we were lighter (on fuel) by four laps than Massa but still we were able to use this opportunity and still did quite a good race.

"If we are talking about winning a race with pure pace then I think we are not ready, but we are working because this is the target of the team. But it can happen that there is a crazy race like in Fuji or the Hungaroring 2006 (when Jenson Button had his grand prix win) where anything can happen.

So we will see." ...