A Look Back At The Career of Mark Webber

On March 3^rd 2002, Mark Webber drove his Minardi PS02 to an incredible 5^th place on his formula 1 debut at his home race in Australia. This was the start of Webber’s highly charged and eventful career which will, in my view, sadly come to an end in Brazil on November 24^th 2013. This is my small tribute to a man I have thoroughly enjoyed watching over the last 11 years and one I will greatly miss watching and listening to in 2014.

Mark was initially signed on a three race contract by Paul Stoddart’s Minardi team. After his stunning debut performance, the contract was extended until the end of the season. He was able to stick his Minardi 18^th on the grid. It was a Minardi performance that fans had been used to seeing since the teams formation in 1985; over 4 seconds off the pole position time. Webber managed to avoid the 9 car pileup at the beginning of the race and put in a stunning performance. He battled with a broken differential to keep the more experienced, and faster, Mika Salo behind him to take Minardi’s first points since the European Grand Prix in 1999. I remember getting up in the middle of the night to watch this race and thinking ‘Wow! I wonder what he can do in a better car?’ Throughout the rest of the season he was never out-qualified by team mates Alex Yoong and Anthony Davidson and always put in a strong performance. He wouldn’t score any more points, with his next best finish coming in France where he finished 8^th. His strong debut season rightly gave him the title of rookie of the year from F1 Racing magazine.

Webber’s fine season earned him a Jaguar drive in 2003, but it didn’t start in the same way as 2002. Mark qualified in 14^th and retired from the race with a suspension failure. The second round in Malaysia proved just as frustrating, retiring from 8^th place with an oil issue. Webber’s qualifying skill was first seen in Brazil where he took a career best at the time of 3^rd place, which was also Jaguar’s best qualifying position since entering Formula 1. Although the Jaguar was not the most competitive car, Webber’s skill and determination to get the best from it really showed. He managed to qualify an impressive 5^th place in San Marino and suffered his 4^th retirement from 4 races. One thing I admire about Mark is that setbacks don’t faze him; they only make him more determined. 4 non finishes were followed up with 6 points finishes in the next 7 races. I remember his race in Austria when he started from the pit lane and managed to bring his car home in 7^th with the third fastest lap of the race, only beaten by the two Ferrari’s. On top of his pit lane start, he also incurred a drive through penalty. He comprehensively outperformed team mate Antonio Pizzonia, who was replaced by Justin Wilson. Webber was able to outperformed Wilson as well and led the US GP before he spun out. By the end of the season, Webber had still never been out-qualified by a team mate, and his strong season was again noticed as he received the 2003 driver of the year award from Autocar magazine.    

2004 would prove to be a disappointing season for Mark as he only managed seven points throughout the whole season. He started very positively, qualifying in 6^th place in Australia before retiring. His brilliant qualifying form continued into the next race in Malaysia where he got his best qualifying result to date, managing to split the dominant Ferrari’s and take second. Again, he failed to finish the race after spinning out on lap 23. At the first Bahrain grand prix and after 35 races, Webber was finally out qualified by a team mate, but managed to score his first points of the season. More retirements followed and by the time the British Grand Prix came round Webber had only scored 4 points compared to the 12 he scored by this time in 2003. To make matters worse, reports began to emerge that claimed Jaguar would not be competing in Formula 1 in 2005 and it was announced that Webber would drive for Williams in 2005. He would score his best finish of the season in Germany coming 6^th; and that would be his final points for the team, as his season fizzled out with three more top 10 finishes and three more retirements. 
 
I thought that 2005 would bring something different for Mark and I’m sure he did as well. Although Williams were seemingly on the slide, you could never rule them out simply because of their history and the brilliant figure heads at the team. The team managed to win the final race of the season in 2004 and Mark admitted it was the team he had his heart set on joining. I mentioned earlier how I admire Mark for his determination but I also admire his straight talking nature as well. When Jenson Button’s contract with Williams for 2005 was overturned, Webber’s former team mate, Antonio Pizzonia was in the frame to be his team mate. Pizzonia made claims of favouritism at Jaguar towards Webber to which Webber replied by calling Pizzonia a liar and a loser. Many people believed that this could be his year to win a race, including myself. 

His qualifying form was incredible, scoring 7 top five grid slots from the first seven races. He qualified 3^rd in Australia but fell back to 5^th place. Malaysia looked very promising. From 4^th place on the grid he overtook Giancarlo Fisichella who ran Webber off the road after locking his brakes. Although his qualifying performances were excellent, there was something missing in the races from the car. It was almost as though he had a different car during the race from what he did in qualifying. This was different in Monaco however when Mark scored his first F1 podium after qualifying 3^rd and driving a superb race to keep his position. Mark didn’t look as elated as he should have been with 3^rd as his team mate Nick Heidfeld finished second after Williams decided to pit the German before Mark. We know this wouldn’t be the last time in his career that a team decision would spoil his race! Webber endured a series of poor results, only scoring two points in seven races from the US GP. He scored two more 4^th place finishes at the back end of the season but it again fizzled out. A great quote from Webber really summed up his 2005 season. Webber said “If you have a tough weekend you have got nowhere to hide. If you have a fantastic weekend you get rewarded, everyone thinks you are a legend. There is no grey area in this sport. It’s a fine line between the Whitehouse and the Shithouse, that’s the way it is, always has been, always will be”. The straight talking Aussie in a, let’s say, philosophical mood.

2006 saw Nico Rosberg enter F1 as Mark’s team mate in a very lean year for Williams and Mark. Out of the eighteen races, Mark was only able to finish seven, retiring from the other eleven. Things started out okay with a points finish in Bahrain; however two retirements followed in Malaysia and Australia before he scored 3 more points in San Marino. A possible highlight for Mark was his second place grid slot in Monaco. He retired from the race after his exhaust blew and I remember seeing the raw emotion when he threw the steering wheel from the car. Five retirements from six races after Monaco saw Mark not score another championship point until China. Williams decided not to retain Mark for 2007 but, at his new team, he would come into his own.

2007 would see Mark join his last team in F1, Red Bull Racing. His first season would be a mix of strong, promising performances with a mix of reliability problems. He didn’t score his first points until the US GP in June. He was able to score his second F1 podium at the European GP finishing third after starting 6^th. Despite an average season, Mark came very close to winning a race. It was the rain soaked Japanese GP where Mark was running second and lapping faster than race leader Lewis Hamilton, having made all of his pit stops. Then, a young man he would soon be very familiar with, Sebastian Vettel, ran straight into the back of him after Hamilton suddenly reduced his speed in shocking visibility behind the safety car. Mark didn’t mix his words over the incident. When asked about the incident he said “Well it’s kids being kids isn’t it? Kids with not enough experience doing a good job then they fuck it up”. He went on to describe Hamilton's driving as “shit”.

2008 saw Mark return to good form with a promising Red Bull at his disposal. Despite retiring from the opening race in Australia, Mark went on a brilliant points scoring run, scoring in each of the next 5 rounds. Another excellent qualifying performance saw Mark line up second at the British GP and announcing that he was staying at Red Bull for 2009. The second half of the season was quiet but solid for Mark, picking up a further 3 points, taking his total to 21 for the season.   

2009 saw Mark’s most successful season to date. A radical shake up of the regulation meant the usual front runners of F1 would be different. Red Bull was right up there at the front. After looking at the testing that winter, I hoped and prayed that this was going to be Mark’s season to at least get a win and maybe challenge for the title. The season started with another retirement in Australia before his highest F1 finish of 2^nd in China behind team mate Sebastian Vettel. Three podiums in the next five races showed that Mark could potentially challenge the Brawn of Jenson Button for the title. Then the weekend came that saw him take his first pole position and win of his career at the Nurburgring. He was the first Australian since Alan Jones to take a pole position in Formula 1 and he totally dominated the weekend. He headed a Red Bull one-two despite receiving a drive through penalty early in the race. What made the result more emotional was the way in which Mark recovered from a broken leg in pre season to get himself fit again for the season. After the win, another podium in Hungary then five pointless finishes ruled him out of title contention. Another brilliant win came in Brazil and second place in Abu Dhabi finished off a brilliant season. It would be Jenson Button at Brawn who would be crowned champion in 2009. When comparing himself to Jenson, Mark said “Unfortunately, when I got myself a good car, I had Sebastian as a teammate. Jenson didn’t have that at Brawn; he had Rubens”.

2010 should have saw Mark crowned World Champion, but it wasn’t to be. Four wins including Monaco and Britain plus other strong podium finishes in the first half of the season saw Webber top of the drivers’ standings going into the summer break. 2010 also saw the beginning of the end of his relationship with Vettel. In Turkey, Webber and Vettel were fighting down to the final few corners on lap 40. Vettel tried to put a move of Webber for the lead but the two collided, sending Vettel into retirement and Mark finishing in third, when a win was there for him. The relationship was further strained at the British GP when Webber had the car’s newly designed front wing taken from him and given to Vettel, leaving Mark with the old one. Mark went on to win the race however and claimed “Not bad for a number two driver eh?” If Webber had won in Turkey and Korea, where he retired after spinning out, he would have been crowned 2010 champion. Unfortunately for Mark, this would be the closest he would get to the title.

2011 was a year dominated by Webbers teammate, Sebastian Vettel and nobody could come close to the German. Mark was consistently out-qualified and out-raced by Vettel, but let’s be honest, who wasn’t in 2011? In the dominant Red Bull he did secure three pole positions and 10 podiums, including a win at the final round in Brazil. However mechanical glitches, especially the KERS system which failed on Mark’s car at several rounds and a few slow getaways at the start of races proved to be Mark’s downfall.
 
The first half of 2012 saw Mark start strong with four 4^th places and another win in Monaco from pole position. He won again in Britain and signed another one year extension with Red Bull. In the second half of the season Mark slipped away from the title fight again. He scored only two podiums after his win in Silverstone at two tracks where the Red Bull’s were untouchable (Korea and India).

2013 will be Mark’s last in F1, as we are in the summer break, it has been an unspectacular season so far. No wins and no pole positions see Mark down in 5^th in the current standings. He put in a great performance in Britain to finish 2^nd and came from 10^th in Hungary to finish 4^th. The major talking point from his season so far has been the Malaysian GP where I think he made up his mind up about quitting. After playing second fiddle to Vettel all the way through their partnership, it was Vettel’s turn to stay behind Mark. Vettel ignored team orders and took the win from Mark. Again Mark didn’t mix his words saying “The team made a decision to get the car to the end. But Seb made his own decisions and will have protection. That’s the way it goes”. After hearing that interview I had a feeling enough was enough for Mark. He had put all his heart and determination into that team only for them to favour the young star driver. Red Bull boss Dr .Helmut Marko even came out and called Mark a number two driver which I personally thought was a terrible piece of management.

Nevertheless, I believe Mark will be thoroughly missed in the paddock as much as I will miss watching him race and listening to his straight talking mouth. He deserved so much better at Red Bull and should have won at least one world title. It has been an honour and a privilege to watch him race and I wish him all the luck driving for Porsche in 2014.