Peter Sauber is sporting some bumps and bruises this weekend following a fall in Melbourne.
Switzerland’s Blick newspaper reports that the 68-year-old team owner and boss fell at the paddock entrance at Albert Park last Sunday, taking the brunt of the impact with his elbow and wrist.

“It still hurts,” he admitted. “All I could think of at the time was to protect my face.”

Sauber was treated by McLaren doctor Aki Hintsa, who said Sauber was lucky not to have injured himself more badly.

Robert Kubica is going to return to formula one in 2012, according to F1 doctor Riccardo Ceccarelli.

And the same message has emerged this week from the Pole’s manager Daniele Morelli, after Renault boss Eric Boullier imposed a mid October deadline for the finalisation of the team’s 2012 lineup.

“If you keep delaying, delaying, delaying, you end up risking the interests of the team,” Boullier is quoted as saying last weekend by Globo Esporte. “That is why we have to have the deadline.”

But Morelli has told Italy’s Omnicorse this week: “We are not able to predict a precise date (for Kubica’s return) because it is nature taking its course.

“But we are optimistic, very optimistic, and I do not think a delay of a couple of weeks can affect the plans.

“One thing is certain — he is coming back. The only problem now is muscular.”

Dr Ceccarelli, who is heading the 26-year-old’s rehabilitation phase, confirmed: “I would say with certainty that Robert will be a F1 driver in 2012.

“I can not say when he will be ready but it will be between the months of November and January.”

He said the earlier problems with Kubica’s right hand have now been overcome.

“Yes, it’s great, even if this healing is gradual. Not forgetting that Robert suffered injuries to two of the three nerves, and had severs of the tendons and muscles, the feeling has come back to the fingertips,” said Ceccarelli.

The truth at present, however, is that Kubica is not yet ready to return to a single seater, nor even drive a road car.

“It is true, Robert still has an external fixator on his leg and we have not rushed to remove it — the longer the better, and the better result. So as we wait for the healing of the hand and the elbow, there is still no hurry,” said Ceccarelli.

He added that when the fixator is removed, Kubica can get to work.

“The muscles have been inactive for months and so need to recover tone and strength. But the big question – if he can drive in formula one again – has gone.”

Robert Kubica is making significant progress in his quest to return to formula one.
That is the claim of the recovering Pole’s friend Mikolaj Sokol, who writes for the Polish broadsheet Rzeczpospolita.

“His current condition is a miracle,” said Sokol, according to sport10.at.

“After I saw him in Pietra Ligure (hospital) some hours after his surgery nearly half a year ago, I would not have expected it.”

The report said Kubica is now able to walk independently as he awaits a further operation to improve the functionality of his elbow later this month.

Sokol said Kubica’s will to recover has been remarkable.

“When he was weakened in the hospital bed with many painkillers he was still up for a joke. Every free second he was training the parts of his body that he could move.

“When he was allowed to leave the bed, he withstood any amount of pain and loaded his right leg as much he possibly could,” he said.

Mark Webber, who prior to the 2009 season recovered from a badly broken leg, said recovery and rehabilitation is “very frustrating”.

“You can have three days of progress and then three days with none,” the Australian told the Polish portal onet.pl.

“The daily exercises are tedious — it’s like building a big wall one brick at a time.”

Robert had further surgery today at the Santa Corona Hospital in Pietra Ligure. A team of 15 doctors and nurses were involved to carry out surgery to his foot, shoulder, humerous, and anterior elbow. Dr. Francesco Lanza from the Orthopaedic Department confirmed that the four operations had gone well. Robert will remain in intensive care over the weekend, with the final surgery planned for next week to treat the posterior part of the elbow.

Dr. Rosello also provided an update on the condition of Robert’s hand: “Robert’s hand is in optimal condition and has not suffered any further trauma after such complex surgery. His hand remains well vascularised and warm.”

Source: Renault

Robert Kubica will definitely be out of action for the first quarter of this season’s 20-race calendar.
Earlier, medical specialists had predicted a one-year recovery from the Pole’s multiple rally crash injuries, cautioning that athletes often heal much faster.

“At the moment it’s hard to predict,” answered Renault team boss Eric Boullier when asked about 26-year-old Kubica’s expected recovery time by Auto Motor und Sport.

“He’s not coming back for the next three months. But to say six months or more would be purely speculative,” he added.

Boullier said Kubica has been making “surprisingly rapid progress” this week, can move the fingers on his injured right hand and will be under the knife for a further five hours on Friday for work on his elbow and shoulder.

“He was asking about GP2 and formula one and joking as usual,” said Boullier, recalling his most recent visit with the Pole.

“He wants to know the results of the tests, so we will give him all the data of Jerez on Monday.”

Boullier admits Kubica’s convalescence is a “heavy blow” to Renault, but he vowed not to bow to pressure and prevent the team’s drivers from participating in dangerous extra-curricular hobbies from now on.

“No, we are not changing,” said the Frenchman. “Robert is a racer, I’m a racer. If we had banned rally driving and karting, he would not have been happy.

“The driver is the most useful when they feel comfortable with the team. Absolutely. Up until the corner where he had his crash, Robert was a happy man,” added Boullier.

The day after suffering horrific injuries in a rally smash, Robert Kubica awoke from an induced coma, talked to his father and moved his fingers.
The Pole will miss the start of the season and almost certainly all of the forthcoming 2011 schedule, but the early signs are good that he will make a recovery despite earlier fears he might lose his right hand.

However, a statement issued by his F1 team Lotus-Renault said “it will be several days before it is known if the (hand) operation has been 100 per cent successful”

Kubica, 26, was put back to sleep on Monday, while doctors considered further surgery to treat elbow and shoulder fractures.

He also has leg fractures.

“Kubica is conscious,” said an intensive care spokesman at the Santa Corona hospital. “The first thing he thought about was his co driver and was informed about his condition.”

The spokesman added that Kubica “lost a lot of blood” in the accident and had been “critical” but is now stable.