Renault plans to give its academy drivers Formula 1 mileage in older-spec cars this season.

The team unveiled five reserve drivers along with its R31 car at Valencia today, with Bruno Senna and Romain Grosjean joining the previously-announced Fairuz Fauzy and retained back-ups Ho-Pin Tung and Jan Charouz.

Team boss Eric Boullier says he always planned to have a deep roster of drivers this year, and that the Renault academy is intended to prepare these drivers for racing in Formula 1 should the opportunity arise.

"We didn't just ask for a blank cheque from everybody, the strategy is clear," Boullier said. "We want to do the Ferrari academy concept.

Robert Kubica faces more surgery for treatment to his injuries after responding 'well' to a seven-hour operation to save his right hand, following his crash during the Ronde di Andora rally on Sunday.

The 26-year-old suffered a sub-amputation of his right forearm and lost a significant amount of blood while he was trapped in his Skoda Fabia rally car for more than one hour, while emergency crews tried to extricate him.

Kubica is reported to have lost control between two timed runs and made contact with a barrier, which pierced the footwell of his car. He also sustained compound fractures to his right elbow and shoulder, as well as more to his right leg.

The director of the trauma centre at the Santa Corona Hospital in Pietra Ligure, Dr Giorgio Barabino told Italian media that Kubica will remain in intensive therapy for at least another day, but that initial signs are positive.

"The patient will stay in intensive care for 24 to 48 hours," he was quoted as saying by Il Vostro Giornale. "We are optimistic, anyway, since he is responding very well to treatment.

"Obviously he feels a lot of pain, but it couldn't have been any different."

"After the crash, Robert was taken to the trauma centre with the maximum hemorrhagic shock," added Barabino. "The first phase of stabilisation was long and difficult, and it carried on in the operating theatre. Wounds-wise, there was large bleeding which was difficult to control.

"He is coming out of sedation and is responding well. He shows good breathing autonomy, but lung complications may arise. We'll see in the next hours. In any case, the hemorrhage is out of danger.

Upon coming out of sedation this morning, Kubica's first words were to ask about the condition of his co-driver, Jakub Gerber, who was uninjured in the crash.

Hand specialist Dr Igor Rossello, who assisted in Kubica's surgery, said the Renault F1 driver has responded well to the initial treatment.

"The patient arrived here presenting an extremely complex trauma, with lesions at several levels," he said. "Our first priority was to keep the limb alive, and this is a goal we have reached. The hand is warm, vascularised and is not swollen.

"The second part of the operation was reconstructing the anatomy of the limb, since the tendons were completely severed. Then we moved on to padding the nerve lesions and we managed to recuperate the two main nerves of the hand, which were severed too.

"Today I've medicated Robert and the hand is, at the moment, in fine conditions to the extent that the patient was able to do some simple movement of the fingers, which gives good hope. We'll see how it evolves. At the moment it's difficult to make predictions."

The hospital's director of orthopaedics Dr Francesco Lanza confirmed that Kubica will require further surgery however, as the initial operation was focused purely on preserving the functionality of the hand and stabilising blood loss.

"The patient will have to undergo more surgery: not only on the parts already treated, but also for other problems and traumas he suffered, for which we couldn't work on because of the emergency," he said. "The important thing was to stabilise the patient and to pad the biggest wounds.

"For the fractures suffered on his leg, he will need at least three or four months to allow the bone to set back together."

Kubica's Renault F1 team principal Eric Boullier told the BBC that he is encouraged by his driver's progress and remains confident he will recover faster than the year predicted by doctors yesterday.

"Robert is doing better this morning and he is actually in the process of being woken up," he said. "There has already been some good communication with the doctors.

"Obviously when you have a big crash like he had yesterday, doctors always predict the worst case scenario. It took seven hours in the surgery room to repair his hand and his arm, but this morning it is really fine - they needed 24 hours to make sure it recovered completely and it looks like this morning they are all happy."

Boullier also confirmed that the team is considering its options for the start of the season, with Kubica certain to miss at least the first five races, and possibly the majority of the campaign.

"We have already started to think about contingency plan, he is definitely out for a couple of months," said Boullier. "The recovery will be quicker than one year but today it is a bit too early to know exactly how long he will need."

Manama: Gulf News sources in Bahrain can confirm that the Bahrain Grand Prix, scheduled for the weekend of March 11-13, will be rescheduled to the end of the season.

It will take place after the Kuala Lumpur GP and before the final race of the season in Abu Dhabi.

"We have been told to step down our operations," an official with a German race team said last night.

The decision to postpone the Bahrain race will be confirmed later on Monday, if not before Wednesday's deadline imposed by Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone.

Ecclestone, the Formula One rights holder, has little choice other than to sacrifice the start of the 2011 world championship, after the UK Foreign Office on Sunday advised against all non-essential travel to the Gulf state.

Common sense

Even before that directive, the F1 community had agreed privately that it would be both irresponsible and indefensible to arrive in Bahrain at a time of unrest.

Ferrari legend Niki Lauda has argued for common sense to prevail regarding the Grand Prix, scheduled for March 13. "The race should be cancelled," he said.

Mercedes president Norbert Haug added: "The safety of our employees is more important than anything else."

Ecclestone would prefer it if Bahrain's authorities asked for the race to be called off rather than leave the decision to him and the sport's governing body FIA.

Bahrain raised the $40 million to host the first round of the world championship by $20m to retain the honour of launching the F1 season, after outbidding the promoters of the Australian Grand Prix last year.

And Ecclestone remains contractually obliged to deliver a full grid of cars to be assured his payment.

Last week's political upheaval in Bahrain, however, has effectively rendered any existing contract with him a worthless document.

German world champion Sebastian Vettel, who set the quickest time for the second day running on Sunday when testing his latest-generation Red Bull car here, said: "It's pretty simple; if it's dangerous there, we will not drive, if it's not dangerous, we will."

Start Down Under

His father Norbert has already cancelled his flight to Bahrain on Friday. If the Bahrain Grand Prix is called off, the Australian Grand Prix, to be held in Melbourne on March 27, would become the curtain-raiser to the championship.

Bernie's update: Salman to decide on race

Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone says he will rely on Bahrain's Crown Prince to decide whether the island is safe enough to host the season-opening grand prix next month.

Ecclestone told the BBC on Sunday that Crown Prince Shaikh Salman Bin Hamad Al Khalifa "would decide whether or not it's safe for us to be there."

Ecclestone said "if anyone's going to sort it out he's the right guy to do it."

He ruled out moving the season-opener to another venue at this late stage, but said that if the March 13 race is postponed it could possibly be staged later in the season.

With inputs from AP

.... And Ecclestone remains contractually obliged to deliver a full grid of cars to be assured his payment.
....

Renault's Robert Kubica, seriously injured in an Italian rally on February 6, is now out of intensive care.

"He is doing pretty well and his condition is positive considering what he has been through," said surgeon Mario Rossello, at the same time as explaining that the Pole faces several weeks of rehab in hospital. "The good news is that there have been no complications following all the surgery he has had recently," he added.

Rosello said that Kubica has some sensitivity back in the right hand that surgeons had to fight hard to save, and can move his fingers slightly. "What is very important is that there is no sign of infection, which is the main concern. He is now in his own large room and has already started some gentle hand exercises.

"He's no longer in pain and his psychological condition is pretty good but he's obviously keen to start rehabilitation work as soon as possible."