Sauber driver Pascal Wehrlein says that he's feeling fine despite being sidelined from this week's four-day pre-season testing at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya as a result of a back injury sustained last month.
"I’m feeling okay, no pain, nothing, just something as a precaution to avoid any more difficult injury than I have at the moment, so it’s just something to be safe for the future and that’s it," Wehrlein told reporters on Monday.
Wehrlein was hurt when he rolled a car while competing at the Race of Champions in Miami, and his role in this week's Formula One testing has been taken by Ferrari reserve driver Antonio Giovinazzi.
"In the first few days I had a bit of pain, sore everywhere which is normal after a crash, but at the moment I have no pain, feeling fine, doing my training as normal."
Initial reports indicated that Wehrlein had suffered a neck injury as a result of not wearing a HANS device during the RoC incident, but it's since been clarified that the problem was with the German driver's back.
“It’s just the back,” he insisted. “I was very surprised when I saw the news that people were writing it’s my neck because my neck is totally fine.
"I just forgot it," he added when asked why he hadn't been wearing the HANS support device when he had the accident. "I was wearing it always and that time I just forgot it. But it didn’t change anything - if it would be a neck injury maybe yes, but its a back injury."
Wehrlein confirmed that he hoped to be back in the car for the second pre-season test in Spain next week pending further tests and medical clearance.
"It’s still unclear as I will have a check again at the end of this week. I will see some doctors and then let’s see," he said. "I hope for sure that they will give me the green light and they say everything is fine and you can get back to racing but you never know."
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