MARK WEBBER is upbeat that his return to a formula one car early next month is right on track.

Australia's only current formula one racer broke the tibia and fibula in his right leg in a collision with a four-wheel drive near Hobart in November. He is back in England where he is undergoing intensive rehabilitation.

Webber's recuperation is going to plan and he has started to put weight on his injured leg. He hopes to discard his crutches within two weeks, and is already doing light leg exercises with the help of a trampoline mat and working to strengthen his foot and ankle with rubber bands.

Putting a positive spin on his misfortune, Webber, pictured below, insists it is handy that it was only his "throttle" leg that was broken. The left leg is required to do the more vigorous task of braking in a formula one car.

"It could have been much worse," he told German magazine Auto Motor und Sport . "I was lucky it was the right leg, which is not working too hard in the car. The most important thing is that I get the feeling back."

Webber said he hoped to return to the cockpit for the four-day Jerez test from February 9, when the new Red Bull Racing RB5 will be launched. He will be sharing the driving duties with new teammate Sebastian Vettel. Not green with envy

The Kawasaki MotoGP team is yet to officially confirm what appears to be inevitable - its withdrawal from the world championship.

Other than leading to a sad reduction in grid numbers, the green team's exit will not be a huge loss.

It operated on a lavish annual budget, perhaps as much as $US40 million ($56.5m), and yet its riders scrapped with privateers for the last few places in the field. Yamaha paid Valentino Rossi $US15m and still couldn't match Kawasaki's spending last year.

Kawasaki team boss Michael Bartholemy knows how to splurge but not how to get results. American rider John Hopkins hasn't won a MotoGP race but still enjoyed a salary of about $US5m - more than Casey Stoner received as world champion. Kawasaki had the flashiest hospitality in the paddock and an army of engineers led by a general who clearly didn't know how to make the bikes go fast.