Q & A with Mark Webber

Mark Webber: It's still healing. We're very much still focusing on Melbourne. We'll see what it feels like to drive. We don't need to go bananas, just see how it feels because we've still got another four tests after this.

Q. As far as you are concerned is it a given that you will be racing in Melbourne?

MW: Yes. I've raced with fractures before that some people didn't even know about.

Q. The stuff you've been doing - like the cryogenic chamber - sounds quite extreme. Tell us a bit about that.

MW: It's really simple. Normal room temperature into a room of minus 50 for 30 seconds then into a minus 130 for two or three minutes which is all about circulation. Stressing the body, coming back out into normal room temperature again and getting the blood flowing around trying to heal and help the fracture.

Q. How big a bolt have you got in your leg?

MW: I had one removed on Thursday which was a bit ahead of schedule. It's all with a view to Melbourne. I've still got some in there.

Q. Is it going to be setting off metal detectors?

MW: No, it's all titanium so it's all light, so Adrian was happy.

Q. Strength is one thing, sensitivity is another. Is that going to take longer to come back?

MW: At the moment, I think that the sensitivity is ahead of the strength. The good think is that once it starts, the strength comes quite quickly. We were close last week, then we had that surgery last week that put us back a little bit but in the long game it will be better. That had to happen - it was totally normal for it to happen.

Q. Do you have to do the getting in and out of the car test?

MW: Yes, I'll do the test getting in and out of the car. That'll be fine.

Q. And that'll be done in Melbourne?

MW: Yes. On the Thursday it's normal just to get in and out of the car in seven seconds. We'll do that.

Q. Can you do that now?

MW: We wouldn't be far off.

Q. You're well known as an unlucky driver. This is a season where you potentially have a race-winning car and you have this accident. Do you find yourself asking why it has to happen to you?

MW: I asked the question when I had the shunt - why did it have to happen to me? But I wasn't thinking that I was unlucky because I was going to have an amazing season this year. It's just another hurdle in my life to get over. Other people have worse problems in their lives and I will be looking forward to proving again to myself and I'm always up to a challenge. This is one I'm looking forward to taking on.

Q. Is this the season that gives you more reason to be confident than any other of your seasons in F1?

MW: Yes, because it's a clean slate for everyone and it's very exciting for all the teams to have the chance to move up to maybe some different positions to where they have been in the last few years. There is a chance that a team like Red Bull Racing could do very well out of a regulation change. We will see how it goes.

Q. Is this the year that you become a winner?

MW: Every year we've tried to say that and it hasn't happened. We hope it will happen this year.

Q. Sebastian is perhaps your biggest challenge?

MW: I've always had, going into every year, there's pressure. That's what Formula 1 is about. You work so hard to get to F1 because you know that you are going to be tested and that this is the highest level. People will say that Sebastian won a race last year, but when I first came to Red Bull, it was David's third season with the team and he'd won 13 Grands Prix.

There are always new challenges. Sebastian is obviously a phenomenal talent, a young charger, great for the team and Red Bull have done really well to keep him on their books. I hope that we can do well together. I don't want Melbourne to be tomorrow because I need a bit more time, but I'm really looking forward to Melbourne, it's going to be fascinating to see how the teams turn out.

Q. In terms of the match-up between you and Sebastian, you have seen a lot of young chargers off. So you aren't concerned at all?

MW: It's part of the job, you will be tested by other people in other teams. You are racing the whole grid, but it's obvious that comparisons will be made to your teammate. That has worked very well for me in the past.

Q. This has to be the first year that you can go to Melbourne and think you have a good chance of winning?

MW: We'll see when the car runs.

Q. Adrian has a very good record when there have been sweeping rule changes...

MW: When you see the car, how he has designed it, it is pretty cute in places. He is a genius so we'll see what happens.

Q. But if he's got it wrong, you're in trouble with no testing?

MW: With the testing restrictions you want to have a good baseline to roll out with - you wouldn't want last year's Honda with this year's rule changes, would you?

Q. Max was suggesting that there might not be many teams running on Friday at Melbourne because drivers hadn't signed their superlicences...

MW: If we have more sets of tyres we'd probably run, but I'm surprised they haven't given us more sets of tyres...

Q. He was talking about the superlicences...

MW: I know.

Q. But it doesn't come over very well, drivers complaining about the costs of things?

MW: The statement has been put out. That's what has been put out.

Q. How about the timing of it - the big cost increase was last year. It's surprising that the bigger fuss is being made now...

MW: Read the statement. It's nothing to do with this year, it has been going on for so long.

Q. Leaving aside the arguments, don't you think in the current climate with people losing their jobs, for drivers to be complaining when they are earning millions...

MW: We'll see what happens.

Q. Do you have any concerns about KERS?

MW: I think a lot of people are shooting in the dark with it. There is still a lot to understand. There has been a lot of work done away from F1 tracks. Let's see how it works in a race environment. That's the big question. Reliability, restarts ? the packaging is not easy because it's a lot of material to get into a very tight, compact car. Good luck to the commentators trying to explain all that.

Q. Any concerns for you personally being one of the taller drivers and the problems of packaging and weight when KERS comes into play?

MW: I've never been at a disadvantage with my weight since I've been in F1, which is great. The last time was probably in F3. I know that in the days when Prost and Mansell were racing there was a bit of an advantage for the slighter guys and they changed that with the ruling of the weight over the last 10 or 15 years.

Now, having such little ballast to play with, a guy of a lighter frame has more ballast to move around the car. The car will still be the same weight, but you have more options if you are lighter to maybe set the car up a little differently. I'm 75kg. I'm not going to try any harder to be any lighter because that's how I am and that's what weight I need to be. If someone wants me to be 70kg then get someone else to do it because at 70kg I wouldn't look very clever.

Q. What is the disadvantage?

MW: It depends on the track. Some tracks, nothing, some tracks a lot more.

Q. Is it a worry to be racing with a bolt in your leg?

MW: No. I'm not worried about what's in my leg at all. This thing will be functional for the Melbourne Grand Prix for 90 minutes. It will be totally functional to do the job. I can't run a marathon at the moment, but I don't need to run a marathon.