Kubica's prospects of an F1 return in the near future have suffered a blow

Robert Kubica’s recovery from injuries sustained in a rally accident last year has suffered a setback.

Kubica injured his right leg after slipping on a patch of ice near his home in Italy.

After being taken to hospital in the vicinity Kubica request to return to the clinic in Pietra Ligure where he had treatment after his rally crash last year.

According to Autosport, Kubica reopened the fracture in his right tibia in the fall.

Robert Kubica rally crash

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Image © Renault/LAT

Renault faded rapidly in 2011

Having finished on the podium in the first two races, Renault scored just one point in the final four rounds.

How did their 2011 campaign go so disastrously wrong?

And would they have done better had Robert Kubica not been injured before the season started?

It’s tempting to look at the results of that last test session in Valencia, when Kubica was quickest in the R31, and conclude that great things would have come Renault’s way had he not been severely injured in a rally accident three days later.

But we should not read that much into the results of a test session. As the 2011 season unfolded, it was the car as much as the drivers that let the team down.

Once the grave extent of Kubica’s injuries was learned, team principal Eric Boullier ran Nick Heidfeld and Bruno Senna in the next test and initially gave Kubica’s seat to Heidfeld.

It was something of a fairytale result for the team when Vitaly Petrov brought the car home on the podium in the first race at Melbourne. Heidfeld repeated the feat in the following round at Sepang.

But their season went downhill after that.

Heidfeld’s indifferent qualifying performances frustrated Boullier, who urged his driver to raise his game. He did so in Canada, only to crash out while racing for position with Kamui Kobayashi.

After the European Grand Prix Boullier again said the team hadn’t done well enough as both Heidfeld and Petrov slipped back from their starting positions during the race.

The team struggled to develop the R31, with its radical front exit exhausts, as the season went on. A more conventional system was briefly tried but rejected.

Hungary was Heidfeld's last appearance

Boullier’s patience with Heidfeld eventually ran out and he put Senna in the car from Spa onwards. Senna out-qualified Petrov first time out and kept his team mate honest over the remaining races. But by now the team were scrapping in the lower reaches of the top ten.

Their season reached its nadir in Singapore. The R31s arrived home 15th and 17th – Petrov behind a Lotus – in a result Boullier described as “painful”.

Senna was displeased by Petrov’s aggressive tactics at the start in Suzuka – much as Heidfeld had been when the pair disputed the same piece of track in Turkey.

Petrov’s second F1 season was mixed at best. Following his strong start in Melbourne he crashed badly in Monaco, fortunately escaping injury. He was ragged in India and seemed to have a magnetic attraction to Michael Schumacher’s Mercedes: he was blameless in their collisions in Turkey and Valencia, but not so in Singapore where he ploughed into the Mercedes, earning a penalty.

In the final race it was Senna who collided with Schumacher, also receiving a penalty.

This almost compromised Renault’s chances of holding onto fifth in the constructors’ championship. Had it not been for Toro Rosso’s late-season resurgence, taking points off Force India in Korea and India, it’s very likely Renault would have fallen to sixth.

Grosjean drove in practice ahead of his 2012 return

The team have opted for wholesale change in its driver line-up for 2012, bringing in Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean while cutting Petrov’s contract short by a year.

But the driver line-up wasn’t the sole source of the team’s problems in 2011. The R31′s reliability was as much a cause for concern as its performance.

Heidfeld suffered two major fires in the exhaust system, including one that ended his final race. Senna had KERS failures in consecutive races and Petrov’s DRS malfunctioned in Abu Dhabi.

The team will be hoping for a change in from to accompany its new identity – Lotus – in 2012. However the name ‘Renault’ will remain as an engine supplier, in which role it has enjoyed conspicuously greater success in powering Red Bull to their world championships.

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Images © Renault/LAT

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Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull, Interlagos, 2011

Sebastian Vettel put Red Bull on top in the final practice session for the Brazilian Grand Prix.

Team mate Mark Webber was third fastest with the McLaren pair second and fourth.

The Renault drivers were out first, Bruno Senna heading the times briefly on his home track before pitting.

The next driver to head the times was Lewis Hamilton, before team mate Jenson Button beat his fastest lap on the harder tyres.

Sebastian Vettel edged Button with his last effort, going just five-hundredths of a second faster than the McLaren.

The Mercedes drivers were the first onto soft tyres, Rosberg getting within a tenth of a second of Vettel’s time.

Webber – still on the harder tyres – beat Vettel’s time by three-hundredths of a second, before Adrian Sutil hit the top of the times with a 1’13.113 on softs.

Fernando Alonso was the next driver to go fastest, lowering the mark to 1’12.765, before Hamilton eclipsed his time by a tenth of a second.

But it was a familiar sight at the end of the session as Vettel set the fastest time once again, then improved it to end up on a 1’12.460.

Button moved up to second, less than a tenth of a second behind the Red Bull, with Webber taking third on a 1’12.597, pushing Hamilton down to fourth.

Sutil’s time was good enough to put him sixth behind Alonso, and ahead of the two Mercedes. Michael Schumacher had a near-miss when he came across a dawdling Massa in the pit lane exit at the end of the session.

Massa ended up tenth behind Paul di Resta. But Sebastien Buemi was unable to set a time after a technical problem on his Toro Rosso.

Combined practice times

2011 Brazilian Grand Prix

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Image © Red Bull/Getty images

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Lewis Hamilton, McLaren, Interlagos, 2011

The drivers who shared the front row of the grid for the last race were quickest in the second practice session in Brazil.

Lewis Hamilton headed the times in an uneventful session. He was followed by Sebastian Vettel, with the other Red Bull of Mark Webber in third.

Hamilton led the running early in the session on the harder tyres. Michael Schumacher briefly took over at the top of the times after switching to the soft compound.

Hamilton quickly returned to the top but Schumacher’s best effort remained within three-tenths of a second of the McLaren.

The Red Bull drivers were unable to beat Hamilton’s best time and Fernando Alonso took fourth.

Behind Schumacher were Felipe Massa, Jenson Button and Nico Rosberg. The two Force Indias completed the top ten, Adrian Sutil ahead of Paul di Resta.

Shortly before the end of the session Sergio Perez came to a stop at Juncao, telling the team he had a gearbox problem.

Image © McLaren

Mark Webber, Red Bull, Interlagos, 2011

Mark Webber headed the first practice session for the Brazilian Grand Prix.

The Red Bull pilot was just 14 thousandths of a second quicker than Jenson Button.

The McLaren and Red Bull cars swapped fastest times during the session. Lewis Hamilton was third quickest ahead of Sebastian Vettel, the world champion wearing a new helmet-mounted camera during the session.

The two Ferraris of Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso were next. Alonso’s session came to an end when his engine failed five minutes before the chequered flag came out.

Romain Grosjean, driving Vitaly Petrov’s car, also came to a stop before the end of the session with a technical problem on the Renault.

Several other teams ran one-off drivers during the session. Nico Hulkenberg was eighth-quickest for Force India behind Michael Schumacher.

Jean-Eric Vergne was 18th for Toro Rosso, Luiz Razia 20th for Lotus and Jan Charouz last in the HRT.

Kamui Kobayashi had a minor spin during the session but didn’t hit anything and ended up 15th-fastest.

2011 Brazilian Grand Prix

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• 2011 Brazilian Grand Prix: complete race weekend review
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• Red Bull: Gearbox glitch hands win to Webber
• McLaren: Button wanted to pass Alonso without using DRS
• Massa makes 100 Ferrari starts but no podium
• Ferrari: Alonso slips back on medium tyres
• Mercedes: Two-stop strategy leaves Rosberg vulnerable
• Force India: Sutil equals best result of the year

Image © Red Bull/Getty images

The design created by Linkin Park is to raise money for international aid for victims of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami through Music for Relief.

Vitantonio Liuzzi is also using a very unusual special helmet design for this race. Here’s what his team had to say about it:

“It is the seventh special edition designed this season by Kaos Design, but this new helmet is different to the rest and will be different to anything seen before in Formula 1. With a completely black base, the characteristic lines which Tonio has on his standard helmet will be drawn in white with the sponsors and VL logo written in golden leaves.

“The name of the helmet is ‘K-Writeme’ and it is covered in a material similar to that of a blackboard meaning that Tonio can write and erase what he wants on the surface until he is happy with the design.”

Here are pictures from Thursday at Interlagos.

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• Sauber C31 launch - first pictures and video of Sauber's 2012 F1 car
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Robert Kubica, Renault, Valencia, 2011

Robert Kubica will not return to F1 in time for the start of the 2012 season, Renault has confirmed today.

A statement issued by the team said: “Robert Kubica has today informed Lotus Renault GP that, despite having started an intensive training programme, it is still too early for him to commit to driving in the 2012 championship.

“Robert’s progress remains impressive – he can now walk freely, and move his hand and elbow -, but he feels that he needs more time to return to full fitness.

“Lotus Renault GP remains committed to helping Robert as much as possible in his recovery process. A test car is ready and waiting for him, and a dedicated crew is on stand-by. Of course, Robert will remain a member of the LRGP family in 2012 and he is already, through his management, holding talks about renewing his contract for the following season.

“Although very disappointed by the news, Lotus Renault GP will start assessing its options and will evaluate the most suitable candidate to drive from the first 2012 winter testing session. Once again, all the members of Lotus Renault GP wish Robert a full and speedy recovery as we say: ‘Szybkiego powrotu do zdrowia’ – Get well soon our friend.”

Kubica said: “Even if I’ve been working very, very hard over the course of the last few weeks, I came to the conclusion that I am not yet certain to be ready for the 2012 season. I have called the team and I have informed them of the situation.

“This was a difficult decision to make, but it is the most reasonable one. I also know that LRGP need to prepare for next year, and further extending deadlines would not have been the right thing to do.

“On a personal level, my recovery is still very encouraging and my doctors keep being impressed. I just need more time, as I want to be 100% ready before I commit to anything driving related.

“Finally, I regret not having been able to provide more news and not having appeared in the papers, and I thank my friends of the media for understanding that this has been the best way for me to cope with what has been the most difficult period of my life.”

Team principal Eric Boullier said: “Everybody in the team is, of course, very disappointed today. Robert not driving in Australia at the start of next season is not what we were all hoping for.

“However, he has taken a very mature decision, acting in the best interests of Lotus Renault GP. As a team and as a family, we remain 100% behind him and we’ll help as much as we can. A programme composed of simulator testing, single-seater and F1 track time is awaiting him.

“In the meantime, we will start talking to a few drivers in order to finalise our line-up for next year as soon as possible. Robert will take it step by step and will jump back in his racing car when he feels it is the right moment to do so. On behalf of all 520 members of the team, I wish him a speedy recovery.”

More information on the 2012 F1 season.

2012 F1 season

• Live: 2012 F1 testing day four – Jerez
• Jerez test day three in pictures
• Mercedes stay on top in Jerez test
• Live: 2012 F1 testing day three – Jerez
• Schumacher quickest on day two of test as Webber leads 2012 runners
• Jerez test day two in 100 pictures
• Live: 2012 F1 testing day two – Jerez
• Raikkonen leads Di Resta on first day of Jerez test
• Red Bull RB8 seen for first time as Jerez test begins
• Williams FW34 launch: First pictures of their 2012 F1 car

Image © Renault/LAT