Grand Prix Rejects

I hope this is not as bad as it sounds...

From Eurosport:
Renault F1 driver Robert Kubica has suffered 'several fractures' after crashing during a rally race in Italy, according to reports.

The Pole, who recently topped the testing timesheets in Valencia, was driving a Skoda Fabia in the Super2000 category of the Rally Ronde di Andora when his car overturned violently off the road.

Kubica’s co-driver Jakub Gerber posted "I’m OK" on his Facebook page after the accident but Kubica was taken to hospital by helicopter.

According to the Savona News, Kubica was conscious after the accident but was rushed to hospital with what they called 'several fractures.'

Some reports in Poland suggest he has fractured his wrist in a couple of places.

Race organisers are to hold a press conference revealing more details soon.

More to follow

Twitter's pretty much come alive in the last 20 minutes or so. Adam Cooper's saying he has severe leg injuries and a broken wrist but nobody's confirming anything yet.

It's on Autosport now too

Poor guy...

People's fears range from "wrist injures" to "in danger of losing his hand".
I will just wait for official confirmations by Renault and note that things like these are why we don't see much F1 drivers giving any other racing series a shot.

BBC Sport saying 'multiple trauma' injuries. Various reports suggesting break to both wrists (steering wheel movement?) and leg injuries. I don't like the sound of this at all.

Oh my god. This is terrible.

I'd just like to wish Robert a good recovery.

a lot of sources suggesting serious injury to one of his legs. This entire season is going to be suzuka 2010 now, I cannot believe it. I hope he's alright and can drive again

NO!

...so, who's going to be replacing him, if his injury takes more time for him to recover? Senna? RRRmmmnnnn Grrrrsssjnnnn?

on italian news too stating "danger to lose hand". The hand is said to be "completely smashed"

hope the news are over concerned! guess he'll be back at half season now...

Are we looking at the most unfortunate GP Winner of all time?

Let's try and ignore the initial reports for now as they are often overstated in these sort of events. I think there will be another statement in 30 minutes, I'm not sure who from.
And in the event that Kubica is unable to race, Bruno Senna will take his place.

Shizuka wrote:NO!

...so, who's going to be replacing him, if his injury takes more time for him to recover? Senna? RRRmmmnnnn Grrrrsssjnnnn?

And there goes Kubica's Nemesis: Nick Heidfeld

My first post here, so hello everybody

koza wrote:

Shizuka wrote:NO!

...so, who's going to be replacing him, if his injury takes more time for him to recover? Senna? RRRmmmnnnn Grrrrsssjnnnn?

And there goes Kubica's Nemesis: Nick Heidfeld

My first post here, so hello everybody

welcome.
And indeed, it could be possible that Renault opt for a more experienced driver to maximize WCC points if Kubica is out for a while. But that might go against the reserve contracts. Anyway, let's not get ahead of ourselves, I just hope bob is ok.

There is something wrong with this report on the Helsingin Sanomat website, but I can't quite put my finger on it...

Hm, Looks like they took the picture down already. Well, at least someone noticed.

News article fail.

If this is the detail, how many f1 teams will want to allow their drivers to go and "moonlight" in other championships?

great quote from autosport board:

This is a man who won his debut F3 race with titanium screws in his arm, won his F1 race at the track which almost killed him.

Kubi is as tough as they get, expect to return with a bang.

Very sad, sad news.
I hope he can make a full recovery despite the disturbing reports I heard.

The reports seem to be leaning towards a broken left wrist and leg, but nothing life threatening. Certainly looks like he'll be out for much of the start of the season.

This is the kind of thing which could make Bruno Senna's career. It's just possible he's about to land an extended run in a potentially front running car against a beatable pay driver team mate. This will focus the minds of teams like Sauber and Williams - how would they cope of they lost their lead driver?

This reminds me of Sandro Nannini's helicopter accident in 1990 - up and coming driver who already had a win under his belt, about to get a great chance to lead his team and win more races...

The wreck of his car. Reports have claimed the barrier 'penetrated' Kubica's side of the car, hence the serious injuries on the left-side.

We wish you a speedy recovery Bob.

Indeed there are reports he has two broken legs, a broken hip and a badly injured hand, which, according to reports by Italy's La Gazzetta dello Sport he may now lose the use of.

If the Italian paper's reports are true, he may never drive again.

Dreadful news. I hope Kubica has a speedy and smooth recovery. I've been really looking forward to seeing what he could do with that new Renault this season - definitely one of the finest F1 drivers currently out there.

I really, really hope the injuries prove to be not as serious as feared. Fingers crossed for him.

Massive blow for Renault, too. Senna may have the name, but let's face it, he's no Kubica.

http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2011/02/06/r ... -accident/

I wish him a speedy recovery. Hopefully he will be back for the start of the season.

It would appear he is in surgery currently to reduce fractures and internal bleeding. A lot of reports are suggesting severe damage to his left hand. Official press conference in ~2 hours (was delayed)

So here's the straw. Robert's car was sabotaged so that Bruno can get the seat, meaning the media goes hyper over 'Senna in a JPS Lotus Renault'. Then, Vitaly will become 'sick', and Fairuz Fauzy will get the seat to appease Proton and Malaysia. Possibility?

In all seriousness though, hope he gets well soon. It can't feel good at all, and I wish him a speedy recovery. Hopefully it won't be another case of Nannini.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78smQo6Z ... r_embedded

shows a lot of the damage to the car, including where safety barriers could have penetrated. It's a bit shocking to see

13:55 Dr. Carrozzino Hospital Santa Corona announced that Kubica has been tested to assess possible damage to internal organs and brain. Asked about the possibility of amputation of hands, Carrozzino replied that no decision has yet been taken. "The decision of amputation can not be taken lightly. I do not deny nor confirm. "

That's... not good.

patrick wrote:great quote from autosport board:

This is a man who won his debut F3 race with titanium screws in his arm, won his F1 race at the track which almost killed him.

Kubi is as tough as they get, expect to return with a bang.

Not only that, but after that horrendous accident in Canada, on his return in France he produced his best qualifying performance at the time. I'm sure he'll be back, none the worse for wear.

Prior to reading this thread, I had only read the Autosport article, and it merely stated arm and leg injuries, yet he remained conscious throughout. This thread is making it sound much more serious than that article had originally led me believe. Let's hope it is no repeat of Alex Zanardi's 2001 injuries.

dr-baker wrote:Prior to reading this thread, I had only read the Autosport article, and it merely stated arm and leg injuries, yet he remained conscious throughout. This thread is making it sound much more serious than that article had originally led me believe. Let's hope it is no repeat of Alex Zanardi's 2001 injuries.

It is difficult because there is a lot of conflicting reports going around as is usually the case in this sort of situation. One side, being Renault, will want to keep harsh words such as "internal injuries", and "amputate" from being circulated too much because at the end of the day they don't want sponsors jumping ship as soon as they hear the star driver is out. On the other side, a lot of the mainstream press run at the extreme to generate interest.

So we have to look somewhere inbetween, and it is fair to assume he does have broken bones and some bad damage to his right hand (originally thought to be left).
The hospital is due to release more information within the next hour or so, which will hopefully be decisive because as you say the speculation is horrible.

italian newspaper states that renault proibited kubica to enter monaco's rally to avoid risks, so this one would have been his last one until the season's over...

talk about mis-timing....

Can somebody clarify something for me? Robert crashed on the Ronde di Andora rally, which I'm assuming is in Andorra, between Spain and France, yet was taken to a northern Italy hospital. Was they rally not in Andorra after all, or is there a reason why he was taken all the way to Italy?

dr-baker wrote:Can somebody clarify something for me? Robert crashed on the Ronde di Andora rally, which I'm assuming is in Andorra, between Spain and France, yet was taken to a northern Italy hospital. Was they rally not in Andorra after all, or is there a reason why he was taken all the way to Italy?

No, it's an Italian rally:
http://www.rally.it/showthread.php/3080 ... ndora-2011

No, it's not Andorra, small state, but Andora, Italian village.

News on his condition fro autosport;

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/89312

He has multipe fractures in his arm and leg and hand; looks like Mr Senna will return to action sooner than thought. I just wish it was Grosjean instead; he is far more worthy of a drive than senna in my opinion.

None the less, get well soon Robert and return swiftly!

I hope that all news stating that he may lose his arm are not true. Even if he misses 2011 season, its not a problem as long as he is intact, he will be there next year.
I'm praying for you. Come on Robert, you can do it man, you are future WDC!!

I doubt he'll miss any races.

Because he's been through worse and he's only missed one race due to that.

Considering that, I think he'll be A-OK for the start of the season, though he may be shaken up.

Oddly enough, the last time he was injured and missed a race; his replacement was Sebastian Vettel. I wonder if there's going to be any more from the replacement? Or is this just a one-off good drive from the driver?

A sad but true quote from one of the users in the pages' comment section:

User from Eurosport.com wrote:This is why F1 drivers should not do filler sports.

Several news outlets now reporting that he is in no immediate danger and that they will not have to amputate the hand. According to these (unconfirmed) reports they are, however, still working to restore the functionality of his hand. The operation on his hand is still ongoing and might take until 8 CET (7 GMT, 2 EST).