Webber Raced with Broken Shoulder in Last 4 Races

With 4 races to go in the 2010 Formula One championship, Australian driver Mark Webber was leading the championship quite comfortably, being more than a race win away from teammate and eventual title winner Sebastian Vettel. After the Singapore Grand Prix, the Aussie's form dropped dramatically and he eventually went from championship leader to 3rd place overall in a matter of 4 races. Now, almost a month away from the season finale in Abu Dhabi, we might have just found the reason for it.

According to his own book “Up front: a season to remember”, the 34-year old driver drove the last 4 races of the recently ended F1 campaign with a shoulder injury. And no, it wasn't related to the accident he suffered back in 2008, during his self-sponsored Tasmania Challenge, but the cause of a fresh cycling accident.

Just like in Tasmania a couple of years back, Webber crashed a mountain bike, when a friend fell in front of him, back in Australia. It happened right after the Singapore Grand Prix and, because of the accident, Webber suffered what is known as a “skier's fracture” (not serious but deep in the joint and difficult to treat, according to a report from the GMM news agency).

He decided not to tell any of his team members, not even team principal Christian Horner. Instead, only his trainer Roger Clearly and FIA doctor Gary Hartstein knew about the injury, which led the Australian driver to take cortisone injections prior to the Korean and Japanese Grands Prix.

As a consequence of that injury, Webber told his team that he will be unable to attend the post-season tire test at Abu Dhabi, as he was scheduled for a shoulder surgery. Further news are yet to emerge on his medical situation, but as soon as we get the chance to report it, we'll do so in the upcoming weeks.