Alonso discusses possible Kubica return

Reports suggest that Robert Kubica may have tested a race simulator recently, however Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso, a close friend of Kubica, has played down reports suggesting he is edging closer to a return.

'It's very hard to say whether Robert will return to 100 per cent fitness and be able to race again in Formula 1,' Alonso told F1 Racing Magazine as quoted by Sky Sports.

'Now and again we speak and I know how much it hurts him to be so far away from what has always been his world. He has to keep calm and think first and foremost about recovering total functionality of his body, then he can think again about racing.'

Robert Kubica has undergone surgery on his elbow as recently as June following his rally crash in February 2011.

The latest surgery was designed to improve the mobility of his arm and the procedure included having parts of his elbow removed and replaced with two prosthesis at Pederzoli Hospital.

Following the procedure, the former Renault driver has undergone various tests to see how much his movement has been improved and this could have included work in a race simulator.

When Kubica crashed his Skoda Fabia during the opening stage of the Ronde di Andora rally in Italy back in February 2011. His car crashed into a barrier which penetrated his car leaving him with a partially severed right hand and fractures to his right leg and arm.

In the days following his accident, the Pole underwent three operations and was put in an induced coma to help aid his recovery, it had been hoped that he wouldn’t require any further surgery, but in early March 2011, Kubica had a fourth operation to help the mobility of his elbow.

After a month of rehabilitation the then Renault driver underwent another large operation which was to remove adhesions affecting the functionality of his right forearm and elbow muscles and in August he underwent further elbow surgery in a bid to give him full mobility of his right elbow.

Surgeons were reportedly very happy immediately following the procedure and after a few days rest in hospital, Kubica resumed his rehabilitation and intensive training programme.

In January 2012 the Polish driver suffered another set back when he underwent an operation to have a metal screw inserted to pin the bone in his leg to reduce the fracture after he reopened the fracture in his tibia after falling in the garden in an accident at his house in Italy.