After Robert Kubica was airlifted to hospital from the Ronde di Andora rally track, he then underwent more than seven hours of surgery to attend to multiple fractures to his right leg and arm.

During the surgery, Kubica was put into an induced coma.

With initial fears and speculation that his severely injured right arm would have to be amputated cooled, the medical team has advised that his potential recovery time has been put at around 12 months -- Although this depends much on whether the limb shows signs of recovery following surgery.

The next few days will provide key indication.

"The hand is warm and this means the operation went well," surgeon Mario Igor Rossello told reporters at the Santa Corona hospital near Genoa.

"We need at least six days to check if the circulation of the blood in the limb responds as it should."

Immediately after the surgery, which required two teams of doctors to work on setting the bones and reattaching veins, tendons and muscles, Rossello said, "It was a very complicated procedure and there was the risk he would lose his hand."