Robert Kubica

[5String43]

Any F1 fans here? If so, perhaps you have not heard that today Robert Kubica, Renault's lead driver, crashed hard in an S2000 car in a rally in Italy this morning. The location was remote and he was trapped in the car for about an hour until rescue gear could be transported to the crash site to pry him out of the wreck, after which he was flown to a hospital.

It looks like a piece of steel barrier came through the floor of the car after an initial impact into what's described as a church wall and did very serious damage. His right arm and leg both were broken in several places, his right hand was smashed and, much worse, partially severed. Docs have "revascularized" it, according to the reports I've read, but the concern now involves nerves that may have been severed. His co-driver was unhurt.

Early reports are saying that his F1 career may be over, and that if he is able to resume, he'll be out for at least a year. Bruno Senna apparently will get the Renault drive, since he's the contracted reserve driver.

We shall see. Longtime F1 watchers have seen some amazing crash recoveries. We can only hope that his will be one of them.

I'm sure that the thoughts of race fans around the globe are with him tonight. Mine certainly are.

-Jon

[Mitch Leland]

I don't know how any of these rally drivers live to an old age... I'm surprised that Renault let's him drive a rally car with the investment they have in him as a F1 driver. I certainly hope for Robert Kubica's recovery and return to racing.

Lastly I wonder how many spectators die each year while spectating the rally tours?

[donporfi]

Remember also Kubica's accident in Montreal. He escaped almost unhurt .
Hope he recovers from this terrible accident.

[5:04]

It's a shame. I hope Kubica makes a speedy and fully recovery and wins a championship in his life. He's a good enough driver but has been unlucky with the cars he's driven. It's good that Senna may get a chance to have a car where he can show his potential considering how terrible his car was last year.

[oldE]

There's a thread on Robert's accident in the OT forum.

Amazing work by the Doctors. Reminds me of Allesandro Nannini's accident, in a Helicopter which interrupted his F1 career.

Best of luck to Bob Kubica

Les

[175K911]

There was just an article about him driving the Renault rally car in the British publication F1 Racing. The way I read it, Renault build the car for him and endorsed him driving in rally stages.

I also don't see Senna getting the ride. He's just not up to the task. And Renault (or should we call them Lotus now) needs someone who will be a front runner quick. Wonder if they can lure Kimi Raikkonen back to F1.

[MikeD930]

That's awful about Kubica's accident. I'm not all that familiar with the demands of F1 driving. Does a F1 driver need to have both "good" hands to go 100%? If yes, then I can see how Kubica's F1 days being over but hope not.

[wildcat077]

Worse part is they say that Kubica was driving a Skoda rallye car... not a Renault !
I was working the track at corner 10 in Montreal when he hit the wall between 9 and 10 and i still don't know how he got out of that one ...
We could only wish him another speedy recovery !

Cheers !
Phil

[5String43]

Yep, this morning they're saying that he's responding well to the surgeries that were preformed yesterday (seven-hours-worth of them), and that he is awake and able to move the fingers of his hand. Remarkable, since it was partially severed, with nerves and tendons cut. Also they're saying it's at body temp, which they say indicates that revascularization was successful. They're also saying that several more surgical procedures will be necessary.

Oh, and to answer a question - yep, complete and full hand function is critically important because of the multitude of controls on the steering wheel of a modern F1 car. Added to them this year is the button that controls the new rear-wing flap, with drivers now saying that they're approaching too much to do while they're driving.

Re the team, yeah, they're calling themselves Lotus Renault this year, but that's all up in the air pending a court case scheduled to be heard in March. As it stands now, there are two teams using the Lotus names. Very strange.

And finally, the team also is saying that is on the lookout for a replacement driver. Kimi, may be (but he has a contract to rally this year)? Nick Heidfeld? We shall see. Pudits are thinking that Senna probably isn't up to the task. Whoever it is will get a pretty good car - I seem to recall that Kubica set top time during one of several group testing sessions last week, for whatever that's worth.

[chris 964]

Update - Renault’s Robert Kubica was able to talk to relatives and move the fingers in his injured right hand on Monday morning, after being briefly awoken by doctors at Italy’s Santa Corona Hospital (Pietra Ligure).

Kubica was placed into an artificially-induced coma on Sunday after undergoing seven hours of surgery to reconstruct his right forearm, following a high-speed crash whilst competing in the Ronde di Andora Rally.

The Polish driver spent the night under constant observation and on Monday Professor Mario Igor Rossello, Director for the Regional Centre of Hand Surgery at San Paolo Hospital in Savona, encouragingly reported that there is no swelling or infection on the right forearm, though it will be several days before it is known if the operation has been 100 percent successful.

In order to avoid further physical stress, Kubica will be put under gentle medication in order to sleep for the next 24 hours at least. In the meantime doctors will decide how to treat his elbow and shoulder fractures. Kubica may have to undergo surgery once again for this, but not for a few days. Formula 1

[MrJTP]

UPDATE: Kubica turns in fastest lap on final day of testing in Spain.

[Reifle]

On Autosport they are now looking at Heidfeld as a replacement driver - he is going to be evaluated at Jerez testing session.

[Barwaut]

Originally Posted by MrJTP

UPDATE: Kubica turns in fastest lap on final day of testing in Spain.

I thought this was really quite funny...

[MrJTP]

I agree. But driving a car on the test track is not even close to real race conditions. I would guess he probably won't be on the track in a month when the real season starts. The rest of the results for the last day at Valencia were:

Valencia Formula 1 test, fastest times, final day:

1 Robert Kubica (Pol) Renault one minute 13.144 seconds
2 Adrian Sutil* (Ger) Force India-Mercedes 1:13.201
3 Jenson Button* (GB) McLaren-Mercedes 1:13.553
4 Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull-Renault 1:13.936
5 Felipe Massa (Brz) Ferrari 1:14.017
6 Timo Glock* (Ger) Virgin-Cosworth 1:14.207
7 Pastor Maldonado (Ven) Williams-Cosworth 1:14.229
8 Sergio Perez (Mex) Sauber-Ferrari 1:14.469
9 Michael Schumacher (Ger) Mercedes 1:14.537
10 Sebastien Buemi (Swi) Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:14.801
11 Narain Karthikeyan* (Ind) Hispania-Cosworth 1:16.535
12 Jarno Trulli (Ita) Lotus-Renault no time

[5String43]

I believe he did do the fastest lap during one of the test sessions, but that was a weekend prior to his crash, and took place at Valencia. This week's sessions are at Jerez - and of course he's still hospitalized, and will remain so for several weeks, according to the reports I've read. Docs are saying that they're thinking seriously about doing one long surgery tomorrow (Friday) to repair injuries to the right elbow and leg (7-8 hours) instead of doing two shorter but seperate procedures. Having been there, I can say that the fewer times one has to undergo anesthesia, the better.

Coincidentially, I understand that Heidfeld will indeed get a test in the R31 tomorrow, even as Kubica is getting his own personal chassis dialed up by the medical mechanics. Should be interesting. He's a fine driver and is very fast - but over a long F1 career has never won a race.

[agrimmitt]

Tony: We all hope for the best, but Robert has not had good luck overall. Hopefully he will be able to return to F1; but F1 as we all know F1 is a very demanding form of Auto Racing for any driver. The required driver input, thousand of miles in testing, hours in the shop with his team of engineers, along with the travel is hard on the best of them. But, having reviewed the damage to his rally car, a great roll cage aside; one could say he's lucky to be alive!
art

[MrJTP]

And therein lies the irony. He finally gets a good pre-season start and is immediately dealt what is most likely career ending blow.

And, 5String, he did win the 08 Canadian. If you drive enough races you might actually get a gold star. Just ask Button.

[5String43]

Yes, Kubica won the '08 Canadian GP. I was referring to Heidfeld, who I don't recall has ever won in the F1 arena. I may be disremembering, however....

[carr914]

[Flieger]