Whether he returns to the grid in 2018 or not, Robert Kubica grabbed many headlines with his remarkable comeback adventure to Formula 1 after his horror rally crash in 2011.
No one denies that before that freak, life-threatening incident Kubica was on course to F1 superstardom. The dream was cut cruelly short and the path back to motorsport has been a heroic story.
That he has now been knocking on the door of a Formula 1 return is the stuff of legend.
His journey back to the top ramped up as Renault showed interest in the Pole and offered him private and official testing. When Carlos Sainz was chosen to join the team, that door closed for Kubica.
But Williams, looking for a replacement for retiring Felipe Massa, have seriously considered Kubica. This alone is a massive achievement for the one-time grand prix winner.
Our readers comprehensively agree that his gutsy story is one that makes him the 2017 Newsmaker of the Year.
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2017 Awards Notes: The Grand Prix 247 Awards were determined by reader polls which began on 2 December and ran until 8 December. An average of 3000 votes were cast per category, around 42,000 votes were cast in total. Thank you to those who participated.