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{ The wrecked car of Robert Kubica after his rallying accident in Andora, Italy. Photograph: Roberto Ruscello/AP

The career of one of the most promising young Formula One drivers was hanging in the balance tonight after an accident in a low-key rally in Italy left him badly injured and having surgery to try to save the use of his right hand.

Robert Kubica, 26, who drives for the Renault team, was competing in a Skoda Fabia on the Ronde di Andora when he suffered a high-speed crash into a church wall and then a barrier shortly after the start. It took rescue crews more than an hour to extract Kubica from the wreckage. Unconfirmed reports from the scene suggest that part of the barrier speared through the car's footwell into the cockpit.

The Pole, who is a national hero in his homeland, suffered multiple fractures to his right leg, arm and hand. He was airlifted from the crash site in the village of Testico to the Santa Corona hospital in Pietra Ligure on the Mediterranean coast where he underwent lengthy surgery.

The main area of concern is the driver's right hand, which, although safe from amputation, is severely damaged and it is too early for doctors to give a prognosis on a full recovery. It is the same arm that was badly injured in a road accident in 2003 and left him with titanium bolts to support the shattered bones.

Kubica's manager, Daniele Morelli, said last night: "The surgeons are trying to restore the functionality of the right hand. They must now think about the muscle function, but Robert has a very strong temper and will succeed." The Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport reported that more surgery will be required after today's preliminary operation.

Kubica, who was due to start his fifth full season in Formula One in Bahrain next month, set the fastest time in testing last week and grand prix insiders regard him as one of the sport's supreme talents and a future world champion who could have earned anything up to $100m from his career as a driver. He made his debut for the BMW Sauber team in 2006 after eye-catching victories in the junior formulas, the traditional testing ground for emerging talent.

He hit the headlines in 2007 when he emerged almost unscathed from a terrifying high-speed crash in Montreal that was a testament to the strength of the modern Formula One car. A year later, and at the same track, he won his first, and so far only, grand prix. When BMW withdrew from Formula One at the end of 2009, unable to justify the cost after a dreadful season, Kubica signed for the Renault team and achieved some strong results, including second in Australia and third at Monaco, considered the greatest test of a driver's skill.

The feeling was that this would be the year Kubica would take on the sport's elite on the track and would soon be able to match them in the earnings stakes. In the ultra-secret world of Formula One finance hard figures are difficult to come by but Renault are believed to paying Kubica $10m a year until 2012, with Fernando Alonso earning four times that much at Ferrari.

Modern Formula One drivers' contracts usually forbid them from taking part in "high-risk" activities for fear of injury but the drivers are famed for seeking adrenaline rushes away from the track and Kubica is far from the first driver to put his career – and life – in jeopardy pursuing high-risk hobbies.

A spokesperson for the Renault team, which is based in Enstone in Oxfordshire, would not comment on whether Kubica had sought permission to compete in the rally although he has taken part in club rallies for several years. It is thought the car he crashed today, a powerful model that competes in international events, was one he purchased two years ago.

In the first three decades of the Formula One world championship, which began in 1950, drivers regularly competed in various brands of motor sport when they were not competing in grands prix. Top drivers such as Stirling Moss, Jim Clark and Jackie Stewart travelled the world to race in anything that might take them to a win.

Since the 1970s Formula One drivers are very much that, only occasionally skiing or mountain-biking in the off-season to keep fit and satisfy their need for speed and even that has proved hazardous. Two years ago the Australian driver Mark Webber broke a leg when he was hit by a 4x4 while taking part in a bike race.

Tonight fellow drivers offered their support to the popular Kubica.

Britain's former world champion Jenson Button, who drives for McLaren said on his Twitter page: "Shocking news about Robert Kubica. I wish him a speedy recovery."

Williams driver Rubens Barrichello tweeted: "I would like to ask you for your best wishes to Kubica. He is being operated right now. We all like him and he deserves all the best."

Sebastian Buemi of Toro Rosso said: "All my support to Robert Kubica. I am with you man."They will also be very aware that just as Robert Kubica was about to join the elite of formula one, his career may well have been snatched away from him by his desire to take part in one of the most basic forms of the sport.

Mark Webber

Breaks a leg when hit by a car mountain-biking in Tasmania before the 2009 season. Drives with steel rods in his leg. In 2010 goes over the handlebars on a training ride and fractures shoulder one week before the Japanese grand prix

Juan Pablo Montoya

Missed two races for McLaren in 2005 after injuring a shoulder "playing tennis". Stories that the damage was done when he fell off a motorbike engulf the paddock and McLaren are not amused

Michael Schumacher

Potential comeback with Ferrari in 2009 is aborted when neck injury caused by a motorcycle accident can't take the strain

Patrick Depailler

Misses the last eight races of the 1979 season – and a shot at the world title – after breaking his legs in a hang-gliding crash. The Ligier team dispense with his services. He joins Alfa Romeo but is killed in a crash at Hockenheim in 1980 during a private testing session

Didier Pironi

Survives career-ending crash in practice for the 1982 German grand prix. Takes up power boat racing and is killed in 1987 off the Isle of Wight

Agences de presses

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