After Germany had beaten Poland 2-0 in Euro 2008 last Sunday, the football-shirt-clad Polish supporters gathered in the bars of Warsaw and Krakow were not quiet for long. Within seconds of the final whistle, chanting began again - but now the name echoing down the streets of the city was that of Robert Kubica.

The bars did good business that day. A couple of hours earlier, those same supporters had celebrated Kubica’s maiden Formula One grand prix victory, and his taking the lead in the drivers’ championship, ahead of Lewis Hamilton, Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen.

If their countryman’s performance in Canada didn’t make defeat to their bitter enemies any more palatable, it ensured it could be quickly put to one side as discussion turned to Kubica’s chances of becoming the first Polish F1 world champion.

That they remain slim, this year at least, has not stopped Kubica becoming the focus of Poland’s sporting attention, according to Kamil Tchorek, the Sunday Times’ correspondent in the Polish capital.

“Despite being regularly let down, Poles have always been very passionate about sport and Kubica, who never seems to make a mistake, is becoming a superstar,” said Tchorek. “People can’t quite believe he’s so good, not least because Polish roads and drivers are among the most dangerous in Europe - there’s a joke that he became so good in order to survive - but everybody is following his progress now.”

Judging by the thousands of people who turned up to an air-field on the outskirts of Warsaw yesterday, where Kubica was demonstrating his BMW Sauber and signing autographs at one of his team’s regular “Pit Lane Parks” - an initiative designed to make F1 more accessible to supporters - Tchorek is by no means exaggerating. It can only help that Kubica, for all that his driving skills were honed on the go-kart circuits of Italy, remains demonstrably Polish, his determination and work ethic leavened by a sense of perspective and a quirky, deadpan sense of humour that makes him a popular interviewee.

Typically, his increasing popularity in his home country elicits a wry smile. When he and his father began travelling to Italy to race, he recalls having to give long explanations to border guards every time they left the country. “If I was born just 10 years before, it was not possible to go in and out of Poland at all,” he says. “Even when we were going out of Poland for racing, in 1996, 1997, it was still unusual. Karting? What is it? Nobody knew, and often on the border they opened our truck to see what we had.

“It was the same thing with sponsors. It wasn’t easy. Nobody in Italy was interested in sponsoring a Polish driver and Polish sponsors didn’t know what karting was, they thought it was for playing indoors, for fun.

“Now in some ways things have changed, partly due to some people who have helped me, and because of my being in F1, but still for many people in Poland my career started in 2006. So there is not really a lot of knowledge. They know a bit about F1 now, but nothing below it.

“It’s a start, but it’s better to have a solid foundation of knowledge. I try to explain to people if you want to help young racing drivers, you have to start to help them when they are karting. Now is a good moment because everybody is waking up. Companies want to get close to motor racing because it’s in the media, so it is the right time to promote karting, to find someone with a good programme, good ideas. It doesn’t mean that we will find good drivers, but at least we will be trying.”

For the moment, however, Kubica has other priorities. “My work is to be a racing driver, not a manager or to help Polish motorsport to grow up. The best way I can help is to be as successful as possible. When I was in karting, people would ask where I am from and they would say, ‘Ah, [Zbigniew] Boniek and the Pope’. These two persons only. Now Polish drivers in karting, they come into the paddock and say where they are from and people say, ‘Ah, Kubica’, so it’s a bit easier. But still not easy.”

A couple of races into the season, McLaren boss Ron Den-nis was notably dismissive of BMW’s title chances and few people, including Kubica, were ready to disagree. Yet seven races into the 18-race season, Kubica and his team are still there, still picking up the pieces when McLaren and Ferrari make mistakes. They are still very much third favourites - the BMW simply isn’t as quick as the red or silver cars - but Kubica is talking differently now.

“I did not expect to be leading the championship after seven races, as our car is not the absolute fastest on the grid,” he admitted. “However, we have total reliability. We were still experiencing a few problems in this area last year, but since then we’ve made huge improvements. Added to which, the pit crew has done a great job, as has everybody in the team.

“I have collected points regularly so far, but I don’t know if that is going to continue. I will focus on the grands prix one at a time and try to take maximum points in every situation. Consistency is an important factor, and I hope we are able to make further improvements to the car. Then we can achieve good things. Whatever happens, we have to do all we can to make the best of the situation.

“After all, who knows if I will ever get a chance like this again? One thing is for sure, I’ll be giving it everything.”

The support he needs, he believes, now means that BMW must give him priority over teammate Nick Heidfeld. Objectively, it makes sense. With every point likely to be vital, the team cannot afford Heidfeld finishing ahead of Kubica in a race.

Of course, team orders are banned in F1 - in theory, at least - so it comes as no surprise that the team’s motorsport director, Mario Theissen, should say that both of the BMW Sauber drivers will continue to receive equal treatment. However, the manner in which Heidfeld, in second place, was required to concentrate on preventing the charging Fernando Alonso in the Renault passing him in Montreal, effectively protecting Kubica’s lead, told its own story.

Can they continue to mix it with the big boys? Theoretically, no. Yet Hamilton’s 10-place penalty to his qualifying starting position in the French Grand Prix at Magny-Cours next week, following his pit lane mishap in Montreal, means that Kubica will probably increase his lead on the Briton, at least.

And one thing is certain. It’s not just dumb luck that has put Kubica on top of the pile.