Robert Kubica has informed Lotus Renault GP that it is still too early for him to commit to driving in the 2012 Formula 1 World Championship. Robert can now walk without problems, and can move his hand and elbow, but it has been clear for some time that his recovery is still not close to being finished.
“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,” Robert said. “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.”
Things have not been helped in recent months by Kubica’s silence and the fact that the people around him are clearly split over how progress has been going, with some saying that all is well and others that more time is needed. There are others sources that say that Robert is really struggling and may never recover the movement and feeling he needs to be an F1 driver. It is hard to know what to believe.
Lotus Renault GP says that a test car is ready and waiting for him, and a dedicated crew is on stand-by and that 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”.
That seems rather premature in the circumstances.
“He has taken a very mature decision, acting in the best interests of Lotus Renault GP,” says team boss Eric Boullier. “As a team and as a family, we remain 100 percent 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.”
Your headline says it all Joe…the penalty does not fit the crime, once more
I hope that he gets back to full fitness and drives again but it isn’t looking good. It must be very difficult for him to accept this and I am sure that he has been trying to convince himself that he would be fine. At least he has a good level already and he must know that the accident could have been far worse and he is lucky to that extent.
Good luck.
There has been a lot of talk of a major bonus of Robert going to Ferrari being them owning their own circuits he could pound around on.
However Lotus have poured (wasted) a huge amount of money into upgrading Hethal to FIA standards which he could also presumably test on. I may be missing something but I dont think Fiorano is the USP it is being made out to be.
I suspect at this rate his 2013 contract will be rather like Michael Owen’s and will payout per drive or even per point.
If he signs for Renault (I cba to call them anything else) for 2013, then they’ll benefit significantly if he comes back to full fitness and speed, even if/when Ferrari buy him out of this Renault contract…
Poor Robert indeed, his driving sparkle & tenacity is hugely missed here.
Get well soon Mr Kubica.
Joe: You hit the nail on the head with the headline! Aside from the physical side of RK’s rehab, the mental side must be incredibly difficult for him. Imagine if you were unsure if you would be capable of doing the job you had trained for your entire life, the one at which you were at the very pinnacle.
In earlier comments regarding Kubica’s plight I offered little sympathy due to the manner in which he hurt himself.
I DID expect his return next year and am saddened his recuperation has not progressed as well as expected. But can Lotus really string out next season on the hopes of his return, without any basis of fact on how competitive he will be?
Sounds like this shot grows ever longer day by day.
horrrible info for me, all polish fans and for all F1 world:( I don`t want F1 without our King:( please, come back aur MASTER!!!!
PaulP:
spot on.
My sympathy was not initially as fulsome as it could have been, since I was with Brundle in the ‘what was he playing at?’ boat.
But this is very poor news for Kubica and the sport. He is one of the few drivers that i feel can transcend second-rate machinery and I can’t help but feel the voice of pessimism inside me say it’s not going to be the same if and when he does return.
A note of warning to other drivers thinking of doing rallying for a laugh, I’m afraid.
Get well soon Robert! I suspect the statement from Eric that they’re talking to his management about 2013 is PR posturing as I’ve heard Kubica’s contract expires with the team at the end of 2011.
My personal feeling remains that he’ll run down the remainder of his contract, then if fit and able, position himself as Massa’s replacement for 2013 or sooner if he continues to underperform in 2012.
Lotus’s commitment to Robert is admirable, but I think at some point they need to cut their losses and move on. I am not sure about the regulations, but if they are willing to put a team, old car and track at his disposable then surely these resources could yield comparable if not better results with a young driver.
@Daniel Shires – I would be very surprised if Ferrari replaced Massa with Kubica unless he had done at least 3/4 of a season first and was showing that he still had the speed. A few tests wouldn’t show if his reactions in close racing or his ability to drive a full race distance at speed were still there.
I feel that Renault would be well off considering looking at one of the smaller teams for some sort of driver share arrangement. Get themselves a good line-up for next season (Timo Glock?) and have a seat ready where he could slot back in without the pressure of having to go for results. If it works out then he could move back to the main team for 2013.
Very sad news for F1.
Lotus Renault GP will need to sign up somebody to be a significant number 1 driver now. They cannot possibly expect Vitaly Petrov to be that driver. Bruno Senna won’t be able to fill that role either. I honestly think that Romain Grosjean would be the best of the three, but he is not going to even begin to fill that Kubica shaped hole in the garage.
They need someone who we all know is good. Someone really good. I’m looking at Nico Rosberg, Timo Glock, Nico Hulkenberg, someone of that stature. I know they’re all under contract, but surely someone well established and talented can fill one of the LRGP seats for next year. Petrov / Grosjean or Petrov / Senna just does not cut it when this team had Alonso / Fisichella only a few years ago…
@Stephen Hughes – it’s a fair point, it’s just a theory I’ve been kicking around for a while now. Whatever happens, I don’t think he’ll return to Lotus.
fine words from LRGP , but at the end of the day the team must come first
I hope they sign reubens for a year to keep the seat warm for robert
I’ve been surprised at the depth of my sadness over Wheldon and Simoncelli, likewise Kubica and even Massa (if we consider that spring to have turned a downward trajectory on his career) injuries seem so tragic. These guys are international superstars, rich beyond my dreams, with millions of adoring fans sending condolences. Just trying to talk myself out of hero-worship here… quite sad to see Kubica gone from F1 as he may have turned into a multi-GP winner, but he’s alive and has all the bodily faculties to lead a normal life, and that’s something to be happy for.
Joe,
His plight strikes me as similar to Alessandro Nannini (whos backstory I researched after watching the Senna Film)
“Dear Eric,
If I get fit fit enough to drive in F1 again. I wouldn’t need or want to drive your car.
Thanks
Bob K.”
Slowly, slowly, gently, gently catchee monkey.
Keep on truckin Bobby, its your recovery and you will know when and what to do.
We all hope its a Niki Lauda and not a Stirling type recovery.
Best wishes.
Mr Grayson,
Good call.
I nearly severed a finger in a construction incident. That happened 15 years ago, and I still do not have full function of that hand. I think many people don’t understand that re-attachements of limbs, including nerves, tendons, etc. take a lot of time to heal, even with the best physio therapy available. Best of luck to RK. He has a long road ahead of him.
Sad news on Robert. I liked him as a driver, and had him peg as one to watch when he first came into F1, and he didn’t disappoint me with some great drivers. But given the injuries he had in the rally car, I thought it was a pretty tall order for him to get back to F1, but you never give up hope when you’re talking about a F1 driver.
It is interesting times to be an arm chair team owner and try and work out who to put in your “teams” car, with so many options on the market.
One wonders if Robert was driving now for Renault, would they still be where they are now, slowly falling down the grid, as we now know they took a gamble on the design and it has gone wrong for them, would he be looking to leave, and for whom?
Also if he was fit and ready to return would he want to come back to the team, in the state they are in, with the hope of leading them back to glory. Also would they as a team be losing so many key, experience staff, if he was there now?
The bigger question that doesn’t appear to be raised is who would want to drive for Lotus/Renault?
Its a bit like the Williams situation. Everyone has an uncle who has lots of great stories for the pub about how good they used to be. They continue to think it.
Lotus’ trajectory suggests that any seriously competitive driver, which would enable the team (assuming the produce a competitive car) to challenge for a title, would look elsewhere.
I hope I am very much mistaken as I do feel for his suffering such appalling physical injuries, but I wonder if his slow recovery is due to Renault’s (I can’t call them Lotus, that died with Colin Chapman) lack of competitveness this year or his having a Ferrari contract for 2013 in his pocket….
It was on the cards… sometimes, one has to fold a pair of kings when an ace is flopped. Nevertheless, Robert has plenty of chips left on the table so it would be foolish to just go all in when not ready. In contrast to most opinions, I think this is good news, as Robert is still clearly serious to either coming back with the ability to race or not at all. Either way, he will be remembered as a great driver without the embarrassing situation of him plodding about at the back of the grid, deluding himself but no one else.
Since Robert seems to be a rather lucid individual, he will know if he’s properly ready only after the tests in January. All the self-appointed nay-saying neurosurgeons out there are obviously massively unaware of the possibilities of 21st century medicine and may feel vindicated in their reasoning today. Although the mixed messages coming from the Kubica camp strike an ominous note, I think it is important to breakdown the sources.
I cannot forget about the recent interview with Kubica’s surgeon Igor Rosseli who clearly had a very positive outlook on RK’s future racing prospects. His concluding thoughts were that if Robert was a concert pianist, there may be reason for concern, racing drivers are not pianists. I see no reason why he would talk-up Robert’s condition without evidence and risk his reputation in the process. The unsure/frustrated/ambivalent statements coming out of Enstone are all hallmarks of management trying to plan for next year without being able to understand the shape of one of their most important puzzle pieces. The silence of RK’s management is indeed worrying, however contract negotiations tend to be done behind the scenes, especially if someone from Maranello called. I believe the firmly negative recent comments regarding future comebacks came from Brazilian sources, hmm.
Robert’s driving style and considerable talent made him very enjoyable to watch. One day, I hope to do so again.
An interesting article in today’s Daily Mail, whether it is correct or not, hard to say. But they state he needs a small op to remove the pin in the elbow, and that Ferrari will make a car available for him to test in, plus Red Bull are interested in him to replace Mark Webber.
Going by the Ferrari name been in the frame, it does sound if he had something in his back pocket from them already, which is pretty much how they operate these days.
Keith,
My sources say that he needs more than that.
I see Kubica’s manager is once again claiming that this is all wrong and the Kubica could still be racing in 2012. His constant contradictions to other reports is not helping anyone, especially Robert
http://www.sportune.fr/sport-business/kubica-en-f1-le-traitement-royal-de-lrgp-et-ferrari-43171
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/96418
It looks like the yesterday’s announcement was nothing more than saying goodbye to Renault. Mikołaj Sokół, the closest journo to Kubica, is no stating straight to the face Robert is not going back to Renault/Lotus and should be treated as a free agent and that being test driver for Ferrari is probably better than stepping mid season to the midfield Lotus for a price of multi-year contract.