London: Doctors treating Lotus Renault Formula One driver Robert Kubica, who was seriously injured in a high-speed rally crash on Sunday, have said that it would take at least six days to ascertain how permanent the damage is to his right hand.
Kubica was at the wheel of a Skoda Fabia, taking part in the Ronde di Andora Rally in Italy, when his vehicle left the road and crashed into a church wall.
He was airlifted to a hospital, where he underwent seven hours of surgery for multiple injuries, the worst of which was to his right hand, which was partially severed by a metal railing.
“We will need at least six days to verify if the blood is properly circulating in the hand,” the ‘Sydney Morning Herald’ quoted Igor Rossello, the surgeon who led the operation team, as saying.
“His hand is warm which indicates that the operation went well and all being well it will take him a year of re-education to recover the full movement in it,” he added.
The new F1 season gets under way in Bahrain on March 13, and it is likely that Lotus Renault reserve driver Bruno Senna will be called in to take Kubica’s place alongside Russia’s Vitaly Petrov.