Mark Webber has revealed in his new book that he actually broke his shoulder yet again with just four crucial races left to run into 2010 season while he was 31 points ahead of champion Sebastien Vettel.In late 2008, during the Pure Tasmania Challenge, Webber shattered his right leg in a mountain bike smash, but hid from Red Bull team officials 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 with 4 crucial races to go in the 2010 F1 season.
Specifically, in his official book Up Front: A Season to Remember, he revealed that he broke his shoulder again in Australia after the Singapore Grand Prix in late September. Webber crashed again a mountain bike when a friend fell in front of him and his injury is reportedly known as a "skier's fracture"; not serious but deep in the joint and difficult to treat.
In the book he reveals that he decided not to tell Red Bull boss Christian Horner about the incident, 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 could 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 team-mate and eventual champion Sebastian Vettel. In light of the book's revelations, Webber confirmed the crash did indeed happen. However, he said in the book that he does not attribute losing the title to his shoulder injury.
"I was riding with a great friend of mine. Suddenly, he crashed right in front of me and I had nowhere to go but straight through the ears of the horse. Suzuka is a brutal track so it was a blessing that the Japanese weather gave me an enforced rest day on the Saturday, and a pre-race (cortisone) injection helped too.
In the end, we got through the weekend all right.
In Korea, Webber's hopes took a major hit with his crash on the slippery track, before he finished second - again behind Vettel - in Brazil. And at the Abu Dhabi finale last month, Webber was uncompetitive while Vettel won the race and title from pole position.
