F1's Twilight Drivers: Mark Webber

In this occasional series, I will be looking at F1 drivers who appear to be approaching the end of their careers in the hot seats.

My first subject is Red Bull's very likable and cheerfuly outspoken Mark Webber, who is now partnered with the equally likable and highly-regarded Sebastian Vettel. Can it be an accident that the soft drinks firm's team is fronted by two of F1's obvious nice guys? I should hardly think so.

Lucky Webber

Webber came to an F1 seat in 2002 at the age of 25, which is relatively late for a modern driver; two drivers in the current field were world champions before that age. He drove one season for Minardi, the classic no-hope team, before moving across to the equally hapless Jaguar for 2003 and 2004.

After getting an early release from his contract with Jaguar, Webber moved to Williams for 2005 and 2006. He had a disappointing time there, and when his two-year contract was up Williams would only renew for another year at a reduced salary, an offer Webber declined.

Webber's then manager Flavio Briatore secured a contract for him at Red Bull for 2007 and 2008. It has been reported that Red Bull accepted Webber because Briatore would then arrange for them to be supplied with Renault engines, which had powered Fernando Alonso to world titles in 2005 and 2006.

Those first two years with Red Bull were not stellar ones for Webber.

Partnering David Coulthard in the twilight of his career, Webber was able to consistently out-qualify and outscore the more experienced driver. But the car was not perfect, and Renault power had fallen behind Mercedes and Ferrari, so the Aussie driver could not realise his dreams of glory. Red Bull did not give him wings.

Coulthard retired, and Red Bull extended Webber's contract for 2009, but now he was to partner the formidable young German driver Sebastian Vettel.

For any driver, having a rising young star as a teammate must be a situation of high anxiety and impossible expectations. If he beats the youngster, it is put down to experience, but if the youngster beats him he is written off as a has-been; there is simply no way the situation can be turned to his advantage.

Webber had the additional misfortune of a nasty cycling accident in which he broke a leg. He is in many ways the stereotypical Australian outdoors man, a very strong tennis player, and with a wide range of sports and fitness interests. So having a pin in his leg will be crueler for him than it would be for most people.

More than four months after the accident Webber still walks with a limp. Happily for him, the injured leg is not the left one he uses for braking, or he would probably now be retired from F1.

I keep reading and hearing that Webber is the unluckiest man in F1, and he has surely not been very fortunate in his career, but it seems to me he had three strokes of luck at the 2009 season opener in Melbourne.

Sebastian Vettel was the top qualifier of the two Red Bull drivers, third on the grid against Webber's eighth. If there is any reader who then expected Webber to finish that race level on points with his young rival, please raise your hand now.

I see no hands.

Webber's first stroke of luck came at the first corner, when his car was trashed in the carnage apparently caused by Rubens Barichello. That spared him the embarrassment of finishing in a poor position. The second piece of Webber luck occurred when Vettel and Kubica conspired to remove each other from the race, thus levelling points scores in the Red Bull team.

Good luck or bad usually comes in a run of three, and the stewards' decision to penalise Vettel ten places on the Malaysia grid at least gives the Aussie driver a good chance of starting the race ahead. 

The Future

When Webber's contract with Red Bull expires at the end of the 2009 season he will be 33-years-old. Still a young man, of course, but not young in F1 years.

If he has acquitted himself well against Seb Vettel, we may have the pleasure of hearing his Aussie drawl over the team radio in 2010. But I think that is unlikely, and that a new F1 driver will be taking his place.

It would be difficult to not like Mark Webber.

He is not part of the F1 champagne circuit, but lives quietly with his manager/girlfriend in England. The list of his charitable work is endless.He is just a good bloke, end of story.

Have a good season, Mark. I shall be so sorry if it is your last in F1.