If being of indomitable spirit is the admirable quality that gives any sportsman a crucial impetus to fight the odds then Mark Webber, Formula One's Aussie tough guy, perfectly personifies its values.

Former three-times world champion Jackie Stewart, knighted for his race exploits, has pinpointed Webber as a driver who has mastered more suffering than any other racer to return to the top flight.

He is back in his homeland for this weekend's Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne with the painful memories of one year ago still vividly etched in his mind.

That was when he courageously fought back from injuries sustained in an off-track accident that threatened his livelihood — but, at the same time, burnished his image as an heroic figure Down Under.

He was hospitalised in the winter of 2008-09 with a badly shattered leg and shoulder after being hit by a 4x4 during a cycle phase of a charity fundraising race in Tasmania. It was feared his F1 career could have been wrecked.

Race against time

He faced a desperate race against time to get himself back behind the wheel of a Grand Prix car.

But that is where his indomitable streak took charge. He spent hours in an ice-chamber undergoing radical, breakthrough treatment, and made his comeback with pins holding together his piecemeal bones.

The metalwork has since been removed and the 29-year-old Red Bull star has reached into the realms of amazing recovery to make his presence firmly felt in F1.

Stewart, a near neighbour in the UK, observes: "We live less than 5kms apart and Mark has been round for dinner so many times, but my wife, Helen, couldn't bear to look at his leg. It was in a pretty bad state.

"He has come back from more suffering, from more pain, than any other racing driver I have ever known, and to return like he did and win two Grands Prix in the same year is a remarkable accomplishment.

"He overcame whatever discomfort he must have undergone with all those operations and spent hours back on a bike or in the gym. He mastered all the pain barriers and just look at him now. What a fine example he is to us all."

—The author is a motor sport expert based in England