Mark Webber: All drivers should contribute to safety drive

The Australian was cited by three-time world champion Jackie Stewart as a driver who could take up the Scot's old mantle of leading the drive for safety.

But Webber believes that no driver needs to take up such a role as the imperative to constantly improve safety is now universally accepted.

"It has been accepted, thanks to Jackie's work all of those years ago," said Webber when asked about Stewart's suggestion. "Clearly, some huge changes were made and there are some key markers in F1's history where safety goes up another level again mentally. In Jackie's era and then Imola '94 was another clear step.

"We always need to keep learning and we are never arrogant enough to put our heads in the sand and say that the category is perfect," added the Red Bull driver.

"Yes, we would like it to be challenging and a little bit daring, but we should also never exclude having the element of risk lower if we can achieve that.

"For me to do that on my own is unlikely. I would like to have lots of guys from different age groups from my age down to someone who is very young like Jaime Alguersuari, who is from a different generation.

"There are lots of drivers who can help the sport take notice of what has happened because these are reminders to all of us to make sure that the socks are well and truly pulled up."

Webber is no stranger to large accidents, such as his collision with Heikki Kovalainen in Valencia last year where the Australian was launched into the air. And although Webber admits the events of the past two weeks have affected him deeply, he says he still expects to feel safe when he climbs in his car over the Indian Grand Prix weekend.

"In a way, motorbikes are even dearer to my heart than motor racing because motorbikes are where I started," he said. "I was watching the race live and it was one of those things where you hope that it's not real.

"At such a young age, he [Simoncelli] was a phenomenal character who will be massively missed. I've had moments in my career where it has been close for me. When you step into the car, it's not always in your mind but you know that you are not doing something that is without risk.

"There is always going to be an element of risk there because of the speed because you are competing against other people. Errors of judgement, an error of judgement from a mechanic or conditions mean that one day you might get hurt. That's the way it is.

"When I'm driving the car tomorrow, I'll still feel incredibly safe and I'll feel comfortable to push the car as hard as I can."

Webber and Jenson Button, who both raced in the junior categories of the TOCA Package during the same period as Wheldon, intend to run tributes to the Indianpolis 500 winner on their helmets this weekend.

"I sent Jenson a text after Korea and said I wanted to get some stickers made up in Australia for our helmets," explained Webber. "I said are you keen, and he said he was very keen. That's about it, just a nice sticker on the helmets. We both knew him, obviously, so it's natural."