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Kubica gives finger to slow recovery

Injured Renault driver Robert Kubica is moving the fingers of his right hand again and team boss Eric Boullier now predicts his recovery could be much quicker than expected.

The 26-year-old Pole was operated on for seven hours on Sunday after sustaining multiple fractures of his right leg and arm after his rally car was skewered by several metres of armco crash barrier during a rally in Italy. More surgery will be required to fix his shattered elbow and scapula.

His right hand was almost severed from his arm and required hours of surgery to rejoin bones, nerves and blood vessels.

Kubica was initially put into a coma but awoke for a short time on Monday morning.

'WORST-CASE SCENARIO'

"He was briefly woken by the doctors," Renault said. "He was able to talk to his relatives – he was also able to move his fingers - which is encouraging for the recovery process – but the doctors still have to decide how to treat his elbow and shoulder fractures.”

The medical team was on Sunday worried that Kubica's might lose his right hand or, if not, might take a year to recover but Boullier is now more upbeat: "When you have a big crash like Robert suffered on Sunday doctors always predict the worst-case scenario.

"He is definitely out for a couple of months. The recovery will be quicker than a year but it is a bit early to know exactly how long he will need."

Kubica's surgeon, however, is still predicting a year of recuperation.

HORROR CRASH: Robert Kubica's car seems to have take the barrier head-on and then spun, bending the fencing as it went.

Kubica's Lotus-backed team will have to find a replacement driver - either Brazilian Bruno Senna or France's Romain Grosjean. Senna raced for HRT in 2010 and Grosjean started seven races for Renault in 2009.

Neither has scored a point in F1 and media reports have quickly focused on Germans Nick Heidfeld and Nico Hulkenberg as possible long-term alternatives - though the latter is contracted to Force India as a reserve.

'GET WELL SOON'

Goodwill messages have poured in for the 26-year-old, a race winner in Canada in 2008 with BMW-Sauber.

Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso visited him late on Sunday and the Internet and Twitter have been awash with support.

Seven-times champion Michael Schumacher said on his website: "I am still upset by the news about Robert Kubica. It is shocking... just terrible. I hope the medical efforts are working and will continue to work so he can go back to normal with no lingering damage.

"We are all rooting for him and our thoughts are with him and his family."
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