Mark Webber will undergo further surgery on the leg he broke last year after the forthcoming Hungarian Grand Prix. The Australian, who ended his Formula One winning drought in Germany last weekend in his 130th race in the series, needs to have screws removed from his right leg during the traditional summer break. There are four weeks between next week's Hungarian race and the European Grand Prix at Valencia on Aug 23 allowing the Australian time to recover.
He will have further surgery post season to remove the pin inserted into the leg after the cycling accident in Tasmania. "The titanium rod is coming out only after the season and then the bump [on the lower leg] will disappear," Webber said. Webber admitted the injury, suffered when he was hit by a car while competing in his charity Challenge, had cost him early in the season after he spent most of the off-season off the leg.
"I think I was kidding myself a bit," Webber said. "It is absolutely clear that the leg was a long way from healed and it was still broken. "It was just the metal holding it in place so it has come a long way since then." Webber is 22.5 points behind the Brawn driver Jenson Button in the race for the drivers' championship after nine of the 17 races with his Red Bull team now seemingly the dominant force after winning the past two races with one-two finishes.
gcaygill@thenational.ae
