Robert Kubica: Updates on his recovery

[FrankAlfa]

I fractured T-12 & L-1 when I was 23. (Not T-1)

ciao,

Forza Ferrari!!!!

[Greig]

[Schumiklub]

Not again :(

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

[SS454]

oh man, was that the exact same spot as the horrific crash a few years ago?

[Hornet]

Wow, thankfully it doesn't seem to be serious. The guardrail did its job. Still pretty dangerous stuff though

[Greig]

Robert Kubica has finally admitted that his F1 career could be over and that he may never return to a top-level singer-seater machine.

Kubica saw his career put on hold over two years ago when he was involved in an accident while competing on the Ronde di Andora Rally in Italy – sustaining serious injuries when an Armco barrier pieced the cockpit of his Skoda Fabia.

Having undergone numerous rounds of surgery on his injuries, Kubica is making his return to competitive action this year on the rally stages, with Rally Portugal this weekend marking his first outing in the WRC2 category of the World Rally Championship.

Kubica has already shown his speed on a number of smaller national events and produced a star driver on the European Rally Championship event in the Canaries before crashing out, and he admitted that his future may lie more in rallying than in F1.

“When you work and do everything to become an F1 driver and you are in F1, and I could say quite an established driver, and then from one day to the other your life is gone – it is not easy,” he said in a video recorded during his pre-event test for Rally Portugal this weekend. “Of course I would like to come back in F1, but I know that it might not happen. There are some things that are out of my control, and that's more difficult.

“Rallying I think will help me get back to the sport and it will definitely keep my head up and will keep me busy. Rallying is not just about driving but there's a lot of preparation so I will spend a lot of time around the rallies and in the car. That's good and something I was looking for.”

Kubica will drive a specially-adapted Citroen DS3 RRC for his WRC2 campaign having received dispensation from the FIA to make changes to the car to make it easier for him behind the wheel.

"We had permission from FIA, who I would like to thank, for a pad on the left side," he said. "It helps me because like this I can always keep my right arm on the steering wheel, and with my limitation it helps me a lot to drive safer.

"I would say I'm not really limited when I'm driving, it's more outside of the car that I'm more limited."

[Suzie]

That's sad. So much potential. But if he can have some career in motorsport and he's well, that's the main thing.

[Tifoso]

Sad news, indeed

I pray that Robert will be able to do well in rallying.

[Kiwi Nick]

I pray that Robert will continue to do well in life. Those who are given great talent must find great endeavors to fulfill themselves.

[Schumiklub]

Really sad to see the end of the F1 career of such a talented driver. He was one of my favorites, talented, fast and a nice guy.

[Alessandra]

Agreed. Very sad for him, especially the last line. And a loss for F1.
Return to F1 seems v unlikely. I hope he has a great career in rallying. And a safe one.

[FA fan]

Tuesday 23 April at 08:35 : Apr.23 (GMM) Robert Kubica has been conducting secret formula one tests at the wheel of Mercedes' sophisticated driver simulator, German newspaper Bild reports.

The Pole tested the German marque's DTM car over the winter, but ultimately signed up with Citroen for the second-tier world rally championship in 2014 as he continues his return to full speed in the wake of his near-fatal crash two years ago.

But 28-year-old Kubica, who raced for BMW and Renault in F1 until the end of 2010, has never hidden that - notwithstanding his still injured right arm - his main priority is to get back on the grand prix grid.

Bild said the 2008 Canadian grand prix winner has been testing in Mercedes' F1 driver simulator "for a few weeks".

A figure for a rival F1 team "spotted the Pole at the airport in London", correspondent Frank Schneider wrote.

"His destination was Brackley, Mercedes' headquarters, even though nobody at the Silver Arrows wants to comment," he added.

[Ferrari_gal]

Tuesday 23 April at 08:35 : Apr.23 (GMM) Robert Kubica has been conducting secret formula one tests at the wheel of Mercedes' sophisticated driver simulator, German newspaper Bild reports.

The Pole tested the German marque's DTM car over the winter, but ultimately signed up with Citroen for the second-tier world rally championship in 2014 as he continues his return to full speed in the wake of his near-fatal crash two years ago.

But 28-year-old Kubica, who raced for BMW and Renault in F1 until the end of 2010, has never hidden that - notwithstanding his still injured right arm - his main priority is to get back on the grand prix grid.

Bild said the 2008 Canadian grand prix winner has been testing in Mercedes' F1 driver simulator "for a few weeks".

A figure for a rival F1 team "spotted the Pole at the airport in London", correspondent Frank Schneider wrote.

"His destination was Brackley, Mercedes' headquarters, even though nobody at the Silver Arrows wants to comment," he added.

Quite confusing ... as I read some time back that he himself said he would never be able to race in F1 again . Also not sure now where I read it but it was a F1 newsletter .

[Giambattista]

Quite confusing ... as I read some time back that he himself said he would never be able to race in F1 again . Also not sure now where I read it but it was a F1 newsletter .

Nothing is confusing, it was taken out of context, he never said that he will never come back, it was just an assumption, some stupid idiot heard words "never come back to f1" and misquoted him without thinking.

[Rishu]

Robert Kubica has revealed that he has driven a Formula One simulator at the Mercedes headquarters.

Still yet to return to Formula One following the rallying accident in February 2011 which left him with life-threatening injuries, Kubica is competing in a full season of rallies this year to aid his physical recovery. Speaking at the Rally Azores, Kubica responded to reports that he had driven at Mercedes by confirming his presence but giving away no further details.

"I can say yes, I was there," he told Autosport. "But I cannot say how many times or how many laps I did. But there is this rumour to which I say, yes, I was in the Mercedes F1 simulator in the past."

Having led early on, Kubica finished the Rally Azores in sixth place overall after recovering from a roll on Friday.

[DIEK]

Robert Kubica has taken his first win in the World Championship by securing victory in the WRC 2 class of the Acropolis Rally - the roughest round of the season.

The Formula One ace brought his Citroen DS3 RRC cleanly through Sunday’s final four stages to win by 1min 29.8sec from Yuriy Protasov in a Ford Fiesta RRC.

Kubica dominated the WRC 2 competition in Greece. He took the lead on Friday’s opening stage and went fastest on the first nine tests to pull more than two minutes clear of the chasing pack.

He later switched to a more cautious approach, avoiding trouble on the rocky gravel stages to secure a maximum 25 championship points.

“Finally, after a disappointing period with my mistakes and car failure, today is a great day,” said the Pole. “I think the best thing is that I learned a lot here. These are completely opposite conditions to what I’ve been used to for the last 20 years.

“Coming here and driving in a good way, managing to keep the car on the road without damage is already an achievement. Winning is even more.

“But there is a long way to go. I know I have to learn a lot and for sure the next rallies will improve me even more. There is still long way to go before I get to the level I want to reach.”

http://www.wrc.com/news/wrc-2-kubica...win/?fid=18640

[Giambattista]

[FrankAlfa]

Seeing the video of Robert Kubica is the most pleasurable and rewarding thing on this site! He has obviously come a very long way but that hand and arm are still very badly damaged. It took me 10 years to get semi-normal from a broken back injury from a car accident. I still suffer from pain and that was 27 years ago. To see Robert speak so well and appear to be so happy is worth more than words can say.

[Katu]

this man has a deathwish
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/109803

[Suzie]

Oh my goodness

[gjoko-mkd]

[shamim179]

Funny how the cattle are just carrying on as normal.

Rallying is definitely dangerous!

[Stormy]

I didn't know where to post this and i don't think it's worth a new thread.

It looks like Kubica is out of the picture. Most probably Williams will sign Sergey Sirotkin because he has some pretty significant financial backing coming from a businessman close to Putin. Maybe we should not be quick to judge and give this guy a chance. Williams stated that they were impressed by him compared to Kubica, but of course they'll say that.

https://www.express.co.uk/sport/f1-a...ergey-Sirotkin

[jgonzalesm6]

I didn't know where to post this and i don't think it's worth a new thread.

It looks like Kubica is out of the picture. Most probably Williams will sign Sergey Sirotkin because he has some pretty significant financial backing coming from a businessman close to Putin. Maybe we should not be quick to judge and give this guy a chance. Williams stated that they were impressed by him compared to Kubica, but of course they'll say that.

https://www.express.co.uk/sport/f1-a...ergey-Sirotkin

saw that earlier in the day.....nothing set in stone yet but Sergey seems to have Russian financial backing.

[FerrariF60]

saw that earlier in the day.....nothing set in stone yet but Sergey seems to have Russian financial backing.

Money talks always and for team like Williams that’s needs moolah, well there is no brainer

Same as Sauber keeping that useless driver in the name of Sony Ericsson.......LOLOL

[jgonzalesm6]

Money talks always and for team like Williams that’s needs moolah, well there is no brainer

thats what I'm thinking too.....I'm just waiting for Williams to make it official.

[Rob]

Money talks always and for team like Williams that’s needs moolah, well there is no brainer

Same as Sauber keeping that useless driver in the name of Sony Ericsson.......LOLOL

Money talks yes, but you and alot of people seem to forget, Alonso, Schumacher, Senna, Mansell, and 90% of ALL F1 drivers ever have been "pay" drivers. So what they have money behind them. But, its what they do on track which counts aswell. Teams will look at money, yes, but also their track data, results. Juts because a driver got millions of backing, its doesnt automatically counts to a seat.

Why the childish name calling for Marcus? as said above, so what he got money, he has done enough on track to warrent for him to keep his drive.

[Stormy]

Juts because a driver got millions of backing, its doesnt automatically counts to a seat.

Why the childish name calling for Marcus? as said above, so what he got money, he has done enough on track to warrent for him to keep his drive.

Thing is no company will bother financing a racer if he's not good and they don't believe he can deliver. Stroll is a different story because the financial backing comes from his father.

[Rob]

Thing is no company will bother financing a racer if he's not good and they don't believe he can deliver. Stroll is a different story because the financial backing comes from his father.

And? Stroll still had to deliver the results on track, which in lower formule, he did. He hasnt had a bad F1 season either. Why does Stroll deserve to have negative comments about him? just because his family rich, and his dad has been able to speed money on his son to give his son the career and dream he has always wanted? thats just a father doing right. As i said, Stroll whatever backing Stroll got, he still got to back up his corner with track talent. Any team or has a weak driver, will get rid of them no matter how much backing they bring, its not good for racing, not got for business, not good for attracting new sponsors.

[Brembo]

I also believe Stroll had a good year for a rookie and looks like his father made a good investment in his son.