Formula One news

Webber expects to test in February

Red Bull Racing driver Mark Webber hopes to return in February again behind the wheel of the team's new Formula 1 car in February. The Australian broke his leg in a mountain bike accident on Saturday,

"I'm aiming to drive the car at the first test," Webber told BBC Sport. "Whether that's possible, I don't know, but if I have to wait another week or 10 days for the sake of the whole season, then I will.

"I will make sure I'm in the best shape I can be for the first race. Both (lower leg) bones are broken but the compound fracture was of the tibia and the bone was exposed. I think a lot about Zanardi and these sort of guys. It's such an inspiration. I could be worse off. At the moment there is pressure and swelling whenever I stand up. There is talk it will be like that for the next two or three weeks and come the first week of February we should be on target for me to be able to walk unaided.

"And then the acceleration between the first week of Feb and the first week of March will be quite extreme in terms of me getting about. In terms of me driving the car, it is impossible for me to say how I will feel when the car comes out for the first time.

"We'll look at how much driving I'll do early on. If I have three decent tests going into Melbourne then I am totally focused on not letting the team down in final qualifying and on Sunday in Melbourne. That's a long way away - it's the last week in March. That's when it counts for me.

"I think it will be a bit slow to start with. I'm just going to have to get used to a few things the first time I drive the car but that won't last long at all. In a perfect world, I would do every single day and test we had in mind for pre-season but it's not just the leg that will be suffering.

"Early on, I will need to work on my general fitness, which will take some work but which again will be spot on for Melbourne."

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