Filed under: Motorsports, Hirings/Firings/Layoffs, Lotus, Renault
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You haven’t forgotten about Robert Kubica already, now have you? Of course not. Who could, after all, forget the first Formula One driver ever to come out of Poland, and one of the most promising talents in the sport.
Unfortunately, Kubica’s career was put on hold earlier this year when he suffered a devastating crash in a pre-season Italian rally that saw a roadside safety barrier impale his Skoda Fabia S2000 and partially sever his forearm. The injury took him out of the F1 season that was about to start, and sent the Lotus Renault GP team looking for a replacement, Nick Heidfeld brought in for the start of the season before being replaced by Bruno Senna.
A general lull in news subsequently fell over Kubica’s recovery as he recuperated in private, but the team has now issued a statement that he won’t be back in the cockpit for the start of next season. His recovery is apparently going well, just not that well: he’s said to be able to move the injured arm, but moving is one thing - the rigors of driving a modern F1 car competitively is quite another. His management and team are discussing an extension of his contract that will expire at the end of next year so that Kubica can come back when he’s ready, and are they are keeping the simulators and test cars running for when the time comes.
In the meantime, LRGP will have to choose who will fill Kubica’s seat for another season. His Russian teammate, Vitaly Petrov, is confirmed through 2012, but whether the team opts to keep Bruno Senna in the race seat remains to be seen. Renault keeps a large roster of reserve drivers on call - including Romain Grosjean (who raced for the team in 2009 and is the reigning GP2 champion), Chinese up-and-comer Ho-Pin Tung (currently in IndyCars), former Le Mans Series and F3000 series champion Jan Charouz and Malaysian driver Fairuz Fauzy - but could, as with Heidfeld, bring in an experienced outside driver to fill the void.Continue reading Robert Kubica won’t be coming back next season
Robert Kubica won’t be coming back next season originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 25 Nov 2011 10:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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