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Kubica's absence a big loss to F1 2011 - Webber

ESPNF1 Staff
February 10, 2011 « T128 is 'close to the midfield' - Trulli | »
Mark Webber says F1 2011 will not be the same without Robert Kubica © Sutton Images
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Mark Webber believes Robert Kubica's absence from Formula One this season is a big loss for the sport and for the drivers challenging for the championship.

Kubica will miss the start of the season as he recovers from injuries sustained during a rally accident in Italy and could be out for the entire year. After topping the timesheets in Valencia, it looked as though Kubica could be a championship contender in the Renault this season and Webber said F1 will be significantly weaker without him.

"It was a big shock for all of us, I couldn't believe it," he said of Kubica's accident. "I'm happy, as it looks like the people involved have done an incredible job for him after the accident to keep him in the best shape possible. It's a big loss for our sport that he's not here this year and a big loss for us as competitors, as we're motivated to race against the best guys in the world and Robert is one of them. I wish him all the best for his recovery; every day he'll make progress and I'm looking forward to having him back when he is ready."

He added that Red Bull's first day of testing at Jerez on Thursday had gone to plan, but it was still too early to tell who was leading the way.

"It was pretty good today," he said. "There were a few red flags, but we did almost 100 laps and the car ran well. On the performance side I think we're going okay; it's very early and you don't know who's doing what, but we're focusing on ourselves and seem to be going in the right direction."

Times

Driver Car Time Laps
1. Felipe Massa Ferrari F150 1:20.709 101
2. Sergio Perez Sauber C30 1:21.483 94
3. Mark Webber Red Bull RB7 1:21.522 94
4. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso STR6 1:21.755 31
5. Lewis Hamilton McLaren MP4-26 1:21.914 58
6. Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso STR6 1:22.689 42
7. Adrian Sutil Force India VJM-04 1:23.472 28
8. Vitaly Petrov Renault R31 1:23.504 57
9. Nico Rosberg Mercedes W02 1:23.963 67
10. Jarno Trulli Lotus T128 1:24.458 54
11. Timo Glock Virgin MVR-02 1:25.086 42
12. Pastor Maldonado Williams FW33 1:34.968 13

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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