Robert Kubica has revealed his physical limitations are still standing in the way of his return to formula one.
The Pole, now 29, was regarded as one of the most talented drivers in F1 ahead of his sixth season. But in the 2011 pre-season, he was almost fatally wounded in a rally crash that has left him with only limited mobility in his right arm and hand. Kubica now drives competitively in the world rally championship, and he has dabbled with circuit racing with a highly-competitive DTM test, and regular stints at the wheel of Mercedes’ sophisticated F1 simulator.
But there are also things he can no longer do. Germany’s Welt newspaper reports that, once right-handed, Kubica has had to learn to write with his left hand since the crash. He even prefers to drink a cup of coffee with his left hand nowadays. “The limitations have made my life more difficult,” Kubica admitted. The most difficult of all, he said, is that a return to F1 is currently “impossible”. “Not now. With my limitations, it is impossible, but maybe one day I will be there again,” he said.
The only problem, he said, is that the small F1 cockpits make it difficult for him to turn the steering wheel in the way he needs to — with his elbow and shoulder rather than his forearm and wrist. “Some tracks are not a problem,” Kubica explained, “like Montreal and Barcelona. “But the hairpin in Monaco, with my hand, is not easy.”
