Despite suffering broken bones in two falls in recent history, Mark Webber has revealed that he still loves mountain bike riding.
The Australian driver was commenting on Robert Kubica’s new battle to recover from horrific injuries suffered in a rally crash.

“Compared to Robert, I had a scratched finger,” said the Red Bull driver, referring to his own badly broken leg and – more recently – shoulder.

Webber said there is no trying to stop F1 drivers from going about their lives away from the track.

“Our perception of risk is different to normal people,” he insisted in an interview with Auto Motor und Sport.

“First of all, Robert should thank his lucky stars; to survive something like that is already a gift from god. From now it will be about the head.

“He is going to go through the ups and downs, because after three good days of training you have a bad one and you wonder if it’s all going to pay off.

“He has to be patient, which for a racing driver is exactly the worst thing: we are hyperactive and he will want to see progress every day, as we do with our jobs.

“He just has to give it the time it needs,” advised Webber.

Mark Webber broke his shoulder yet again with just four crucial races left to run in 2010.

In late 2008, after shattering his right leg in a mountain bike smash, the Australian hid from his employer Red Bull the fact that he also broke his left shoulder.

But with his injuries apparently fully healed, it recently emerged that Webber would miss the post-season Abu Dhabi Pirelli test due to surgery.

It was believed the operation was due to his 2009 pre-season breaks, but Webber has now revealed in a book that he was carrying a fresh injury into his recent charge for this year’s title.

In his official book ‘Up front: a season to remember”, the 34-year-old revealed that he broke his shoulder again after returning to Australia after the Singapore grand prix in late September.

Once again, he crashed a mountain bike; this time when a friend fell in front of him.

Webber’s injury is reportedly known as a “skier’s fracture”; not serious but deep in the joint and difficult to treat.

The book said he declined to tell his boss Christian Horner, and that only his trainer Roger Clearly and FIA doctor Gary Hartstein knew about the injury and his cortisone injections in Japan and Korea.

The injury might explain Webber’s crucial loss of form after leading the championship at the time of his accident by 21 points from Fernando Alonso.

And when he crashed, Webber was 31 points clear of his teammate and eventual champion Sebastian Vettel.

Mark Webber is looking to resurrect his outdoor adventure challenge.

The Australian’s last multi-discipline charity event in Tasmania, comprising cycling, trekking and kayaking in harsh terrain, took place after the 2008 season.

Webber badly broke his leg in a mountain bike stage, which derailed his winter testing programme and threatened his entire career, amid rumours it was Red Bull Racing who ordered the event be cancelled for subsequent years.

But the 34-year-old said at the time that it was actually the global financial crisis that caused the event to lapse, due to the expiry of major sponsorship contracts.

The Sydney Morning Herald newspaper indicated that the next Mark Webber Challenge could be held in late 2011 — after his current contract with Red Bull runs out.

When asked last week what he plans for his retirement, Webber answered: “We’re looking at reintroducing my Tasmania challenge — in fact, we’re in the throes of finalising a deal which will hopefully see it return at the end of 2011.”