08/02/2011
NEWS STORY
It's a harsh fact of life that even as surgeons were operating on Robert Kubica on Sunday afternoon, drivers and their managers were making their first overtures towards Lotus Renault GP with an eye on replacing the injured Pole.
On message boards, fans speculated as to who would fill Kubica's seat, even though, at the time, it was unclear whether the popular Pole would be out of action for weeks, months or a year.
Despite the feeling of bad taste, of ghoulishness, F1 is a business and Lotus Renault GP has to have two cars on the grid in Bahrain, two drivers capable of fighting for points. Therefore, in spite of that overwhelming feeling of guilt that life goes on as normal while a popular driver's career lies in the balance, the fact is that the team needs a replacement for Robert - if only for a couple of races - while a number of drivers out there need drives.
The first names mentioned were those of Nick Heidfeld, Tonio Liuzzi and Nico Rosberg, while others talked of the return of Kimi Raikkonen or even Jacques Villeneuve. Aware that there is an overwhelming atmosphere within Red Bull - where Mark Webber continues to believe that he is regarded as a second class citizen - Pitpass even had visions of the Australian heading to Enstone while Felipe Massa made the switch to join Vettel.
Speaking to the Daily Mail, a member of Nico Hulkenberg's management team has admitted that the German youngster, sensationally dropped by Williams at the end of last season, would talk to Lotus Renault GP. "We have a contract with Force India and we will not take the initiative to contact Renault," said Timo Gans. "If Renault should contact us we will start thinking about that, but we are not doing that yet. Hopefully Robert gets well soon."
Meanwhile, Kubica's co-driver in Sunday's rally, Jakub Gerber, has shed further light on the incident. "We knew the surface was slippery because of the humidity and we were ready," he told Gazzetta dello Sport. "'After skidding, the car hit the guard rail and pushed it outwards. Then it crashed against the following guard rail. The second guard rail pierced through the car and went all the way through.
"I immediately saw it was serious," he continued, "he also had a bad bruise under his eye after hitting the steering wheel. He passed out and I exited through the window because the door was stuck. The ambulance arrived immediately and then the firemen. They took over half-an-hour to get him out. The first crew didn't have the cutting shears so they had to wait for another crew. Then the helicopter couldn't land, so Robert had to be moved and more time was lost."
Asked what he thought was to blame for the crash, road conditions, driver error or car failure, Gerber said: "In a competition you try to go as quickly as possible. Robert is the type of person that thinks hard, always looks a step ahead, he's precise, fast and clean. He's a c complete driver."
"It was a horrifying sight," added fellow competitor, Mauro Moreno, the first to arrive at the scene. "I called Robert by name a couple of times, but he didn't reply. The steel barrier was sticking out of the hatchback. His co-driver signalled to me he had no problems so I asked Robert if he was OK, too, but that was useless.
"We shouldn't have cars with so little protection at the front," he added. "It's not the first time a crash like this has happened. The federation should think of something to protect the cockpit.