Amid all the action of the first three races of the season it’s easy to forget that the grid is currently bereft of arguably one of its brightest talents. Robert Kubica was released from hospital last weekend after over two months recuperating from a horrifying rally crash in February.
The rights and wrongs of his participation in the rally have been debated at length, particularly by Eddie Jordan with anyone who will listen (which unsurprisingly isn’t many people), who has argued that it was madness to allow Kubica anywhere near a rally car.
However, short of drivers being cryogenically frozen for the winter and between races, there’s little to prevent accidents from happening, whether on a rally stage, on the road or when training (Mark Webber can attest to that).
The important thing is that Kubica appears to be on the mend, although it will be much later in the year before decisions can be made about his future participation in F1. But what exactly are we missing in the meantime?
Well, Kubica first burst onto the scene in 2006 as a mid-season replacement for Jacques Villeneuve at BMW Sauber. He instantly impressed with his speed and finished on the podium in only his third race, at Monza, which marked him out as a man to watch.
2007 was most remembered for his spectacular crash in Canada – how ironic that the Pole escaped unscathed from probably the biggest crash of the last decade, but has now been injured so seriously away from F1.
Success came his way in 2008 – he led the championship after securing a brilliant maiden win in Canada, but then BMW Sauber dropped away from the ultimate pace as the team decided to concentrate on 2009, much to Robert’s annoyance. This proved even more frustrating given how much of a let down 2009 became, and in the wake of average performances BMW pulled out of the sport.
Kubica sought refuge at Renault, and what an inspired decision that turned out to be. He qualified in the top 10 for all bar the last race of the season, and managed three podium finishes with a car which was only the fourth or fifth best in the field.
In addition, he could perhaps have won the Japanese Grand Prix had his rear wheel not parted company with the rest of his car (thankfully during a safety car period rather than at full racing speed). He regularly outqualified and outraced the likes of Jenson Button and Felipe Massa, despite their superior equipment, and unsurprisingly blew away his inexperienced team mate Vitaly Petrov.
The Pole looked set for an even better 2011, having set the fastest time during pre-season testing at Valencia, before disaster struck. Speculation about how he would have got on in the first three races of the season is largely academic, but given that Petrov and Heidfeld have managed a podium apiece, one would have expected Kubica to have achieved even more.
As well as proving popular among F1 fans all around the world due to his outstanding speed and overtaking prowess, Kubica has also succeeded in mobilising an entire country’s support around him. As the first, and so far only, Formula 1 driver from Poland, Kubica can count on the undivided support of his countrymen, and has clearly captured the nation’s imagination from the early stages of his F1 career.
In early 2007 I remember discussing him with a Polish acquaintance who corrected my pronunciation of his name (commentators at the time were still undecided between ‘Kubika’ and ‘Kubitza’) and waxed lyrical about his talents.
They were by no means an F1 fan, but were more than aware of Robert’s existence despite the fact that he had only been in F1 since mid-2006. Ask the average Scotsman at the end of this year how much they know about Paul Di Resta, for example, and the response would probably be somewhat different (and limited).
The questions now are can Kubica recover and return to F1, and if so will he be the driver he was before the crash? Drivers have recovered from big accidents before; most recently Felipe Massa, who sustained head injuries in qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix in 2009.
However, Kubica’s injuries are different, in that, as well as numerous broken bones in his elbow, leg and shoulder, his right hand bore the brunt of the accident and was partially severed. The nature of this injury is such that only a complete recovery will allow him to withstand the physical demands of driving a Formula 1 car at speed.
The most similar F1 driver injury in recent times to that which Kubica has suffered befell Italian Alessandro Nannini in 1990. There are uncanny parallels between Nannini and Kubica, both in terms of their injuries and relative career statistics.
Nannini was driving for the Benetton team (now Renault of course) when he was involved in a helicopter crash which severed his right forearm. At the time of his accident, he had driven in 76 Grand Prix (the same number as Kubica) and won once (as has Kubica).
However, even though Nannini later enjoyed success in touring cars he was never able to return to Formula 1, having only recovered partial use of his arm. Let us hope that the similarities between Kubica and Nannini’s circumstances end with a return to the track for Robert in the not-too-distant future. Despite all the excitement on track this season, Formula 1 is a poorer place without him.
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