F1 driver Robert Kubica hurt in pre-season crash

With only five weeks to go before the start of the new Formula One season, the British-based Lotus Renault team appears to have been thrown into disarray by a serious accident today in which its lead driver, Robert Kubica, suffered fractures to this left arm and leg.

The 26-year-old Pole is a keen rally driver in the off-season, and is understood to have crashed into a church wall while taking part in the Ronde di Andora rally in northern Italy.

His co-driver was unhurt, but Kubica had to be cut out of the car by firemen. He was airlifted to the Pietra Ligure Hospital in Genoa where, according to a Renault spokesman, he is conscious and undergoing medical checks.

If he has not recovered in time for the first Grand Prix of the season - in Bahrain on March 13 - his place as senior driver will presumably be taken by number two driver Vitaly Petrov, who only made his debut last season. The team's designated third drivers are the Brazilian Bruno Senna and France's Romain Grosjean.

Bizarrely, Kubica's previous worst road accident also had nothing to do with Formula One driving. He was a passenger in a car involved in a serious accident in 2003 that left him with titanium bolts in his arm. He was also involved in a spectacular 300kmph crash at the Canadian Grand Prix in 2007, but escaped with minor injuries. ·