http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2011/8/12464.html Haha, good to hear Kubica in good spirits. We all want him back, but do you think he will be strong enough to come back before the end of the season? And should he come back before the end of the season or spend the holidays trying to recover for next year? My heart says bring him back but my head says let him recover. I don't want to expect too much of him when he comes back because it could take a while to get back on form. Nevertheless, F1 isn't quite right without him and I hope he returns when he's ready Thoughts?
2Lotus: I'd be very surprised if he is able to take any part in this season. Given the nature and extent of his injuries, I would expect him to benefit greatly from the extra physiotherapy allowed by delaying any serious intention to come-back until next year; and even that must hang in the balance at the moment.
Yep, I hate to be a harbinger of doom but surely there's a real possibility that he will never be back as he was before and certainly not this season. I hope I'm wrong, of course, but I think it's true to say that a full recovery is not a rushed recovery and his best chance lies in giving it time.
I agree with you that he should be given time to recover, however I think that if he, his team, his doctors and family think he is able to participate in one race (or even one practice session) before the season's end he'll do so, just to try and warm up his skills for next year. I'm not worried about a traumatic block in his performance, because he's said that he doesn't even remember the accident, which he feels he is confident about -which initially made me wonder about Massa's performnce after his crash- but the physical aspect of his training will improve much throughout the holidays. But no doubt it will take a while for him to get back on form.
Yeah, sorry for being so negative but I'm just trying to be realistic. Those around him will be positive and talk confidently but his injuries were more severe than both Webber's and Massa's. Webber took time to find his form again and Felipe seems not to have got quite back there. It's an interesting comparison about Massa not remembering his accident either. I think the answer to that lies in the power of the unconscious mind. It was Freud's belief that we subsume our most traumatic experiences in the unconscious, or subconscious as it's popularly known. From there these events still exert a powerful influence even though we are not aware of it. Of course, I hope to see him come back and continue his career, to prove if he really is a 'great' in waiting. I don't think it will be simple though.
Cheers, Cosi. I know from my own experience, and that of others close to me, that the mental side of illness or injury is often more persistent and more complicated to recover from, not least because it is invisible damage, hard to identify accurately and to treat. I think it frequently gets ignored. But Robert will have the best doctors available of all types and I would expect his mental strength to be vastly superior to mine or most people's. I mean, he's not an ordinary person in the first place
Get him back as soon as he's ready. If he's fully fit with two races to go, get him in, he's already miles behind everyone else regarding his knowledge of the Pirellis. Obviously if he's marginal leave him out. I don't think there'll be any psychological effects, he's had huge shunts before, Montreal '07 and he had a road accident while he was in F3 I believe. Nothing as severe as this but he's made of stern stuff. Even if it's buried in his subconscious he's not going to be in a position where he's driving a Skoda inches from a flimsy piece of armco. I'm more concerned about him physically, will he regain the required strength and precision to be as good as he was? I hope he can, I loved watching him on form, especially round Monaco, he's a rare talent.
Good to hear. The 2 big questions are: Will he be able to take part next season? Will he be as fast as he was or not?
I can answer the first question but not the second one. Kubica has said he will be back for 2012 and hopefully fit enough. As for the second question....impossible to say until he gets back out there. He's supposed to be trying out a simulator at the end of September
Yeah I would pretty much agree with that. But you never know he might not be ready for 2012 for some reason. Just gotta wait and see...
there's a bit of a difference having a huge shunt and walking away, and having a huge shunt that puts you in hospital for months. As Max says you can't tell whatlasting pyshological damage there might be, I still sometimes get a bit panicky at crossroads from time to time after i had a very lucky escape 20 years ago (by escape i mean I'm alive, which I shouldn't be, glad i didn't wear my seatbelt that day). who knows what will go through his mind as he's going flat out through a forested section of a track, an subconscious lifting of the accelerator, a dab on the brakes. Of course it might have no lasting effect and he could come back a la Lauda.
Yes, any psychological thing may be so slight but as with the cars, it's the tiniest details which make the difference. That said, I hope, as Miggins says, that he can come back like Lauda and I look forward to his Lauda-esque, headline-grabbing punditry in twenty years time: "he's a disgrace", "he's dangerous, he's going to kill someone" etc.
Hahaha, I'd love to hear Kubica say that! One of the reasons I like him so much is because he's funny in interviews and over the radio and talks really fast. Polish accent is pretty cool.
It's good to see him recovering! Wouldn't expect him back this season to be honest... You don't want to rush him back after an accident like that.
Absolutely correct. It is very easy to lose one's oh-so-critical edge. If he makes a full recovery and achieves the potential he hinted at before his accident, I will be very very happy for him; but I would suggest that his fans try to be realistic about the significant possibility that his 'edge' will never be fully regained.
If he has a psychological problem, it could take a fair amount of races to get his head together, though it was rally not F1...
Ah, he'll be back to his best in no time. The difference between his injury and Felipe Massa's was that Massa suffered a serious cranial injury, and Kubica didn't. Almost being brain damaged tends to affect you a lot more than losing use of your hand temporarily. I'm gonna go off topic for this example here. Megadeth guitarist and singer Dave Mustaine once lost complete use of his left arm, for a few months, due to a severe nerve injury. Today, he is as good a guitarist as he ever was. There is no reason why kubica shouldn't be as good as he was before. Playing guitar at 100mph is far harder than turning an f1 car, because of the co-ordination needed. if Mustaine can recover, so can Kubica.
Kubica undergoes surgery to damaged elbow Robert Kubica has undergone surgery in order to improve the mobility of his arm following his accident last year. Kubica had surgery at the Pederzoli hospital at the end of last month, where parts of his elbow were replaced with two prosthesis.
Not looking good if he is still having operations nearly 18 months after the accident to help with his movements.
