Kubica's Recovery

[iotar__]

Nothing has changed, it's probably true but not because Domenicali says so. Why is he talking about it anyway? They were monitoring him while hiring Massa, NH and KR? Any subject is good to not to talk about how s... Ferrari is.

Did you read the article or are you just using your last post to take a moment to talk --- about Ferrari?

Finally a question from left field: “Was there really the intention to take on Kubica and will he be back in F1?” Domenicali. “Yes, we were keeping an eye on him. Unfortunately, I don’t think he will be back, because with his physical problem, he would struggle in certain limited situations which require reactivity. It’s a shame.”

Yes I did read it and that's the part I was commenting on, nothing's changed, Domenicali is willing to talk about anything but s.. Ferrari car. That's pretty straightforward, which part is questionable or confusing to you? Monitoring my bottom.

He was asked him about Domenicali's comments and believe it or not the answer was that it may be true or it may not be true and what SD said was nothing new. What a surprise, call the press .

http://translate.googleusercontent.com/ ... hQaAAI2Vjw

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[zonk]

[netoperek]

Robert just won Rally de Espana with a huge, over 5 min. gap to the next WRC2 competitor and finished 9th in overall classification of the rally. That means he has secured WRC2 championship title with 5 wins and one 2nd place out of 6 rallies being taken into account.
He has also stated that his goal is to return to racing as soon as possible.

[MadMatt]

Yes he's done a really good job despite lack of opposition. I recon GB will be interesting to see how he compares with Hirvonen if mechanical issues are not biasing things, although Hirvonen's pace this year has been far from good.

[netoperek]

Lots of people are eager to see how he drives that Citroen. Probably the expectations will be enormous. In RK own words it takes 3 seasons to be ablle to judge a driver and evaluate his potencial and it takes 8 - 9 seasons of rallying to become a champion. Thats how much it took in case of Seb Loeb. I reckon if he fihish and will be 5th in overall clasification after the rally, like in Germany, it will be a success in a completely new car, with a much better opposition, on a completely new rally and one of the hardest of them too.

[zonk]

http://www.omnicorse.it/magazine/32130/ ... o-e-azione

[Richard]

[F1] is a dream, a target, but for now, it's very difficult, I would say nearly impossible.

One option is to come back to circuit racing. For sure, it won't be single-seaters, but I haven't got it clear in my mind what I will do.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/24907004

[GitanesBlondes]

I hate to say it, but it's probably time to accept Kubica is never going to drive F1 car in the World Championship ever again.

He's going to go down as one of the all-time great, what if's for a driver.

[xDama]

I hate to say it, but it's probably time to accept Kubica is never going to drive F1 car in the World Championship ever again..

It was so clear after the accident that he would never, ever, ever be able to drive an F1 car again. It's such a shame and loss for the sport, but people should've acknowledged it from the beginning, despite optimistic thoughts.

But, the most important thing is: he's still alive and he's still racing. Kubica' got a great future ahead of him in rallying, so let's be happy about that It surely makes WRC a lot more appealing to me

[Manoah2u]

Well kubica has nobody to blame but himself for the situation he's finding himself in today. He can say grace he's still alive, but he's above lucky that he's not just able to race again, but even to be competetive.

The question is however, will the 2014 rule and engine overhaul benefit Kubica's F1 future or not? I don't think he'll ever race again in F1, not neccesarily because of his 'disability', but rather the economic and political climate wherein he has to find himself a grid spot. Nobody except Lotus and Williams wanted kimi, yet he came successfull out of rally and is a former championship winner. how could Kubica ever 'fit' into a team again? And then a competetive team. Ferrari sure as hell isn't gonna hier him. Mclaren could perhaps but probably won't. Redbull? Nah. Vettel isn't staying forever so a possibile kubica-fail is not gonna do them much good. That leaves Lotus [which is in trouble], Force India or perhaps Toro Rosso, with the latter being imho the only possibile 'try'.

It's all about how Kubica is able to handle his right hand/arm in there. And the biggest question: does his racing potential bring enough benefit against the 'trouble'? I think not.

If kubica ever were to come back into F1, he'd have to test in GP2 and 2+years old F1 cars. If he's able to show competetive times and enough potential to perform a full GP year, he MIGHT have a chance to come back.
But just look at massa, once a title contender, but after his accident, he's not the full same massa anymore,
and quite frank, he's not gonna win a championship anymore. And that was Kubica's only goal, and I don't think he'll ever be able to reach that level needed to get there ever again in F1.

He should go to indy/champcar.

[Richard]

Have a read of the interview linked in my post above. Kubica has stated that racing a single seater is "nearly impossible". So no F1, no Indy, no Champ.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/24907004

[netoperek]

Nearly impossible for now, You should add. In the very same interview he has stated that the only person who should know what Kubica can or cannot do is himself. He also recently said that he can drive an F1 car now, but lacks strenght and arm rotation to complete a full year at full speed, so there's no point trying. For now. In yesterdays interview he stated that F1 is NOT definitely gone. But he's not there yet ant there's just too much ifs and buts. There are rumors he will have another surgery after GB rally, maybe that's one of them.
To be honest, I'm not overoptimistic and 100% confident about RK's F1 return, but I really think that definite conclusions and statements, either way are out of place here. Until Robert himself declares there's not a slightest chance of return, no one should say it either.

[turbof1]

Is there an outlook of technology to make it possible? 10 years ago, things like cybernetics were things only existant in films and video games, but today it could be appliable. Purely surgical there is nothing they can do for him, but if he is willing to take risks there might still be an outlet.

What exactly is hampering from properly using his arm? Neurological, or phsycially his muscles detached and reduced in mass?

[pocketmoon]

Is there an outlook of technology to make it possible? 10 years ago, things like cybernetics were things only existant in films and video games, but today it could be appliable. Purely surgical there is nothing they can do for him, but if he is willing to take risks there might still be an outlet.

Modern prosthetics are getting better and better and some people with limited hand use are opting for amputation so they can have *something* that gives more function than what they have.

But it's a huge step to have a hand removed, even a poorly functioning one. It looks to me from the limited video footage of Kubica that he'd have more 'day to day' function from a prosthetic but these devices aren't ready for F1 :/

I had the chance to ask Mark Webber about Kubica's dream of returning to F1 and he was very sensitive in his answer, that F1 was more and more like flying a fighter jet and that with physical difficulties you could still fly a regular plane it would be a big challenge to fly a fighter and he didn't think a comeback was possible for him.

Rob

[netoperek]

I would say that for profesional motorsport, physical capabilities of limbs as an actuators, are less important than the feedback they provide. And based on this years WRC2 record, its funcioning rather well. IMO, artificial devices maybe could add something in a daily use, but would definitely end his profesional aspirations. But this idea really sounds cool Maybe something as an addition to his limited arm, some sort of support in twisting the arm, could solve his motorsport problems?

What exactly is hampering from properly using his arm? Neurological, or phsycially his muscles detached and reduced in mass?

I'm not a doctor, so I can't and won't judge his condition based on rumors or video footage, but from what i read some time ago, its about the twisting motion of an arm and, depending on the source, it was related to not-so-perfect reconstruction of wrist or elbow.