You’ve all probably heard the news that Mark Webber drove the last four races of the 2010 F1 season with a busted shoulder following yet another mountain bike accident. Now, his boss, Christian Horner says he should keep away from bikes altogether.
Webber sustained a broken leg and fractured shoulder in late 2008 after he collided with a car while competing in the Mark Webber Challenge in Tasmania. While Mark competed stoically during 2009, notching up two race wins, it took him at least half the season to regain full fitness.
Fast forward to October this year—just before the Japanese Grand Prix—and Webber made a quick trip home to Australia for some R&R to get refreshed for the last few races of the year. At least, that was the plan. For the first time since his 2008 accident, Mark climbed aboard a mountain bike. And crashed again. Another injured shoulder was the result. Webber kept the injury pretty much to himself and took a series of pain killing injections to see out the season.
News of Webber’s injury only emerged following the release of a new book from the Australian titled Up Front – 2010, A Season To Remember. Christian Horner has spoken to the UK’s Telegraph and expressed his ire at being kept in the dark, “I didn’t even know about the book, let alone the shoulder.
“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.”
Horner was asked if Red Bull Racing would insist Mark sticks to racing cars in 2011 and replied, “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.”
Perhaps it’s good that Mark kept quiet about the injury; it would have only strengthened the mental belief of his closest competitors after all. However, you can’t help but think the ultimate result in the 2010 championship race could have been different if Mark was 100% fit.
