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Kubica set to leave hospital within ten days

Robert Kubica's absence has been felt at the first three races of the season © Sutton Images

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Robert Kubica has said he aims to leave hospital within the next ten days, over ten weeks after his life-threatening rally accident in Italy.

Kubica has been recovering from the crash in the Santa Corona hospital near Genoa since February, and has undergone four operations as surgeons attempt to save his right hand. Kubica admitted that his hand was still limited, but that he had been progressing well and was preparing to leave hospital.

"I am starting to feel a lot better now," Kubica said. "My recovery is moving in the right direction: my strength and weight are increasing day on day and as a result I will leave the Santa Corona hospital very soon. I don't have a precise date as yet but I hope to be able to leave within the next 10 days. The mobility of my hand is limited but this is pretty normal in this kind of situation, because the connected arm muscles are still very weak due to the long period of immobility. Things are definitely improving day by day."

With no mention of any potential timeframe for a return to Formula One, Kubica outlined what the next steps in his recovery would be.

"As soon as I leave hospital, I'll head to my home in Monaco for a short period of rest. Then I'll move to Dr. Ceccarelli 's facilities in Italy where I will start a deep rehabilitation program and a preliminary soft training programme. The two programmes will gradually cross over based on the speed of my recovery."

Kubica confirmed that he had been keeping in contact with the Renault team, while also watching all of the races so far, and was encouraged by the start to the season that the team has made.

"Especially since the season started, I've been liaising with my engineers on what's been going on over race weekends. They are sending me the race reports so I can remain up to date and fully informed, as if I were there at the tracks. Eric Boullier is also in constant contact, keeping up to date with my general condition. Yes I've watched them [the races], and there is no doubt that it's been a strong start to the season. The potential of the car, which I already noticed in the February Valencia test, seems to be confirmed."

Kubica also thanked his fans for the support he had received since the accident, and vowed to return to the sport in order to repay them.

"I would like to pay a huge amount of thanks to my fans whose support has been simply incredible. I have been literally submerged by letters and various gifts and objects and it seems the flow is not slowing down. I also want to thank all the people in the world of F1 who showed in various manners their concern for the difficult situation I'm in.

I must admit that it's been overwhelming and, yes, it's helped me a lot. I really didn't realise that quite this many fans were supporting me. I'm very flattered and I promise them that, when I'm back, I'll give them my absolute best. From my side, I'll try to use my difficult experience to come back as strong as I possibly can."

Kubica's doctor Dr Riccardo Ceccarelli said it would take until the summer before they would be able to make any prediction on a potential return to racing, and that the final functionality of his hand was still unknown.

"We'll understand six months after the accident: we need to wait for nature to run its course even though, knowing Robert, we are confident in his recovery strength," Ceccarelli told La Gazetta dello Sport. "Rebuilding the nerves [in his hand] is the longest process, so it's difficult to understand in the first four months what the recovery will be like. He has good sensitivity, but not in every spot. The hand is there and will regain good functionality."

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