Isack Hadjar is still expecting to feel pain from his fractured wrist despite returning to the cockpit of his Red Bull at this weekend's Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
The Red Bull driver missed three races after sustaining the injury while training during Formula 1's summer break.
He will return to the grid in Baku, but said a full recovery would still take some time.
"I have a small fracture on the outside of the wrist and it's just quite a long process," he said on Wednesday. "I didn't need any surgery, so it's all natural and it takes some time.
"It's still going to be painful for a while, but now it's going to be six weeks soon and, you know, it says that it's strong enough at the moment to resist the tensions."
Hadjar revealed he has already completed simulator sessions in preparation for his return.
"I had a test on the sim, it went well. So, you know, I think it's a similar environment to the cockpit," he said.
"It's actually, if anything, nearly identical. So, if it's fine on the sim, with the adrenaline on track and everything, I think I should be okay.
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"And yeah, the training sessions have not been fun, you know, because I've been doing basically nothing with the left limb. So yeah, it's been a bit boring."
In response to a question over whether he sustained the injury while boxing, Hadjar said Red Bull had not banned him from doing anything specific during his training as a result of the injury.
"I mean, next time I'll just be more careful," he said. "It happens, so no restrictions. I'm not five years old."
