Friday 30 May at 09:58 : Robert Kubica has rubbished suggestions he might struggle to "cope" when he returns to the scene of his huge crash at the Canadian grand prix venue next week.

The Pole miraculously escaped serious injury at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve last year after his BMW-Sauber slammed into a concrete wall at 280kph and then rolled into the path of another barrier.

But asked on Thursday how he intends to "cope" with the year-old memory when he returns to Montreal for the next race, 23-year-old Kubica answered: "I don't have to cope with anything.

"We go to Canada which is one of my favourite tracks. Of course everybody knows what happened in 2007, but I don't have to cope because it's already a year ago, and since then I have been driving a formula one car without thinking about it," he said in an interview provided to the media by his team.

"In formula one and motor sport the risks are high, but I don't have any negative feelings about Canada. I am just going there as I go to any other race with the goal to score as many points as possible," Kubica added.

Asked if the accident had changed anything about his life, the deadpan Pole answered simply: "No."

Kubica is more concerned about the pace of his F1.08 single seater, which although clearly the third quickest car on the grid this season, is currently struggling to keep up with the sport's enduring 'big two' Ferrari and McLaren.

He said he doesn't think he can be considered a challenger for the drivers' title.

"In the last two or three races especially we were not as competitive as we were at the beginning of the season, when we were in between the Ferraris and the McLarens.

"Recently, it has been more difficult for us to be up there," Kubica explained.