18/01/2009
NEWS STORY
Mark Webber, who is still recovering after breaking his leg during a charity event in November, has revealed that he is targeting February 11 for his return to the F1 cockpit.
With Red Bull due to launch its 2009 contender at Jerez on February 9, Webber hopes to have a trial run two days later before getting down to his pre-season preparations in earnest a couple of days later.
"I'm looking forward to driving the car in three weeks," the Australian told BBC Radio Five Live. "I'm going to have a crack at driving the car on February 11, and we'll see how that goes.
"If it goes really well, I'll be back in on 13 February," he continued. Then I've got three more tests at Jerez, Valencia and then our last test in Barcelona, with all the other teams before we go off to Australia."
Asked about his progress on the road to recovery, Webber said: "It's going alright now. We're coming out of the back part of the worst of it, and hopefully I won't be on the crutches too much longer.
I can start to test the muscle and the soft tissue in the back of the leg a little bit more when I get more confidence to walk on the leg," he continued. "It won't affect how I drive my car. It affects my conditioning, I need a little bit more preparation, but by the time I get to Melbourne I should be in really good nick again.
"At the moment I'm a bit under-cooked because I've not been that mobile," admitted. "When I get going again, I'll be okay."