Renault F1 driver Robert Kubica, who almost lost his right hand in a life-threatening rally accident, said he would leave the hospital in the next ten days.

Kubica has already undergone four operations after crashing his car during a rally race in Italy 10 weeks back. Though his hand use is still limited, Kubica said he was progressing well and that he would leave the hospital.

I am starting to feel a lot better now, Kubica said. My recovery is moving in the right direction: my strength and weight are increasing day on day and as a result I will leave the Santa Corona hospital very soon. I don't have a precise date as yet but I hope to be able to leave within the next 10 days. The mobility of my hand is limited but this is pretty normal in this kind of situation, because the connected arm muscles are still very weak due to the long period of immobility. Things are definitely improving day by day.

However, a return to F1 is far away and Kubica explained his how his recovery would progress.

As soon as I leave hospital, I'll head to my home in Monaco for a short period of rest. Then I'll move to Dr. Ceccarelli 's facilities in Italy where I will start a deep rehabilitation program and a preliminary soft training programme. The two programmes will gradually cross over based on the speed of my recovery.

Being hospitalized hasn't stopped him from following his team in this season's F1 Championship.

Especially since the season started, I've been liaising with my engineers on what's been going on over race weekends. They are sending me the race reports so I can remain up to date and fully informed, as if I were there at the tracks. Eric Boullier is also in constant contact, keeping up to date with my general condition. Yes I've watched them (the races), and there is no doubt that it's been a strong start to the season. The potential of the car, which I already noticed in the February Valencia test, seems to be confirmed.

He went on to thank his fans for their support and promised to repay them by making a return to the sport.

I would like to pay a huge amount of thanks to my fans whose support has been simply incredible. I have been literally submerged by letters and various gifts and objects and it seems the flow is not slowing down. I also want to thank all the people in the world of F1 who showed in various manners their concern for the difficult situation I'm in.

I must admit that it's been overwhelming and, yes, it's helped me a lot. I really didn't realise that quite this many fans were supporting me. I'm very flattered and I promise them that, when I'm back, I'll give them my absolute best. From my side, I'll try to use my difficult experience to come back as strong as I possibly can.