Robert Kubica suffers multiple fractures in Italian rally crash
2011 F1 season
Robert Kubica was taken to hospital by helicopter
Robert Kubica has suffered multiple fractures to his right arm, leg and hand following a crash in a rally in Italy.
Kubica was taken to hospital by helicopter following a crash in the Ronde di Andora rally.
Renault have confirmed he is undergoing medical checks but have not given details about his injuries.
A statement from the team said:
“After undergoing extensive medical checks this morning, Robert Kubica has been diagnosed with multiple fractures to his right arm, leg and hand. He is currently undergoing surgery at the Santa Corona Hospital in Pietra Ligure.
“Robert suffered a high-speed accident this morning while competing in the Ronde di Andora Rally.
“Daniel Morelli, Robert’s manager, will be available for the press in front of the hospital emergency entrance at 16:30 CET (15:30 GMT).
“Lotus Renault GP driver, Robert Kubica, suffered an accident at high speed this morning while competing in the Ronde di Andora Rally.
“The driver was airlifted to Pietra Ligure Hospital, where he is currently undergoing medical checks. His co-driver is fine.”
He was due to drive at the Jerez test this week. Renault’s third driver is Bruno Senna.
Kubica’s co-driver Jakub Gerber posted “I’m OK” on his Facebook page around an hour ago.
The video below shot earlier in the rally shows the Skoda Fabia S2000 rally car Kubica was driving:
This video shows the aftermath of the crash:
Robert Kubica rally crash
- Kubica tests DTM Mercedes at Valencia
- Kubica says he will return to F1 if he feels fit enough
- Kubica suffers injury setback after fall
- Robert Kubica to miss start of 2012 season
- Kubica’s final operation “a total success”
- Kubica hopes to leave hospital “within ten days”
- Kubica “better every day” but too soon to decide on return
- Heidfeld: “not the way I would have liked” to return
- Renault confirm Heidfeld to take Kubica’s place
- Kubica to have final surgery on Wednesday
Image © Lorenzo Cargiolli – http://www.lorcarg.it
Kirk said on 6th February 2011, 10:09
I hope he is OK!!!!
Hare (@hare) said on 6th February 2011, 10:30
Yeah I’m sure all of us hope the same.
Get well soon Robert!!
We may be seeing Senna in Lotus for testing… fancy that?
Hare said on 6th February 2011, 10:54
let see we’ve got :
1) Bruno Senna,
2) Romain Grosjean,
3) Fairuz Fauzy,
4) Jan Charouz and
5) Ho-Ping Tung
Loads of choice! :)
Hare said on 6th February 2011, 11:00
however from ESPN on Jan 31st:
Parmalat Unipart said on 6th February 2011, 16:10
@ BasCB
I disagree with your thoughts. Kimi Raikkonen is better suited to replace Robert Kubica at Lotus Renault GP.
Jake (@jleigh) said on 6th February 2012, 0:45
Incredible powers of prediction!
Calum said on 6th February 2011, 11:42
I’d pick Romain for testing… but that’s just me ;)
BasCB (@bascb) said on 6th February 2011, 12:04
I agree Romain is most experienced with development.
The downside of that would be, it limits Bruno’s chance to get to know the car before the season and get used to the KERS and DRS devices.
Hare said on 6th February 2011, 12:12
But Romain hasn’t been in Formula one cars for over a year? He’s been driving GT cars.
Ben said on 6th February 2011, 12:15
Romain did development driving for Pirelli, and dominated the AutoGP (open wheelers) championship despite only competing in 2/3 of the season.
Romain gets a bad rap, I reckon he’s got a fair bit more talent than a lot of people think after his time at Renault.
Hare said on 7th February 2011, 9:12
He’s got a lot of talent Ben. In the GT1 World Championship, he drove a Ford GT40 and basically made everyone else looks a bit tame. But athletes and specialists need track time. As much as possible. With Formula 1 too, you need to have that experience in a car that’s relevant, or your skills could be out of date very soon.
Bruno is currently in that position. So seems he’ll get his chance, but what he does with that, we’ll see :)
miguelF1O (@) said on 6th February 2011, 11:51
brunno is a wreck so hopefully renault do the right thing and put romain on the spot
Hairs (@hairs) said on 6th February 2011, 13:28
Why use any of those when you could poach Hulkenberg from Williams?
Hairs (@hairs) said on 6th February 2011, 13:29
Edit: Dur, not williams. hands up who hasn’t got their brain in today. You know what I mean.
US_Peter (@us_peter) said on 6th February 2011, 18:10
Hopefully, and presumably, Kubica will make a full recovery, so this will not be a long term prospect. I can’t imagine Willi Weber letting Hülkenberg go for that seat (not that it’s even being offered) only to find himself without a drive again mid season. If they don’t use Senna or Grosjean, Heidfeld and De La Rosa both certainly have a wealth of experience and development skills to offer.
kowalsky (@kowalsky) said on 6th February 2011, 13:37
de la rosa
Pete said on 6th February 2011, 14:59
To partner Vitaly Petrov, Renault will need someone more experienced. I reckon the smart money’s on Nick Heidfeld to be drafted in above all the testers.
US_Peter (@us_peter) said on 6th February 2011, 18:14
The smart thing would certainly be Heidfeld or De La Rosa. I imagine that when Boullier made his comments about Senna he only imagined replacing Petrov. Faced with this stark reality now, I’d be surprised if they don’t approach Heidfeld and De La Rosa at least for some testing days…
Mike (@mike) said on 7th February 2011, 4:16
Actually, that’s a good point, Heidfeld would certainly be a good pick. They need an experienced driver now, not another rookie.
gabache said on 6th February 2011, 16:36
6) Esteban guerrieri
7) Jose Maria Lopez
8) Norberto Fontana
9) Agustin Canapino
10) anibal zaniratto
The Hundredth Idiot (@) said on 6th February 2011, 11:51
BBC’s now saying fractures to left arm and left leg… Doesn’t sound like there’ll be quick recovery.
Kodongo (@kodongo) said on 6th February 2011, 12:14
I am a fan of McLaren and Lewis primarily, but any F1 fan knows it is characters like Kubica who make the sport so spectacular and interesting. As a ‘racer’ in the purest sense of the word, I hope Robert fully recovers to the amazing level he has reached in the past seasons.
Get well soon!
Hare said on 6th February 2011, 12:37
Absolutely, winning a championship has little meaning without quality opposition. Robert, in my mind, has really grown and shown his huge talent in a car that could do better most years.
I love him in F1, I hope to see him back soon.
US_Peter (@us_peter) said on 6th February 2011, 18:17
He seems like one of the most genuinely nice characters in the paddock as well, and if the outpouring of support from his direct competitors on Twitter today is any indication, my suspicion is confirmed.
kowalsky (@kowalsky) said on 6th February 2011, 13:40
in spanish tv they are talking about the possibility of loosing a hand. I hope they are overreacting.
Fixy (@fixy) said on 6th February 2011, 15:09
I saw a video and it said they had cut off an arm. I really hope they are wrong and I am still so shocked that I am writing this very slowly because I continue making mistakes.
John H said on 6th February 2011, 15:27
If he keeps his hand, nerve damage is going to be the main problem. I think we can say he’s out for 2011, and I just hope physio can get him back for 2012 if there is no amputation. We need Kubica in F1… perhaps he should have rallied competitively after finishing with F1 – but it’s easy to say in hindsight of course.
SeattleChris (@seattlechris) said on 6th February 2011, 17:51
he’s undergoing surgery, which means pins of titanium couple with electroshock healing (stuff us normal people would never even be offered) so I suspect he will actually be available in half the time a true break would incur.
Further, they’ve given no details on whether it was a break, compound break or just a hairline fracture et cetera so we really don’t know how bad it is. Hopefully his leg isn’t properly broken. The car doesn’t actually look that bad, so I think he’ll be racing in Sakir.
US_Peter (@us_peter) said on 6th February 2011, 18:21
I hope you’re right and it’s a quicker recovery than everyone’s speculating. Even so, it’ll take a toll on his performance for quite some time going forward.
Tom said on 6th February 2011, 13:43
“All we know is that Robert’s life is not in danger,” Samson said. “However, he has very severe injuries to his left hand and left leg, but we don’t know anything more about it.”
It was earlier rumoured that the 26-year-old, reportedy in a serious condition, has internal injuries, a broken femur, and a badly crushed hand that surgeons are considering amputating.
http://www.motorsport.com/news/article.asp?ID=399305&FS=F1
Nick said on 6th February 2011, 14:00
dam, that sucks…omg.
SeattleChris (@seattlechris) said on 6th February 2011, 17:57
Oh my, I hope he doesn’t lose his hand. That’s a pretty shoddy looking site so I’m hopeful, for his sake, that my instincts about sensationsalistic/opportunistic websites, such as this, are completely rubbish. If I thought there was a god I would pray to him for you Robert!
Dianna said on 6th February 2011, 18:22
God Bless you Robert,and may your injuries heal fast.So very sorry for the talented young man.
F1 is such a dangerous sport,we should applaud all the drivers for giving us such wonderful races.
We are thinking of you Robert,you are in our prayers.
racerdude7730 said on 6th February 2011, 18:33
Here is a good video of it. He looks bad http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LuzcmFM2aHI
jimscreechy said on 6th February 2011, 19:36
ER.. I think he is definately NOT ok. With multiple fractures to his right hand for starters. The Polish web sites have been reporting that they were considering amputating his hand, but they have managed to save it. That may just be the rumour mill, but… he has been in surgery since 2pm so this is a very serious injury. Unfortunately this is definately the end of his 2011 season and that is if he’s lucky. I fear it may even be worse than that.
mike said on 6th February 2011, 20:24
I like to wish Robert well and hope to see him race again.
Get well soon.
Mike
PT said on 7th February 2011, 6:26
A big, big blow for Lotus Renault GP’s hopes this year!
Daphne said on 7th February 2011, 10:14
Good wishes to Robert Kubica. 2011 will be poorer without him; one of the most exciting drivers in F1.
Herr Anon said on 6th February 2011, 10:10
Damn hope he’s not too badly injured.
Solo (@solo) said on 6th February 2011, 12:59
According to the BBC he might never even be able to race in F1 again. Holly ****!!!
But even if it’s just this year he will be devastated if that Renault is really a capable for wins car.
That’s bad for us too i guess. If the car was good we just lost a championship contender.
Hope things prove to be better and he ends up just losing testing or the first 2-3 races the most.
So does Senna take the seat now! Will Renault really trust him with that role? Or could this mean that Heidfield could be up for a come-back?
jose said on 6th February 2011, 10:17
French media reporting broken femur,
http://fr.sports.yahoo.com/06022011/70/hors-piste-accident-grave-pour-kubica.html
Hamish said on 6th February 2011, 10:41
Broken femur? If thats the case hes on the sidelines for a very long time. The femur is one bone you do not want to break, people have died from it before given how huge the bone is.
jon said on 6th February 2011, 11:54
planet f1 say he broje both wrists….looks like senna in the lotus for this season…. if hes done a femor and the wrists then i cant see him in a car this season……sad time for f1…….
JT19 (@jt19) said on 6th February 2011, 10:48
femur?? Oh no, 6 weeks to heal. Even longer for the pain, at least 3 months, if this is true!
Hamish said on 6th February 2011, 10:53
6 weeks to heal……and then some. If its bad enough he would be lying in traction alone for the next 6 weeks.
I’ve broken it before and not even Dr Quinn Medicine Women would be able to heal a broken femur in 6 weeks.
Hare said on 6th February 2011, 11:17
From Joe Saward..
Hamish said on 6th February 2011, 11:20
Awaiting the “Luizzi would be a good experienced replacement” column.
BasCB (@bascb) said on 6th February 2011, 12:07
Well Hamish, it does offer Liuzzi some chance. But with the enormous stable of reserve and test drivers Renault have on board, they are bound to find one of them to do the driver.
Senna or Grosjean will be first in line (Grosjean more likely if Kubica will be back in time for the Bahrain GP, Senna if Kubica will have to sit out part of the season).
Burnout said on 6th February 2011, 12:10
@ Hamish: lol!
graham228221 said on 6th February 2011, 11:03
Other reports say that it’s a broken wrist, so a month or two on the sidelines.
Felipe Bomeny (@portugoose) said on 6th February 2011, 12:50
Germany’s SID is reporting that his wrist’s injury is so bad that they’re considering amputation. Sounds a bit extreme, hope that’s not the case, and I sincerely wish to see him driving again soon. My thoughts are with Robert right now.
Prof Kirk (@prof-kirk) said on 6th February 2011, 20:11
Firstly, heartbreaking news, I had my eye on him for this year to do some big things.
Secondly, If he was driving a RenaultSport Clio this accident would probably never happened.
Thirdly, they should ask Sebastian Vettel to step in like he did last time for Kubica
Fourthly, realisticly Senna will step in, Eric seems to be a man of his word
Fithly, Senna in a black and gold lotus renault? back to the future what?
Lastly, maybe Bruno will be the next Vettel? unlikely.
sw6569 (@sw6569) said on 6th February 2011, 10:18
Lets hope its not too serious!
Fixy (@fixy) said on 6th February 2011, 14:34
Poor Robert I really want to see him fit for the Bahrain GP!
Todfod (@todfod) said on 6th February 2011, 19:00
Its absolutely heartbreaking. One of the most talented drivers of our generation might never race again. We can do nothing but hope for the best.
zarathustra said on 6th February 2011, 10:18
Renault must be in panic, me too…
F1iLike said on 6th February 2011, 11:07
Didn’t they ban him from doing rallying just recently?
Mister Nillionaire said on 6th February 2011, 11:19
Kind of weird their website is down now. Hope they will post some updates on this.
Glorstensen (@glorstensen) said on 6th February 2011, 10:18
Hope it ain’t bad and he is OK!
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine) said on 6th February 2011, 10:20
There are a lot of conflicting reports about what the extent of Kubica’s injuries are. I’ve contacted Renault to try to get clarification but not has a response yet.
Hamish said on 6th February 2011, 10:44
Hoping like hell it isn’t the femur.
Hare said on 6th February 2011, 11:21
Depends who’s commenting. His Dad says wrist, some others say leg and hip.. Possibly all or some.
Good news is that he’s not life threatening, and he’ll recover after some time to heal. GOOD NEWS! :)
Scribe said on 6th February 2011, 17:09
He’ll be out for the fly aways at the very least. This is an awful story for F1, Renault looked like they might be genuinley competative this year, to have lost Kubica at this time is a tradgedy, I felt this might be the year he really challenged.
What I hope they don’t do is put Bruno Freaking Senna in the car, did you see Petrov last year? THat sort of calibre of driver isn’t going to cut the mustard at the front, they need a talent does Renault.
That they’ve lost it is also, what they do to replace it is so vital, Raikkonen? Unlikley, Heidfeld, won’t do it. There’s no one and it makes me sad.
US_Peter (@us_peter) said on 6th February 2011, 18:30
It won’t be Räikkönen, he’s fully committed to WRC this season, and besides they ended talks last summer on a bad note. Why wouldn’t Heidfeld do it? His opportunities to race in F1 are disappearing fast, if not altogether gone at this point.
Scribe (@scribe) said on 6th February 2011, 19:20
yeah, but he’s just not that great. He’d be a waste of the car just as much as Senna and Petrov.
THis is why they should have put someone like Glock in teh car, at least then they might not have underacheived.
US_Peter (@us_peter) said on 6th February 2011, 19:54
Agreed. I wished they’d put Glock in from the start, but I guess he’s banking on long term prospects with Virgin…
summers (@summers) said on 6th February 2011, 10:20
I hope that’s nothing serious and he will soon be able to race…
d-d said on 6th February 2011, 12:17
Soon means a few months, if at all.
What a blow for the whole team.
Andy92 (@andy92) said on 6th February 2011, 10:22
Assuming he wont be able to drive in the next test, who will take his spot? Bruno Senna? At least its a chance to demonstrate his true ability.
However, I do hope Robert is fine, and is well and fit asap.
DANK said on 6th February 2011, 10:33
I’m guessing it would be Petrov for all 3 days
Hare (@hare) said on 6th February 2011, 10:42
I don’t think that would happen. Lotus Renault have a plethora of drivers in the wings dying to get at the wheel. It would make little sense to make one driver do all your driving, and not allow the person who may have to take Roberts place, some significant track time.
Hamish said on 6th February 2011, 11:02
Yep agreed. In this period of next to no testing for reserve drivers I think a judgement call will be made ASAP. If you can extract any positves its a new car with new tyres, so whoever was to be driving will be on a learning curve just like everyone else.
d-d said on 6th February 2011, 12:15
Probably two drivers, the second one must be familiar with the car as well.
Fixy (@fixy) said on 6th February 2011, 14:36
Petrov only if Kubica will be back in time for the first race, Senna if he will have to compete in some races to give him some practice.
SennaNmbr1 (@sennanmbr1) said on 6th February 2011, 10:59
Just imagine if the car is the class of the field and Senna wins the championship. That would trump Jenson Button’s luck!
First season at the back of the grid, loses drive, lucks into great car and wins championship in second season.
Griggs said on 6th February 2011, 11:07
That would be awesome, especially as he was so close to driving that BrawnGP car anyway.
Won’t happen though. :P
GeeMac (@geemac) said on 6th February 2011, 12:40
Yup, Griggs poinmts out something that we all seem to have forgotten. Bruno is/was so highly rated that he was set to replace Rubens at Honda before they pulled the plug on their F1 programme.
Lets not write him off after a season at the back of the grid in a useless HRT which no one could have driven any better.
coxy said on 6th February 2011, 14:43
“Lets not write him off after a season at the back of the grid in a useless HRT which no one could have driven any better.”
Really exept the other 3 three drivers which raced for HRT and smashed him in qualifying race afer race, Klein even did it the first time out in the car!
Griggs said on 6th February 2011, 16:01
@coxy
Seriously? Come on.
The biggest myth of last season has to be how much Senna was “smashed” “destroyed” “murdered” “brutalized” by his team mates.
Klien was quicker. Fair enough. Senna improved against Klien as time went on.
Other than that Karun was a nice guy and I can see why people like him.
But this over the hatred for Senna is getting old now.
Sigh.
GeeMac (@geemac) said on 7th February 2011, 10:11
Quite right again Griggs, people point out how Klein was quicker in their first race together, but omit the fact that Senna was faster in the last race at Abu Dhabi. Senna was “brutalised” by the rest of his teammates because their HRT’s somehow managed to finish while Bruno’s tended to break down…while he was in front of them.
BasCB (@bascb) said on 6th February 2011, 12:09
I suppose it will be Grosjean/Petrov, if the injuries are judged to enable Kubica to recover for Bahrain.
If not I would expect Senna to get as much running as needed to prepare him to take the car in the first GPs this season.
Hare said on 6th February 2011, 12:38
It’ll be Senna and Petrov.
Parmalat Unipart said on 6th February 2011, 16:12
@ BasCB
Np It will be Senna/Petrov.
Smithy said on 6th February 2011, 10:22
I hope he’s alright and will recover ASAP.
Early days yet, but if he’s unable to start the season, surely Senna will step in for him.
MaroonJack (@maroonjack) said on 6th February 2011, 10:27
I’ve heard the reports of broken clavicle, femur, left hand and wrist. It’s all very conflicting and I think that most journalists are just making things up. Let’s wait for the official statement. I hope he recovers quickly.
Hare said on 6th February 2011, 10:55
So… essentially he’s broken something then.
unless it’s a rib, he’s not going to be testing at Jerez.
Hamish said on 6th February 2011, 11:04
I do believe Jenson raced with a broken heart for some of the races last year.
VXR said on 6th February 2011, 11:17
He wasn’t driving the Mercedes?
Hare said on 6th February 2011, 11:34
How.. what the…. eh?
Hare said on 6th February 2011, 12:13
Again.. How the… what on… eh?!
BasCB (@bascb) said on 6th February 2011, 12:09
Wasn’t that Lewis?
Hamish said on 6th February 2011, 12:27
Button was a single man for about 2 months last year. How I know that really concerns me.
Owen said on 6th February 2011, 12:28
Hahaha when his girlfriend split with him.
cyanide (@cyanide) said on 6th February 2011, 16:55
hahahahahaha…. classic
Gail in cincinnati said on 6th February 2011, 18:27
Schumacher raced, and won with no heart at all for several years…..
Todfod (@todfod) said on 6th February 2011, 19:08
@Gail. Hilarious Comment!
verstappen (@verstappen) said on 6th February 2011, 10:28
Hope he recovers fully. Preferably in time for the start of the season. But of not it gives us fanatics an opportunity to see what Bruno does against Petrov
verstappen (@verstappen) said on 6th February 2011, 12:54
Man, I know it’s speculation at this time but the worst case scenario’s make me feel bad for even mentioning anything other then the hope that Kubica will recover fully.
All the best for him!
Kirk said on 6th February 2011, 10:31
Lets wait and see, media reports tend to be wildly inaccurate and over dramatise things.
Hamish said on 6th February 2011, 10:34
“Vitaly Petrov lead driver”
Make sure whoever is within an earshot when you say that doesn’t have any food or fluid in their mouth.
Hare said on 6th February 2011, 10:55
Fail! had ice cream in my mouth.. nearly snorted it.
JCF1 (@jcf1) said on 6th February 2011, 15:55
Ha ha hilarious!
Imagine team orders:
Vitaly is faster than you
Senna moves aside
Crash!
Both renaults out of the race after petrov looses contol when overtaking teammate
David B said on 6th February 2011, 10:37
From “La GAzzetta” (most important italian sport paper, quite reliable) it seems he reported multiple fractures, and prognosys is still reserved. It means that the doctors don’t know what the extent of the injuries exactly is. Seems to be quite bad.
Let’s see and hope, but it seems pretty bad.
Alessandro A said on 6th February 2011, 11:37
Gazzetta and italian Sky News reports he may lose his hand.
Waiting for 14:00 CET for an official bulletin from the hospital
http://www.gazzetta.it/Motori/Formula1/06-02-2011/incidente-un-rally-8057234170.shtml
Antranik (@antranik) said on 6th February 2011, 18:26
More recent reports state that he will definitely not loose his hand! GREAT NEWS!
Get well soon Robert!