Kubica's thumb 'has recovered full movement'

Robert Kubica is continuing to recover steadily from the career-threatening injuries he sustained in a pre-season rallying accident on the Ronde di Andora in northern Italy back in February - with movement having now returned to most of the Pole's fingers.

German publication Die Welt claims that even if Kubica's right arm will 'probably never recover entirely', the Lotus Renault GP star is able to move his right hand, fingers and arm. There were initial fears that the entire limb would need to be amputated. Now, the newspaper reports, only his 'middle finger still causes problems', whilst 'his thumb has recovered full movement'.

There have been various noises from Lotus Renault GP that the former Canadian Grand Prix-winner could return to participate in a Friday practice session to test the water towards the end of the F1 2011 campaign - although Kubica's manager Daniele Morelli has derided such a notion, insisting that 'if Robert comes back, he doesn't want gifts or kindly-meant offers'. The 26-year-old's Ferrari rival Fernando Alonso concurs with that assessment - and has also tipped his close friend not to endure any psychological scars.

"If you've been through so much and given as much as Robert has suffered to come back, you only want to come back for one reason - to have the same goals as before," the Spaniard stressed. "The accident was bad luck, and a man of his calibre can shake it off - particularly as it had nothing to do with F1."

Meanwhile, Kubica's horrific high-speed rallying shunt has seemingly dissuaded Heikki Kovalainen from indulging his own love of the spectacular motor racing discipline. Before signing for Lotus after being released by McLaren at the end of 2009, the Finn - who has competed in several minor rallies in the past - had asserted that he wanted to 'make sure that as well as F1, I am allowed to drive rallies'. Now, it seems, his enthusiasm has been tempered somewhat.

"I like to watch rallies on TV," the 29-year-old told motorline.cc, "but right now I definitely don't have the time to pursue it actively myself. We all saw what happened to Robert, and for this reason, rally driving is not in my plans at the moment."