Formula 2 driver Juan Manuel Correa admits he is pushing to return to the track as much for Anthoine Hubert as for himself.
The Miami-based driver is now back in the USA as he continues his recovery from the tragic crash at Spa-Francorchamps in August, which claimed the life of Hubert.
Correa himself suffered severe leg injuries and has been very fortunate that doctors were able to save it and he admits the gravity of what took place has had a big impact in many ways.
“It took me a few weeks to accept everything, it is difficult to understand with pain drugs in the hospital. It took me time to accept it, but my attitude is pragmatic, nothing will change what happened, so I have to make the best of it,” the youngster told Mundo Sport.
“Of course I feel sadness, Anthoine was a good friend, but now I feel that I have to return not only for myself but also for him.
“It was an accident that changed my life, not only physically but mentally,” Correa added. “When you have an experience so close to death and you go out alive, your eyes open beyond motor racing. There were moments in the hospital where I wasn’t sure if I wanted to race again.
“I realised that racing is not the most important thing, it is my passion, but such an accident shows you the priorities, and my priority was my health and my family. Leaving that hole I had time to reflect.
“A friend asked me if this turns off my F1 dream. I told him that an accident does not turn off the dream but it does make you think if you want to take a risk for a dream and I decided that I want to continue doing so because it is my dream.”
Many more months of rehab are still in store for Correa before he can even consider again chasing his dream however, but he is keeping his fans upto date with regular Instagram posts and explained the next big steps.
“I lost six centimetres of bone in the lower part of the tibia, it is growing again with a special device, that’s why I have all those metals pieces around my leg that you see in social media,” he revealed.
“I grow the bone by one millimetre per day. On December 23 I have the next surgery where the bone will reach the foot. Then the process will come where the new bone will strengthen hard so it can support weight.
“After that, the metals will be removed to recover as much as possible and assess how much pain or mobility I have and see what other operations follow.
“At the beginning, the doctors expected two years to make the recovery, but my body is doing everything faster, it recovers and regenerates the bones faster than normal. Being optimistic, in a year we could have the full idea of how much more I can recover or if I will get just to there.”