Kubica: Title is all that matters to me

Robert Kubica may have ended 2008 earning several plaudits as the best driver of the year, but he insists he will not accept such acclaim until he is world champion.

The Pole was hailed by many - including Autosport magazine's annual 'Top 50 Racing Drivers of the Year' - as the best performer of 2008 for the way he kept himself in the title hunt until the closing stages of the season.

But despite being pleased that his efforts have been recognised by onlookers, Kubica believes he needs to achieve title success on track if he is to truly earn the status.

Speaking exclusively to autosport.com, the BMW-Sauber driver said: "The best driver is the one who scores the most points. That's what is important. It's nice to see that people can see what you are achieving, it's a good feeling.

"But it's a much better feeling to win the world championship because that is what counts. It would be better for me to win and have people saying that I have not been such a good driver, than it is to finish fourth and have people saying that I did a good job."

Kubica, who briefly led the world championship in 2008 after taking his maiden win in the Canadian Grand Prix, was pipped to third in the drivers' championship by Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen at the final round of the season.

However, he believes his performances this year, and the way they were noted, was important for getting his career back on track following a disappointing 2007 season.

"It was important to show in 2008 what I could do," said Kubica. "I was not where I should have been on the grid in 2007. Now people can see what I can do."

Despite going into 2009 as one of the pre-season favourites thanks to BMW's thorough preparations, Kubica thinks the team will have to wait a bit longer before being able to make an accurate prediction of how strong they will be.

"It's too early to judge whether we will make the final step [to being title winners] or not," he said. "The ideal would be to fight for the championship to the end and achieve better results than this year, but it's difficult to predict.

"Next year is a big challenge with so many changes to the regulations. You have to be lucky to get the right direction straight away."

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