‘McLaren wouldn’t sign Robert Kubica because his nose was too big’

McLaren ruled out signing Robert Kubica as Lewis Hamilton’s new teammate for the 2008 F1 season because “his nose was too big.”

That is the remarkable claim of former McLaren communications chief Matt Bishop, who could not say for certain if then-chief executive Martin Whitmarsh was joking.

Robert Kubica overlooked by McLaren because ‘his nose was too big’

Kubica stands as one of the great unfulfilled F1 talents of this century having been restricted to just a single grand prix victory – achieved with the BMW-Sauber team – in Canada in 2008.

The Polish driver was cruelly prevented from adding to his tally by a horrific rally crash in February 2011, which left him with serious injuries and altered the course of his career.

After achieving success in rallying, Kubica redirected his focus on F1 and returned for one season with Williams in 2019, scoring the team’s only point at that year’s German Grand Prix.

Now 41, Kubica took an emotional maiden victory at the legendary Le Mans 24 Hours race for Ferrari earlier this year.

Kubica revealed in 2018 that he had signed a contract to join Ferrari’s F1 team for 2012 at the time of his rally accident.

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McLaren was on the hunt for a replacement for Fernando Alonso at the end of 2007 after an explosive season alongside Hamilton resulted in the two-time world champion’s departure.

The team eventually signed Heikki Kovalainen, who effectively swapped seats with Alonso following an accomplished debut season with Renault.

Bishop, a former magazine editor, worked for McLaren as the team’s communications boss between 2008 and 2017 before a stint with the Aston Martin team.

Appearing on his And Colossally That’s History! podcast, Bishop revealed that Whitmarsh, McLaren’s chief executive at the time, aired reservations about Kubica’s appearance when deciding on Hamilton’s new teammate for 2008.

He said: “I remember that Whitmarsh said at that time that one of the problems with Kubica, as a possible 2008 driver for McLaren, was that his nose was too big. He said that.”

Asked in jest if Whitmarsh felt Kubica’s nose represented an aerodynamic or aesthetic problem, Bishop laughed: “Aesthetic, I think!

“I think he was joking, to be fair.

“And if you’re listening, Martin, which I’m sure you won’t be, perhaps you can get in touch with us to explain, but I think he was joking.

“But Martin could sometimes be funny like that. He thought drivers should look a certain way.

“And, of course, he’d learned that from Ron [Dennis], who was always very particular about drivers’ appearance.

“Although, to be fair to Ron, I never heard him complaining about Robert’s nose…”

Bishop’s fellow presenter, the music and sports reporter Richard Williams, added: “It’s hilarious, really, about Kubica’s nose.

“I don’t know where he’d fit now since all young drivers who come into F1 now look like members of boy bands. They do look as if they’ve been through a kind of looks grading thing.”

Whitmarsh left McLaren after 25 years in 2014 with Dennis following him out the exit door in 2017.

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Appearing on the Gurulandia podcast last year, Kubica revealed that he suffered 42 fractures and lost three quarters of his blood in his 2011 rally accident.

He said: “Honestly, I remember little of what happened because I was in a coma for so long.

“I arrived at the hospital with one-and-a-half litres of blood, whereas a human body has six or seven.

“The right side of my body was all smashed up. I had 42 fractures and from my toe to my elbow I was all broken.

He added: “I am human.

“For six or seven months I lost all feeling and I was not moving anything.

“I was trying to move my finger, but I could not do it and it was a feeling that only those who have experienced it can understand.

“The day I succeeded, I felt an absurd joy.”

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