Latest on Kubica

The great shame is I'm sure Robert could have unlocked the potential in the car had he been fighting fit.

His return to F1 is still a unknown.

 

I would love seeing him in a practice session sometime later in the year.

 

Yet, some sources say he will never recover from his injuries, and that Renault will establish that during a couple of Friday practise sessions towards the end of the year.
There is doubt at to the mobility of his right arm, and his ability to operate the many buttons now on the steering wheel.
I consider that Kubica has already raced his last GP.

 

Well, I guess Alex Zanardi is the first example to come to my mind of a driver that still had a lot to offer in racing after his accident (two amputated legs). Of course, his post-accident F1 test didn't lead to another drive (he apparently didn't expect it to). But he did perform well in touring cars.

It seems that RK is participating with the team and his engineers, so that is good that he is keeping his mind sharp and focused on racing. I also doubt he will return to F1, but I think he may adapt to race in another series in the future.

 

Since you chose a somewhat soft thread title and only link to the article, let's repeat the article's message:

Kubica will not race a F1 this season.

Not that this comes as a surprise to me. In fact I believe he'll never race a F1 again.

Or my favorite hero Clay Regazzoni who continued racing and even participated in the Paris-Dakar!

More comparably to Kubica would be Nannini, who IIRC continued racing touring cars.

 

Coulthard said it best when he mentioned those rough 5g high-speed corners where a delicate touch is required for maximum speed potential. That's going to be incredibly difficult to get back.

 

The chances of a return are slim but I won't give up on him until he gives up himself.

 

Well said.

 

German Bild reports that the real problem is, that his right elbow was destroyed in the accident. That might be irreparable damage.

My guess is that Renault will put him in a F1 car after the season for some test laps and that will be the last time you see him at their wheel.

The real question to me is: Who will get the #1 seat at Renault?

I'm guessing Heidfeld will be yet again out of F1 in 2012.

 

Depends on how much money they need.

 

Like that was ever a question?

Petrov showed last year that he doesn't belong in the Renault. Yet they chose him again. To me that means he'll be there as long as his sponsor pays.

 

Driver quality is inversely proportional to sponsor contribution. There is a sliding scale.

 

Yes and Petrov is close to the opposite end of that scale. Closer to the end were only Senna Jr. and Piquet Jr.

 

The question is if he's brought enough to pay for a quality driver as well?

 

Ah, I get it.

Wow, you're really low balling them, aren't you?

Then again some top drivers do come with money. Isn't that how Alonso got hired by Ferrari? He costs millions of dollars, but they're paid by his sponsor (Santander) so he basically drives "for free" for the team.

I believe Ferrari had similar deals in the past where Marlboro picked up the driver's salary (ok, you could argue that money would have otherwise come to Ferrari).

 

Some how the Santander money that Zo brings has a different "quality"

You are right of course. Money is money.

 

I suppose the Peso is stronger than the Rubel.

PS: Yes I know, they're on the Euro by now.

 

Currency snob!

 

From Autosport today;

I'd love to see him back sooner rather than later.....

Cheers,
Ian
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/91897

 

If the recovery allegedly goes so well, why didn't he show up on the biggest sponsor event of the year yesterday?

 

Exactly!

 

Doctors can put face transplants on people now who had their faces complete destroyed, with working feelings etc. It might still be a long shot, and all of us can only speculate.

All I know is that if we do lose Kubica in F1 it'll be the greatest tragedy in F1 since Senna. I've been saying it for the last 4 years; Kubica really is F1's best offer together with Hamilton and Vettel this era, and a forced retirement would be a great shame.

I'm keeping my hopes up.

 

All I can say is that you have to believe in miracles.

On May 6, 2009 I had a forklift driver that wasn't paying attention run over my left foot... 15,000 lbs (7 1/2 tons) IIRC...

By all rights I should have had a left foot as flat as a pancake, by rights I should have had to have what was left amputated...

I did not let them amputate and I did not let them cut open my foot and do any surgery...

I went on the million to one chance that it would recover on its own...

I did not work for the rest of 2009 and most of 2010. I went through my savings and barely made it through to another job.

Texas has tort reform, that means if you get injured you are pretty much limited to worker's compensation (@1500/mo).

A lawyer offered a $30,000 settlement, but it would not have been worth it since no large company would have ever hired me again after suing a company I worked for...would have been a big red flag. As a database designer/data analyst I have to go through thorough background checks pre-employment. It therefore made no sense to throw away any chance of any future jobs for the equivalent of 3 months pay.

It was HARD and PAINFUL and took a long time to even be able to walk again.

I healed up to the point where I can walk (with pain) and got a job as a Data Analyst at Capital One making good money. They did a complete background check and if I would have taken that $30k I would have never gotten it or any similar job.

I am hoping and praying that Kubica comes back.

I know he has tremendous will and came back from his previous injury.

My thoughts and prayers are with him that he can come back from this one as well...

 

Wow. Amazing personal story Glad to know that your foot is doing better.