Mark Webber: Formula 1 will miss him

Barring any major catastrophe, Mark Webber is just two races away from the end of his ten-year, 217-race Formula One career. To use the old cliché, it’s been something of a rollercoaster ride for the Australian, who, on the one hand, has been lucky to make it this far, and, on the other, extremely unlucky not to achieve more than nine race wins.

Born just outside Canberra, Webber faced a long slog to get into F1. After competing in Australia during the mid-1990s, he moved to London in 1996, along with his manager and now long-term partner Ann Neal, to compete in the British junior formulae. In 1998, he got his big break, joining Mercedes’ endurance racing programme for the FIA GT Championship and an ill-fated attempt at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

The following year, in preparation for a second attempt at the great French race, he was left as a passenger in two frightening accidents, where the streamlined car took off without warning and flipped several times in mid-air. He immediately left the German manufacturer and returned to single-seater racing.

His entry into Formula 3000, the leading feeder series for F1 at the time, was with the Arrows junior team and was largely funded by Australian businessman Paul Stoddart. He finished third, with one win at Silverstone, which secured him a step-up to leading team Super Nova, along with the role of official test driver for Benetton and the management of team boss Flavio Briatore.

After finishing second in F3000 with three wins, he was now ready to make the step up to F1 at the relatively late age of 26. However, the only seat available was with minnows Minardi, now owned by Stoddart. Nonetheless, on his debut at his home circuit in Melbourne, he finished an incredible fifth, after a first-lap shunt eliminated many of the leading contenders. An exception was made to normal protocol to allow Webber and Stoddart onto the podium to celebrate.

Further impressive performances saw Webber in demand for 2003, and he joined Jaguar as their lead driver. However, in his two years at the team, despite his obvious talent, the team was a mess, marred by political issues and unreliability. On one notable occasion, he qualified second at the 2004 Malaysian Grand Prix, demonstrating his pace over one lap, but by turn one he was virtually last after a terrible start. In Japan, he qualified third but ended the race in agony after overheating caused hot gases to leak into the cockpit, giving him serious burns.

Webber has been extremely unlucky not to achieve more than nine race wins

In 2005, it seemed he would finally get a competitive drive when he joined Williams, who had been race winners over the previous four seasons. However, he arrived at the exact moment the team entered a downward spiral; he picked up his first F1 podium at Monaco, but even that was overshadowed by team mate Nick Heidfeld finishing ahead after the German was given an advantageous strategy, leaving Webber upset.

What made his frustrations that year even worse was the knowledge that he had turned down the second seat at Renault alongside his great friend Fernando Alonso, who promptly waltzed to his first championship. Briatore later remarked that he believed Webber was faster in races than Alonso.

In 2006, things got worse. The Williams was initially quick but incredibly fragile. Webber retired from the lead at his home race, and from potential victory contention in Monaco. He chose to leave the team at the end of the season. Speculation again linked him with Renault, to replace McLaren-bound Alonso, but he surprised many by rejoining the former Jaguar team, which had now become Red Bull.

At the time it was considered to be a sideways move, and for the first two seasons, it appeared to be. The 2007 car was unreliable, but Webber still managed to drive to a second career podium in the rain at the Nurburgring.

But there was more frustration in a wet Japanese Grand Prix. Despite vomiting in his helmet due to illness, he found himself lying second behind Lewis Hamilton with a real shot at taking his first win, but under safety car conditions young Toro Rosso driver Sebastian Vettel inexplicably ploughed straight into back of Webber’s car, eliminating both. Webber was livid, telling ITV’s Louise Goodman “kids with not enough experience; they do a good job and then they f**k it all up“.

Webber was on top form in 2008, consistently in the points when the car reached the finish. Team mate David Coulthard could not handle the Aussie’s pace and ended up retiring at the end of the season. But there would be no more podiums, despite qualifying on the front row at Silverstone; a first lap spin in the rain, in which he was usually very reliable, put paid to his chances of a good result.

After over 120 races, with Red Bull making little progress, it almost seemed as if he was destined never to win an F1 race.

2009 was to be his toughest test yet, with Vettel replacing Coulthard. However, it was made even tougher when he was hit by an SUV during his charity cycling event five months before the start of the season, sustaining a severely broken leg and broken shoulder. Despite having a steel rod in his leg for much of the season, he compared well to Vettel, and the car was initially second only to the dominant Brawn.

In an age where many young drivers are largely anonymous billboards for bluechip corporations, Webber’s personality shone through: a tough, no-nonsense, outspoken proud Australian

By mid-season, the team had closed the gap, and finally at the Nurburgring, after a record 130 races, he took his first win. He followed it up with a second in Brazil, and he finished the season fourth in the standings, an impressive effort in the circumstances.

2010 would be his defining year. After wins in Spain, Monaco, Britain and Hungary, he led the world championship, making the most of a car that suited his driving style and his team mate’s misfortune. However, over the course of the season, the car began to edge in Vettel’s favour. The championship was still within Webber’s hands, but in a wet Korean Grand Prix, he crashed out. He is not alone amongst the current drivers in having made a major mistake in a key race, but this one will haunt him forever.

Vettel also retired from that race, which handed Alonso the championship lead. But Vettel then led Webber over the line in Brazil, despite calls for the team to ask Vettel to move over and let Webber win as he was still ahead in the championship. But in the last race, Webber was never settled, while Vettel won convincingly. Mistakes by Ferrari left Alonso way down the field and the German claimed the championship, with Webber ending the season third overall.

It would prove to be Webber’s only major opportunity to win the title. Vettel has gone from strength to strength, while Webber has become an increasingly marginalised figure at Red Bull. What began with the team’s ill-advised defence of Vettel after the pair collided in Turkey in 2010 seemingly ended with Vettel disobeying team orders to win in Malaysia this year and largely escaping punishment for it.

For Webber, that was the last straw. Weeks later, it was announced that he was quitting F1 to return to endurance racing, this time with Mercedes’ great rivals Porsche, who are making a big-budget attempt to win Le Mans for a record 17th time. Webber’s pace may perhaps have dimmed slightly in the years since his cycling accident and F1’s change in emphasis – it’s possible he wasted his best years in F1 in mediocre machinery – but in sports car racing, his speed and experience gives Porsche a valuable asset next year.

F1 will miss him, though. In an age where many young drivers are largely anonymous billboards for bluechip corporations, Webber’s personality shone through: a tough, no-nonsense, outspoken proud Australian in the tradition of the country’s other great F1 drivers, Jack Brabham and Alan Jones.

Popular with the fans and the paddock, he is always first to blame himself when he makes a mistake, and has been a vociferous campaigner for F1 safety, serving as a prominent member of the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association.

Like Rubens Barrichello, he was unfortunate to waste many years in poor cars and then meet an exceptional driver when at last given a race-winning car, but nine wins and 13 poles are respectable totals. He will be replaced by a different kind of Australian at Red Bull next year: the young, cool, understated Daniel Ricciardo. It will be interesting to see if he can fill the void that will be left by one of F1’s great personalities, and indeed drivers, of the last decade.