Mark Webber
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Mark Webber (born August 27, 1976 in Queanbeyan, New South Wales) is a formula one race car driver for the Red Bull Racing formula one team. Webber broke into the racing sport as a teenager in Australia, taking the usual route of go-karting before moving on to cars later on. After reaping much success in his native homeland, Webber moved on to bigger things with Formula One in 2002. Hyped as the heir apparent of Michael Schumacher, Webber has struggled to live up to his reputation early on and is still on the process of proving himself and his place in the world of F1.
Webber, the first from down under to race in F1 since David Brabham in 1994, gained headlines when he got involved in a couple of accidents in LeMans during his stint with Mercedes Benz. Aerodynamic fault caused his car to somersault off the Mulsanne straight, fortunately, he was not injured in the incident.
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Personal Life
Mark Alan is the son of Alan, a local motorcycle dealer. Mark has involved himself in sports at a young age, starting out as a ball-boy for the Canberra Raiders---a rugby league team in the late 1980s---before moving on to racing as a teen. He looked up to Formula One World Champion Alain Prost and Grand Prix motorcycle racer Kevin Schwantz as his childhood heroes. Mark has left his hometown of Queanbeyan, NSW, Australia for Buckinghamshire, England where he lives with his partner/manager Ann Neal. When he is not on the race track, the brown-haired, hazel-eyed Aussie likes to road cycle, mountain bike, kayak, trek, play tennis or train. He's even won the annual F1 Pro-Am tennis tournament in Barcelona three times (2002, 2004 and 2005), but finished only as a runner-up to Juan Pablo Montoya in 2003. He supports the Wallabies (Australian national rugby team), Australian Cricket Team and Sunderland (Premiership UK soccer team). He considers his Formula Ford festival victory in 1996, his Monaco F3000 race win in 2001, his signing with Mercedes, his F1 debut with Minardi on his homeland that garnered him a 5th place finish, his organization and running of the Mark Webber Tasmania Challenges, and the 2007 Nurburging Podium with Red Bull Racing as his memorable moments. His favorite place to race in is at Monaco, Imola, and Spa Francorchamps while his favorite GP is without question, his home race---the Australian Grand Prix.
Career
Early Career
Webber started out in motocross before enlisting himself in what people consider as the "kindergarten" of motorsport, karting, when he was 14. From just a simple past time, Webber later on took the sport seriously and then went on to win the New South Wales state championship in 1993. He later moved on to the Australian Formula Ford Championship after his father bought him an ex-Craig Lowndes Van Diemen FF1600. While working as a driving instructor at Sydney's Oran Park Raceway between races, Webber was able to bag 14th place in his debut year. In his second season at the Australian Formula Ford, he bagged victories in the Formula Ford support race at the final Adelaide Grand Prix along with a runner-up finish at the Surfers Paradise Indycar Grand Prix meeting, going on to grab third place in the 1995 Duckhams Formula Ford Festival at Brands Hatch in his international racing debut. In 1996, Webber was recruited by Van Diemen, a company that manufactures Formula Ford vehicles. That year he won the Formula Ford Festival and prior to his European stint, won the Formula Holden support race at the inaugural Melbourne Grand Prix. He was pitted in the British Formula Ford Championship where he finished 2nd in what is considered as the most prestigious junior category series, scoring four wins capped by a victory at the Duckhams Formula Ford Festival at Brands Hatch, England. That last win made Webber the 25th winner of Formula Ford's most prestigious event, joining the likes of Roberto Moreno, Johnny Herbert, Eddie Irvine, Jan Magnussen and Jenson Button. He also won a race at Spa, Belgium---considered as one of the world's most challenging and demanding tracks---and finished the Euro Cup third overall despite competing in only two of three rounds.
Not long after his Formula Ford Festival win, Webber had a test with the Alan Docking Formula 3 racing team on the Silverstone Grand Prix circuit and after an impressive run, was recruited by Docking to compete for the British-based team in 1997. He won his fourth ever Formula 3 Race at the Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit, leading all the way and setting a new lap record in the process, en route to finishing fourth in the championship. Additionally, Webber placed third in the annual Marlboro Masters at Zandvoort, The Netherlands and fourth in the Macau F3 Grand Prix - both times making his debut. His remarkable performance netted him an offer to join a sports car race conducted by Mercedes-AMG, and although he declined to join, the team still invited him to participate in a test session at A1-Ring in Austria. The test basically got him a spot as the official Mercedes works junior driver for the 1998 FIA GT Championship where he was paired with GT reigning champion Bernd Schneider. The pair won five of the ten rounds, but finished 8 seconds behind teammates Klaus Ludwig and then new Formula One recruit, Ricardo Zonta in the championship after the two teams went toe-to-toe in the final round at Laguna Seca in California.
He retained his spot with the AMG Mercedes sports car team in 1999, with a promotion as the team's #1 driver and was also given his own car. Unfortunately, his career did not flourish after flipping twice on the straight in the lead up to the 24 Hours of Le Mans race that year. An aerodynamic error on the team's Mercedes-Benz CLRs caused Webber to spectacularly become airborne during both practice and race-day warm up, with the same fate befalling teammate Peter Dumbreck five hours into the race. Although Webber (and Dumbreck) came out unharmed from the crashes, the accidents forced Mercedes to take a hiatus from sports car racing, basically ending Webber's career with sports cars. After parting ways with AMG and Mercedes, Webber had talks with fellow Australian Paul Stoddart, a sponsor for the Jordan Grand Prix in 1999 and owner of the Edenbridge Formula 3000 team (later on renamed as the European Formula Racing). After successful tests---topping the times at an official F3000 test session---he was eventually signed in late 1999 to compete for the 2000 FIA International F300 Championship. Negotiations between Stoddart and Arrows F1 team boss Tom Walkinshaw ensued and resulted in the European Formula Racing becoming Arrows Formula 3000's junior team for the 2000 season, with Webber assigned as the F1 team's test driver. Webber achieved early success in F3000, with a third place finish in the opening round at Imola and a second round win at Silverstone, pushing himself ahead of the pack in the championship race. The team however could not sustain their strong start, struggling in tracks that they had not tested. Fortunately for Webber, he was able to pile up the points and was eventually rewarded with a third place finish in the drivers' championship---with EFR finishing 5th in the team championship---becoming the highest placed rookie in the process.
After Webber and Arrows could not agree on contract negotiations, with the former declining a contract from the latter in July of 2000, Webber moved on and participated on a three day evaluation test conducted by Bennetton at Estoril, Portugal, topping the times ahead of renowned F1 mainstays Giancarlo Fisichella and Ralf Schumacher. It was no surprise then that Webber was eventually signed by Bennetton as the official test and reserve driver for 2001, with a stint at the championship-winning F3000 team Supernova included in the pact. Webber competed in the 2001 FIA International Formula 3000 Championship and won races at Imola, Monaco and Magny Cours, capping the season with a second place finish in the championship with four podiums behind eventual winner and British driver Justin Wilson. Webber decided after that season to put more focus on his F1 career, and with the help of his manager Flavio Briatore, was able to reach a deal to race alongside Alex Yoong for the Stoddart-owned KL Minardi Asiatech team for 2002. Interestingly, in his place, Bennetton was able to acquire the services of another future F1 racer, Fernando Alonso.
Minardi (2002)
Webber made his F1 debut at his home race at Albert Park in Melbourne, qualifying 18th out of the 22 contenders. 8 cars were forced to retire at the start of the accident between Ralf Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello, but Webber himself was not spared from trouble as he raced with a broken differential. Still, Webber was able to finish fifth to the delight of the home crowd, making him just the 4th Aussie F1 race car driver to score World Championship points and the first Minardi driver to do so since Marc Gené did in 1999. The two points he scored "at home" were his only points for the entire season (and his team's as well) as he struggled the rest of the year, getting retired six times and finishing in 10th place or below in eight occassions. Both he and teammate Yoong were also forced to "sit out" in the 2002 Spanish Grand Prix due to potentially dangerous wing failures during the weekend. Despite that, Webber still managed to outqualify his teammates in every race then went on to bag F1 Racing's "Rookie of the Year" award from the magazine's annual Man of the Year awards after leading his team to a 9th place finish in the Constructors' Championship, ahead of Toyota and Arrows. Autosport.com also gave him the same award while the annual Grand Prix Party "Bernie" Awards gave him the "F1 Newcomer of the Year" honors for his 15th place finish in the FIA Formula One World Drivers' Championship.
His rookie season not only drew comparisons to the 1992 World Champion Nigel Mansell from F1 journalist Peter Windsor, but has also gained interest from the Jaguar Racing team leading to his signing with the Milton Keynes-based team for the 2003 season.
Jaguar (2003)
Unlike his debut, Webber struggled at the start of his sophomore season, and his first at Jaguar. He qualified 14th in the opening at Australia before being forced to retire because of rear suspension failure. The following round, he was retired once more after an oil consumption problem on the 8th lap. At the Brazilian Grand Prix, Webber was able to turn out impressive qualifyers with a provisional pole position in Friday and a career- and Jaguar-best 3rd on the grid, only to fall 9th on the actual rain-filled and red-flagged race. He retired again in San Marino after 54 laps due to a driveshaft failure but managed to improve his game the following two races with 7th place finishes in Spain and Austria, eventually earning for himself a new 2-year contract with the team reportedly worth $US6 million per season. After retiring for the fourth time in Monaco, he gained some more points with his 7th, 6th, 6th, 6th, and 7th place finishes in Canada, Europe, France, Hungary, and Italy, respectively. As the season went down, Webber's teammate Pizzonia, who went scoreless in all his races was replaced by Minardi driver Justin Wilson for the rest of the season. Webber also for awhile held on to the 9th position in the drivers' championship but eventually lost out to Jenson Button on a countback. Although Webber managed only 17 points for a 10th place finish, he was able to claim the 2003 "Driver of the Year" award from Autocar magazine. His teammate Wilson, who outscored him in the US Grand Prix, was also replaced by rookie Christian Klien for the following season.
Jaguar (2004)
Webber continued to show brilliance in the qualifyers as seen in the opening race at the Austrlian GP where he qualified sixth fastest but could not take advantage in the actual event because of gearbox failure, settling for another retirement at his home race. He went on to qualify second in Malaysia but once again was retired after luckless runs with a stall at the start, a collision with German Ralf Schumacher, and a drive-through penalty he got for exceeding the pitlane speed limit. The Bahrain GP marked the first time he was outqualified by a teammate as he lined up 14th at the start of the race, yet he was still able to score points for his team with an 8th place finish. He encountered electrical problems in San Marino, had a lack of grip in Spain, and a loss of engine power in Monaco had him in 13th place, 12th, and retired on those three races, respectively. He finally scored again in Europe but was forced to retire in the ensuing contests in Canada and USA, before finishing 9th in France. His 8th and 6th place finishes in the British and German Grands Prix netted him his last points of the season as he could not finish no higher than 9th the rest of the way with two retirements in Japan and Brazil to end the season. He managed to place 13th by the end of the year, scoring 7 points for the Jaguar team who later on ended their participation in Formula One.
Webber did not have any trouble finding a new home as the BMW WilliamsF1 team signed him to a multi-year agreement in July with a chance to finally show his true capabilites alongside a championship-cabilber team.
BMW WilliamsF1 (2005)
Expectations were high for Webber in 2005 as he was paired with new teammate Nick Heidfeld. He came 3rd in the opening race in Australia after placing 3rd in the grid, and was closing in on another podium after qualifying fourth in Malaysia, only to retire after Renault's Giancarlo Fisichella slid into the side of his car eventually eliminating both of them from the race. Heidfeld on the other hand finished 3rd and by that time, Webber's reputation as a fast qualifier who did not perform well under pressure in race situations has grown. Webber, who was later revealed to be competing the first two races despite a fractured rib, continued the trend after qualifying 5th in Bahrain and finishing 6th, qualifying 4th in San Marino and finishing 10th (improved to 7th after the BAR team was DQ'ed and Ralf Schumacher incurred a penalty), and finishing 6th after qualifying second in Spain. Webber finally landed a podium finish for the first time in his F1 career in the 6th race of the season at Monaco, after placing third although he could've done better had not the team pitted his teammate (Heidfeld, who eventually placed 2nd) before him. The point-scoring race continued and went in favor of Heidfeld in the next competition in the European Grand Prix after Webber, who qualified third, was forced to retire after a collision with Juan Pablo Montoya whilst Heidfeld finished second place. Webber was able to bounce back with a 5th place finish in Canada which netted him four points, then went to 12th and 11th in France and Germany before scoring another point in Hungary. Following his retirement in Turkey, Webber was now paired with former Jaguar teammate Antônio Pizzonia (inlieu of the injured Heidfeld), whom he had a riff a year back after Pizzonia accused their former team of favoritism towards Webber and whom Webber called a "loser." In their first competition together, Pizzonia gained the upperhand with a 7th place finish to Webber's 14th but the Aussie was quick to retaliate with a 4th place finish in Belgium while the Brazilian got retired after a collision with Juan Pablo Montoya. In Pizzonia's home race, Webber was relegated to 17th spot and was not classified as a finisher after Pizzonia's collision with David Coulthard caused damaged in his car that required extensive repairs. He still managed to score points in the final two races with his 4th and 7th place finishes in Japan and China putting him 10th overall in the standings with a total of 36 points.
Despite what the Aussie described as a "frustrating" year at Williams and an offer to drive for BMW Sauber, he agreed to stay another year with his old colleagues at Cosworth being the new engine partners to WilliamsF1 and a new teammate Nico Rosberg joining the squad the following season.
WilliamsF1 (2006)
The team has employed several changes prior to 2006, departing with BMW after 5 years to switch to Cosworth engines, utilizing Bridgestone over Michelin tyres, and joining hands with new sponsor RBS, in hopes of a new start that would somehow improve their chances and put the team on track for a title. However, not much has changed on the race track as the team suffered many believed as their worst season to date, lowlighted by mechanical failures that caused a total of 20 retirements in between Rosberg and Webber. In his first race of the season, Webber qualified 7th and finished 6th in the race at Bahrain, then was sidelined to retirement---after qualifying 4th and 7th---in Malaysia and Australia because of mechanical problems. He placed sixth again in San Marino but was retired again in the European Grand Prix due to hydraulics failure. Spain marked a career low for Webber after failing to make the top-10 cutoff in the new qualifying system for the first time and eventually ending the race in 9th place. Webber's mechanical woes continued through the end of the season after retiring in 8 of the last 12 races and ending the year scoring in only three rounds. He placed 14th in the Drivers' championship with 7 points, with his team bowing out at 8th place in the constructor's championship with only 11 points.
Red Bull Racing (2007)
As his 2-year contract expired with Williams, Webber chose not to take the third year option because it offered a smaller salary, forcing the team to promote test driver Alexander Wurz in his place. Webber on the other hand has sought for a fresh start with an up-and-coming squad in Red Bull Racing, replacing former Jaguar teammate Christian Klein opposite David Coulthard on the main roster. The 2006 postseason testing looked promising for the team as they pinned their chances on the RB3 car designed by F1 technical guru Adrian Newey powered by a Renault RS27 engine.
The season opener returned to Australia and Webber was poised to regain the 5th place finish he achieved a couple years back after qualifying 7th and maintaining the spot for awhile. But car problems prevented him from improving his chances and in the end, he managed only a 13th place finish after his car sustained a throttle-related malfunction and a jammed fuel flap. He finished 10th in the following race in Malaysia then was forced to retire in the next three races due to car problems. His teammate Coulthard meanwhile finally scored one for the team in Spain after finishing the race in 5th position. Webber managed to place 9th in Canada, 7th in the USA, and retired in Great Britain before notching only his second career podium in Nurburgring. He added a 9th place finish in Hungary and Italy and then scored for the last time in Belgium before almost snatching his first win in Japan. Webber ran toe-to-toe with the two McLarens and was running second just behind Hamilton with no pit stops to make until Scuderia Toro Rosso's Sebastian Vettel took himself and Webber out of the race in a collision.
After a 10th place finish in China, Webber has one last chance to register his best finish yet, but was once again denied after a mechanical failure took him out from as high as fourth place to cap another disappointing season. He finished behind teammate Coulthard, scoring 10 points (12th) compared to DC's 14 (10th place). With all the disappointments, Webber has put himself in second spot with the most number of starts without a win, also earning for himself the tag of the "unluckiest man in modern Formula One."
Results and Records
Career Summary
Complete Formula One Results
| Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | WDC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | KL Minardi Asiatech | Minardi PS02 | Asiatech AT02 3.0 V10 | AUS 5 | MAL Ret | BRA 11 | SMR 11 | ESP DNS | AUT 12 | MON 11 | CAN 11 | EUR 15 | GBR Ret | FRA 8 | GER Ret | HUN 16 | BEL Ret | ITA Ret | USA Ret | JPN 10 | 16th | 2 | ||
| 2003 | Jaguar Racing | Jaguar R4 | Cosworth CR-5 3.0 V10 | AUS Ret | MAL Ret | BRA 9 | SMR Ret | ESP 7 | AUT 7 | MON Ret | CAN 7 | EUR 6 | FRA 6 | GBR 14 | GER 11 | HUN 6 | ITA 7 | USA Ret | JPN 11 | 10th | 17 | |||
| 2004 | Jaguar Racing | Jaguar R5 | Cosworth CR-6 3.0 V10 | AUS Ret | MAL Ret | BHR 8 | SMR 13 | ESP 12 | MON Ret | EUR 7 | CAN Ret | USA Ret | FRA 9 | GBR 8 | GER 6 | HUN 10 | BEL Ret | ITA 9 | CHN 10 | JPN Ret | BRA Ret | 13th | 7 | |
| 2005 | BMW WilliamsF1 | Williams FW27 | BMW P84/5 3.0 V10 | AUS 5 | MAL Ret | BHR 6 | SMR 7 | ESP 6 | MON 3 | EUR Ret | CAN 5 | USA DNS | FRA 12 | GBR 11 | GER Ret | HUN 7 | TUR Ret | ITA 14 | BEL 4 | BRA Ret | JPN 4 | CHN 7 | 10th | 36 |
| 2006 | WilliamsF1 | Williams FW28 | Cosworth CA2006 2.4 V8 4 Series | BHR 6 | MAL Ret | AUS Ret | SMR 6 | EUR Ret | ESP 9 | MON Ret | GBR Ret | CAN 12 | USA Ret | FRA Ret | GER Ret | HUN Ret | TUR 10 | ITA 10 | CHN 8 | JPN Ret | BRA Ret | 14th | 7 | |
| 2007 | Red Bull Racing | Red Bull RB3 | Renault RS27 2.4 V8 | AUS 13 | MAL 10 | BHR Ret | ESP Ret | MON Ret | CAN 9 | USA 7 | FRA 12 | GBR Ret | EUR 3 | HUN 9 | TUR Ret | ITA 9 | BEL 7 | JPN Ret | CHN 10 | BRA Ret | 12th | 10 | ||
| 2008 | Red Bull Racing | BMW Sauber F1.08 | BMW P86/8 2.4 V8 | AUS | MAL | BHR | ESP | TUR | MON | CAN | FRA | GBR | GER | HUN | EUR | BEL | ITA | SIN | JPN | CHN | BRA |
Charity Challenge
With the support of the Tasmanian Government through Events Tasmania and naming rights sponsor Federal Group, Webber has annually conducted the Charity Challenge to benefit the children's cancer research charities. The Australian native has said before that he was inspired to organize the event after his grandfather died of cancer and his experiences with his friends' children battling the disease.
The first challenge which happened in 2003 was a 10-day trek across Tasmania, involving 1,000 km of cycling, kayaking and trekking along the southern coast and finished at Coles Bay in the east. It concluded with a black tie dinner and auction to raise funds. Several celebrities have taken part in the event, including sporting stars Pat Rafter, Steve Waugh, Cathy Freeman, James Tomkins, Guy Andrews and actor Joel Edgerton.
In 2006, the event was renamed "Mark Webber Pure Tasmania Challenge" and took over six days and nearly 600 km., raising A$500,000 for children’s charities. The following year, the event was launched at the formula one Grand Prix (2007) in Melbourne with celebrities Kylie Minogue and Anthony Edwards taking part in the challenge.
References
- Mark Webber PlanetF1.com Profile
- Mark Webber Wikipedia
- Mark Webber: Australian Eternal Hopeful Takes the (Red) Bull by the Horns
External Links
Categories: Formula One drivers | Red Bull drivers | Australian drivers | Australian Formula One drivers
