Mark Webber's first experience in racing was on motor bikes, but by 14 years old he had moved to Karting. In 1993 he won the New South Wales State championship. Two years driving in the Australian Formula Ford Championship followed finishing him 14th in his debut season and then fourth in 1995.

Moving to Europe to race in Formula Ford, Webber finished second in the 1996 season.

Webber raced in Formula 3 in 1997 and finished fourth, he had struggled financially and was helped with personal expenses by the Australian Rugby superstar, David Campese. In 1998 Webber raced in the GT Championship and finished second in the series. 

In 2000 and 2001 he raced in the F3000 Championship, finishing third overall in 2000 and second in 2001, the results were good enough to gain a drive for Minardi for the F1 2002 season.

In his first F1 race in the 2002 Australian GP 8 cars were forced to retire following a crash, and Webber who had started in 18th was able to capitalise and finished in fifth. Regrettably, in the rest of the 2002 season Minardi was too slow to enable Webber to score any further points.

Webber moved to the Jaguar team for the 2003 season. Things started badly; retirement in Australia, retirement in Malaysia, crash in Brazil resulting in a red flag, he was placed 9th, retirement in San Marino.

The Spanish GP resulted in the first points of the season and in five of the next six races he was to score points. A mixed set of results followed but throughout the season he was never bested by his teammate and finished the 2003 season in 10th place.

Webber stayed with Jaguar for the 2004 season, but as in 2003 things started poorly with retirement in Australia. Things looked to be going very well in Malaysia with a second place on the grid, but a near stall left him trailing, a clash forced him into the pits, where in eagerness or frustration he exceeded the speed limit and a drive through penalty resulted. He then spun out on lap 23. Two races two retirements. A point was scored in Bahrain, but more non scoring results followed in San Marino and Spain and then another retirement in Monaco. A seventh in the European GP was once again followed by two retirements in Canada and the USA and a non point scoring finish in France. A point in British GP and a sixth place finish in Germany were to be the last time Webber scored any points for Jaguar, with poor results and retirement the pattern for the remainder of the season. He finished in thirtieth place in the championship and moved to Williams for the 2005 season.

Expectations of success were high; Williams had a great pedigree of producing champions, including Alan Jones, Australia's last F1 world champion and many thought that Webber had the ability to win despite his lack of good results. The season was a disappointment, the best result a third in Monaco behind teammate Nick Heidfeld, and remarkably it was Webber's first podium finish in his F1 career. He finished the season in 10th place in the championship, one position in front of Heidfeld, but Heidfeld had missed the last five races of the season due to injury. Webber acknowledged that the results in the season had somewhat diminished his reputation.
 
Webber stayed at Williams for the 2006 season, by its close, he probably wished he hadn't. A sixth at the season opener in Bahrain was a solid start, but new team mate Nico Rosberg set the fastest lap eclipsing Webber's efforts. Retirements due to mechanical failure followed in Malaysia and Australia, a small respite in San Marino with a sixth place finish. Another reliability issue in the European GP and retirement, a struggling ninth at the Spanish GP followed.

The Monaco GP summed up Webber's season; he was on the front row of the grid following promotion due to a Michael Schumacher's penalty. He held third for much of the race and then retired due to reliability issues with the car, - the exhaust had burned a wiring loom. 

Webber crashed at the British GP, and suffered a puncture in the French GP that ended his race. A mechanical failure in the German GP forced another retirement and a driving error in Hungary resulted in the same fate. Webber managed to finish the Turkish GP, but in a disappointing tenth after running fourth. The Italian GP was the reverse race pattern of the previous race but with the same result, qualifying in a poor 19th and finishing in 10th.  An eighth in China at least resulted in scoring a point, but crashes in Japan, and at the last race of the season in Brazil, was a terrible close to a poor season. Webber scored only 7 points and finished in 14th place. Any thoughts of Webber as a potential world champion had died. Williams, who had an option with Webber for the 2007 season declined to exercise such, promoting the test driver to the race seat.

Webber joined Red Bull Racing to partner David Coulthard for the 2007 season.  It is rumoured that Flavoi Briatore, Mark Webber's manager and team principle of Renault F1, arranged an agreement with Red Bull that if they offered Webber a race seat, Renault would supply them with engines.

The season was 'Webber like', a number of retirements, a number of mid placed finishes and an encouraging result that reminded the grid that he really could drive. He retired through mechanical failure or accidents in seven races. He had three ninth place finishes, a couple of sevenths and tenths and a thirteenth. In the European GP Webber finished 3rd, amazingly just his second podium.  Webber now had a reputation as the 'unluckiest man in modern F1', the Japanese GP illustrated the moniker; towards the end of the race, Webber was running 2nd behind Lewis Hamilton, with no further pit stops to make, when Sebastian Vettel, (Toro Rosso), ran into the back of him when Hamilton suddenly reduced his speed in poor visibility and heavy rain under a safety car, taking both cars out of the race. He had been lapping faster than Hamilton.  Webber finished the 2007 season in 12th place, two behind his teammate Coulthard.

Webber's 2008 season started as so often in the past with a retirement in the Australian GP. However, the season took a decided upturn in scoring points in the next five races including a fourth in Monaco. The British GP resulted in a disappointing result, having qualified in 2nd he finished in eighth.  His racing jinx returned in the Singapore GP, when he was running in 2nd a gear box issue put him out of the race on lap 29.  A very gritty performance in Japan resulted in an 8th, despite running in fourth prior to tyre issues. Mechanical issues in China badly affected qualifying and a poor two stop strategy resulted in a 14th place finish, Brazil was a little better ending the season with a 9th position and 11th in the Drivers' championship.

In 2009 Webber was joined by the very fast Sebastian Vettel, in spite of Webber's seniority with the team Vettel was viewed by most as the number one driver in the team, and so it proved on the track as the incredible 2009 season unfolded. Webber had sustained a very nasty leg break in the off-season and returned to testing in 2009 with steel rods in his leg. 

A crash in Australia after qualifying well resulted in a 12th place and an eighth in Malaysia did not seem to be a great omen for the season. However, in China the Red Bull's were fantastic. Webber starting in third position, the race was run for the first 25 minutes behind the safety car because of heavy rain, Webber, who had gained a position with Alonso pitting, held strong in second position until his first pit stop. Re-emerging in sixth position, he fought his way up the order, eventually having a tight-battle with Button, (Brawn). He eventually overcame the pressure from Button and continued to pull away from him. Emerging after his second and final pit stop, he found himself in third position: Button ahead and Barrichello behind. Pulling away from Rubens, he eventually gained the advantage over Button during the Brit's pit stop. Gaining 9 seconds on his teammate in the last 15 laps, he brought his car home in 2nd position, 12 seconds behind Vettel. This event marked Webber's career-best finish and was also the first win (and 1-2 finish) for the Red Bull team.

Webber finished third in Spain, Vettal was fourth. A fifth in Monaco and two second place finishes in Turkey at the British GP put Webber in contention for the championship, but he still had not won a Grand Prix. That was to change at the Nürburgring; he claimed pole position and despite a drive through penalty won the race with Vettel in second place. Webber moved up to third in the Drivers' championship, and a third place finish in Hungary moved him into second in the championship. However, this is Webber and things this good could not last; two 9th place finishes, two retirements and an unlucky 17th in Japan dropped him to 4th in the championship with two races left. A win (his second) in Brazil secured his fourth place in the championship and the Red Bull's 1-2 finish in Abu Dhabi was a great end to the season.

Vettel's 2nd place in the Championship must have taken the gloss off for Webber, but his two wins and 8 podiums was a fabulous result for the man who was so often in the past nearly breaking into the group of top drivers.

Many will view the 2010 season as the most exciting on record; five drivers won races (Webber, Vettel, Alonso, Button and Hamilton) and each had a good chance of winning the title. Red Bull had produced a very quick car, and Webber was fortunate that his car was somewhat more reliable than his teammate's, unfortunately for Webber; his teammate was the highly talented and cool-headed Sebastian Vettel.

Webber had his best season, winning four races; Spain, Monaco, Britain and Hungary and had a further six podium finishes. He was leading the championship after the Turkish GP and many in the press were reporting enthusiastically about his chances of becoming the first Australian champion since Alan Jones in 1981. Pressure and expectation can have a debilitating  effect on some, and so it seemed to do on Webber as he seemed to be making silly mistakes or not fully exploiting opportunities. An example of such was at the Korean GP he made a small error in the wet that resulted in a big crash and no points. At the last race of the season in Abu Dhabi, he had to win the race to stand any chance of claiming the title, and yet he was well off the pace.

The record books will show that Webber finished in third place in the championship, but will also show that his younger teammate became World champion, it will further show that the younger driver out-qualified Webber ten to five. Vettel only won one more race than Webber, but he demonstrated, as he did in 2009, that he is the stronger driver in the team.  Red Bull will have every reason to favour Vettel in 2011, and the Australian will have a long time to regret his mistakes in 2010.

Webber was also involved in the most spectacular crash of the season. At the European GP he misjudged the speed and movement of Heikki Kovalainen while approaching turn 12 on the ninth lap, he hit the back of the Lotus and his car flipped up into the air, eventually crashing into the tyre barrier. Fortunately, neither driver was hurt in the incident that will be replayed for years to come.

2011 will likely be Webber's last driving for a top team, his experience will doubtless be valuable to one of the new teams, but the top teams will wish to develop potential championship winning drivers.  


F1 record

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