Kubica says he will return to F1 if he feels fit enough

2013 F1 season

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Robert Kubica says he will consider returning to Formula One if the arm he injured in a rally crash in 2011 heals sufficiently.

Kubica has undergone surgery on multiple occasion since his right arm was almost severed when he crashed during the Ronde di Andora Rally in February 2011.

Speaking to F1 Racing magazine Kubica said he will consider returning to F1 even if his injured arm does not heal fully: “If the limited pronation and supination were fixed 80 percent, I would say ‘yes’ to coming back to F1.”

Kubica has returned to competition in rallying and escaped further injury in a crash last September. He will test a Mercedes DTM car at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Valencia tomorrow.

“I’m really pleased that Mercedes-Benz is giving me the opportunity to test their DTM car and I’m looking forward to getting acclimatised to a race car again,” he said in a statement.

“It will be in proper testing conditions, on a permanent circuit, and it’s important because the DTM Mercedes AMG C-Coupe has good levels of downforce.”

Kubica added said he’s not yet ready to commit to a return to circuit racing: “It’s still too early to make any statements about my future because of this one test. I’m just looking forward to tomorrow and well see what happens after that.”

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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15 comments on “Kubica says he will return to F1 if he feels fit enough”

  1. He may say yes, but unfortunately I feel that by the time his arm is healed sufficiently, there may be very few F1 teams willing to put him into the seat. He won’t be racing this year in F1, meaning it’ll be at least three years out of the sport, likely four or more. He’s at an age now where he should be at his peak, so if it took him a couple of years to get back properly up to speed, his best years are likely behind him.

    I’d love to be proven wrong, but I think we’ll never see Kubica drive competitively in F1 again.

    1. Jep, I agree. This guy will never race in F1 again.

  2. I very much doubt we’ll ever see him in an F1 car again. But he’s got the talent to be sucessful in other series, be it WRC, DTM or something else.

  3. He was great but anything less than that and he’ll have to bring money and lots of it. Unfortunately I too believe that we’ve seen the last of him in F1. I wish him luck in other series.

  4. Heart says he will be back, brain no ho won’t. Although I’m polish and with Kubica I am always a little bit biased, I still believe that he can make it. The truth is that just the fact that he was in F1 says a lot about his determination as there is absolutely nothing in Poland that can help you with that and still he managed to get there. I wouldn’t say that his age is a problem here as he is still under 30 and I feel that there are some teams left that could give him a chance. In Kubica’s case it was never about the money. It was always about the talent and it can defend itself on the track.

    1. “…there is absolutely nothing in Poland that can help you with that and still he managed to get there.”
      Well, you do have a population of over 38.5 million people = huge market opportunity :)

  5. Ι really hope he can move to DTM instead of ERC. Higher level, better cars.

  6. i would love to see him back in f1, i believe he was one of the best drivers out there, and i still think he could compete in f1 if he’s fit, schumacher had 4 years out and came back and competed at a decent level, Kubica could return to f1 10 years younger than schumacher was when he returned, i hope he returns to f1, i think the sport misses him a little.

  7. When he drove the rally they put both paddle shifts on the left hand side isnt it ?.. are they doing they same with the DTM car ??

  8. I admire the optimism that Kubica has, but I doubt we’ll see him in Formula One again. Even if his hand will heal enough to allow competeing in Formula One again, he’d have a hard time getting a seat again.

    Kovalainen, Kobayashi and Glock have recently left the sport despite being qualified drivers. Kubica probably has more talent than those three, but not as much that a team would hire him after not competing for several years. Räikkönen made a comeback after two years out of Formula One, but he is a world championship, which in F1 means that he has ten times more marketing potential than Kubica.

    Kubica’s chance is that he’ll get enough sponsor money with his recovering story, but is gathering sponsor money really that easy? I doubt it.

  9. If his arm heals, I don’t think he’ll have a problem finding a seat. Obviously he’d have to prove himself in a midfield car at best, but as he has said himself, he doesn’t seem to have lost much, if any, speed. I don’t think a team like Sauber or Force India would say no to the services of Kubica.

    I don’t see Kubica paying for a seat, but I’m sure he would be fine driving for pennies. With Hulkenberg being likely to end up at Ferrari, there could be a seat at Sauber with Gutierrez providing a significant amount of cash and Force India, unless in absolutely dire need of money, should go for him rather than Bianchi/Sutil.

    Of course, he would be rusty, and therefore he should be aiming at 2014 which promises a more equal playing field regarding experience as the cars will be new. Importantly, I think he should be trying to do DTM rather than ERC – if he underperforms, he can always go back to rallying, but at this point I don’t think he should give up on F1.

    If he’s capable of driving an F1 car and as quick and consistent as he used to, the benefits of employing him rather than some Johnny Cecotto with heaps of money should outweigh the risk and financial drawback associated with it. I think Frank Williams would concur with that.

  10. I think this article sums Kubica up in a nutshell. One of the grittiest drivers to race in F1 and will never give up.

    If he does actually return to F1 and is instantly on the pace then that will be one of the most uplifting F1 stories in its history.

  11. I’m skeptical whether he will be able to return to his pre-crash form and also if any team would be willing to sign him if he made a near-full recovery but if my skepticism was silenced I would be delighted! Kubica was a very promising driver and I definitely felt he was world champion material; perhaps if he hadn’t had his accident he would still be driving the Renault (now Lotus) and be enjoying similar success to Räikkönen.

  12. I don’t doubt his ability but I do doubt that any teams would be that interested in him. Conversely though, if one of the smaller teams could bag him, it might help them out with getting into the spotlight.

  13. I have to agree with the majority here…I admire his conviction, but to say IF he gets 80% pronation and supination he would say yes to a F1 comeback, to me shows the odds are slim. IF he gets back this 80%, he will be at a 20% disadvantage to every other driver, not to mention the disadvantage of having been out of F1 for how long, once and if in fact a return does happen, and even then it won’t be with a top team. Sorry RK, but I think you should concentrate your energies on DTM and whatever else you can excel at. The margins are just too slim in F1 to allow for 80% or less mobility in one arm, imho. If I’m wrong, and he does get back into F1 and succeed at it, then I agree it will be one of the better stories in the history of F1. Best of luck RK.

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