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.”