Doing What It Takes: Mark Webber

Without hesitation, Mark Webber has become a driver apart from the rest. Though he cannot seem to catch a break, he has won the hearts of fans all over the world. Whether it be for his boyish good looks or his unbreakable spirit, he is the one that all the young boys and girls look up to.

We can remember back to November 2008, he was hit by a car while taking part in his own adventure challenge in Tasmania and suffered a major fracture of his right leg and a broken shoulder. And yet, February 2009 came and on the the 10th, he got behind the wheel of the RB6 and was out in Jerez testing with the team. 

Over the course of he last few days, Mark Webber has recently released a book ‘Up Front - 2010, A Season To Remember' which seemed like a tell all to the racing community as a whole.

"On the Sunday morning before (the Japanese Grand Prix at) Suzuka, I got on a mountain bike for the first time since my accident in Tasmania at the end of 2008," he said in his book. 

"I was riding with a great friend of mine. Suddenly, he crashed right in front of me and I had nowhere to go but straight through the ears of the horse!

"I suffered what they call a skier's fracture to my right shoulder.

"Suzuka is a brutal track so it was a blessing that the Japanese weather gave me an enforced rest day on the Saturday (when qualifying was rained off), and a pre-race injection helped, too.

"In the end, we got through the weekend all right."

It was told that the injury was a fine fracture deep in the bone that was difficult to treat but not too serious. He was given cortisone injections to drive in Japan and South Korea.

Many people will try to link this injury to the decline in Webber's performance as the 2010 F1 season drew to a close but he refused to blame the injury for his failure to win the title and kept it secret.Apart from Roger Cleary, his trainer, and Dr Gary Hartstein, Formula One's senior medic, Webber kept the injury to himself, not even telling Christian Horner, his Red Bull team principal and a close confidant. 

“I didn’t even know about the book, let alone the shoulder,” Horner told Telegraph Sport.

“It is obviously disappointing that Mark said nothing. It was an injury that did not appear to have any effect on his performance but all the same it would have been nice to know about it.”

Asked if mountain bikes would be banned for 2011, Horner said: “Our drivers have an obligation to make sure they are fit. It seems bikes don’t agree with Mark so maybe it would be better if he stayed away from them.”

So when you ask, 'what does it take to be a formula one driver?', it takes the drive and will power to over come any obstacle placed in your way.  Whether it be a titanium pin in your leg, a lasting flight in Valencia, Spain or ignoring the pain of both a shoulder fracture and the pain of each cortisone injection. Standing up and saying that yes, I will do this.