Followup: Kubica recovering as Renault weighs potential replacements

The Lotus Renault GP team has issued another update on the progress of its star pilot Robert Kubica. The Polish driver, for those who haven't been following, crashed during the Ronde di Andorra in Italy on Sunday – just weeks before the start of the F1 season – and was airlifted to a local hospital where doctors treated him for multiple fractures and severed tendons in his right limbs.

With the bulk of the procedures now behind him, Kubica is conscious (some reports state that he was revived from a medically-induced coma), and conversing with his doctors as well as visiting relatives and colleagues. Later this week, Kubica will have to undergo additional surgery (for his right shoulder and foot), to be followed by another procedure a few days later. He's expected to stay at the Santa Corona Hospital where he has been since the crash for another two or three weeks, after which he'll likely be transfered to another location to rehabilitate, likely for between five months and a full year.

With his recovery underway but a long road ahead, Renault will need to find someone to temporarily take his place for the impending season. Although the team has both Bruno Senna and Romain Grosjean – both recent F1 drivers – on contract, the team is reportedly examining all of its options. Among them are Force India drivers Tonio Liuzzi and Nico Hulkeberg, both of which raced last season and have proven themselves competitive drivers. Liuzzi lost his seat this year at Force India, while Hulkenberg took a test-driver role with the team when he lost his seat at Williams.

[Source: Lotus Renault GP, ESPN | Image: Silvio Fasano/AP]