27/11/2008
NEWS STORY
Mark Webber, currently convalescing after breaking his leg at the weekend, is targeting a return to the cockpit in time for the Red Bull RB5's test debut.
The Austrian outfit's 2009 contender is scheduled to make its track debut on 10 February, ten weeks before the 2009 season gets underway in Melbourne.
"I'm aiming to drive the car at the first test," the Australian 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.
"Both (lower leg) bones are broken," revealed Webber, "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.
"At the moment there is pressure and swelling whenever I stand up," he continued. "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," he admitted. "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."