Mark Webber is hoping to recover from his bike accident in time for the first shake-down of Red Bull Racing’s new car in February.
The Australian suffered a broken leg last weekend when he hit a car while taking part in his own charity bike event in Tasmania. He underwent surgery and had metal rods inserted in his leg to repair the bone damage.
Webber is hoping to be fit and ready for Red Bull’s first test in February.
“I’m aiming to drive the car at the first test,” Webber told the BBC. “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,” he added. “Both [lower leg] bones are broken but the compound fracture was of the tibia and the bone was exposed.
“That complicates things a bit more but I am just learning to get up and about on crutches now.
“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.”
“In a funny sort of way I’m looking forward to seeing the progress. I’ve never been in this position before in my life. I’ve got good people around me. The team have been amazing. I’ll make sure we work very hard together to make sure it’s seamless.”
