The Polish driver Robert Kubica has had a tragic accident while taking part in a rally race in Italy.
It is unclear as to what extent the Formula 1 driver’s injuries are but we do know that he has suffered multiple fractures to his right arm, leg and hand. Some reports are suggesting that he had partially severed his hand during the accident and that recovery from this awful accident may put him out of Formula 1 for the whole 2011 season. That being said, they are still only preliminary reports and it may be as far from the truth as possible but still it remains that he was quite severely injured and I hope he has a speedy recovery. Renault has said that they back the decision by Kubica to take part in the rally merely 31 days before the start of the new Formula 1 season. Fortunately the co-driver involved in the accident has come away relatively unscathed and has confirmed that he is fine. Robert Kubica raced for Team Renault during the 2010 Formula 1 season racking up a fair amount of points for a driver that isn’t part of one of the top 3 constructor’s teams. He did very well for his team and proved he has it in him to take on the big boys of the sport. He was meant to race with the newly formed Lotus-Renault team and was happy with the car’s launch just a few days earlier. We don’t know what the extent of damage will do to his Formula 1 career but what we can say is if he doesn’t fully recover by the start of the season we’ll be seeing one of the reserve drivers out on the track in his place. This driver will probably be none other than Bruno Senna who lost his position as a primary driver for Hispania racing and was taken on by Lotus-Renault as a reserve driver. It’s a very unfortunate accident for Kubica as something like this can really take its toll on a person’s confidence and skill. I really hope he comes back with flying colours and as good as he ever was as I really enjoyed following his performance during the 2010 season. It just goes to show the difference in safety between Formula 1 and other motorsports. Rally racing is quite unrelenting when it comes to crashes, with the cars and their surroundings being more of a factor in injury compared with F1. When we think back to Mark Webber’s somersault in an F1 car and the damage it sustained, yet he managed to walk away relatively unharmed you can’t help but think the design of the car had something to do with cocooning its occupant to minimise the damage they take.