The 12 Best Moments In Mark Webber’s Amazing Career

1. World champion

Mark Webber may have almost won the Formula 1 title and won nine races, but undoubtedly his greatest achievement is winning the 2015 FIA World Endurance Championship title alongside Timo Bernhard and Brendon Hartley after they finished second at Le Mans and won the final four rounds of the season.

2. On the top step

It took Webber a little while but he finally claimed his first F1 win at the 2009 German Grand Prix. He secured victory in quite some style too, storming to pole position and bouncing back from a drive-through penalty with true grit and determination to finish first.

3. Monaco master

Webber has two wins at the Monaco Grand Prix but while 2010 was undoubtedly a masterclass in driving at the street track, he had to fight off tougher competition to claim victory in 2012. He started from pole position and put in a stunning defensive drive, with intense pressure from those behind and a late sprinkling of rain, to win.

Before making it to F1, Webber raced in sportscars with Mercedes and competed in 1998 and 1999. In the latter he drove the famous CLR prototype. But he never raced it, due to two scary flips qualifying and warm-up at Indianapolis and Mulsanne respectively. The terrifying incidents caused his car to be withdrawn but one of the others flew into the trees a few hours into the actual race.

5. A strong debut

For Webber, his F1 debut couldn’t have gone much better. First of all, it was in front of his home crowd, with the season opener taking place in Melbourne. Secondly, he scored two points for backmarkers Minardi after a feisty (and lucky) drive to fifth in an eventful race, which included Ralf Schumacher’s airborne Williams causing chaos on lap one.

Probably not his fondest memory from his F1 days, but Webber’s scary flip after contact with Heikki Kovalainen during the 2010 European Grand Prix at Valencia is undoubtedly one of his most memorable.

This is quite possibly Webber’s greatest ever F1 overtake. Few drivers can go side-by-side with another into Eau Rouge, but Webber did just that in this awesome pass on Fernando Alonso.

Webber probably won’t want to remember this moment either. The 2007 Japanese GP saw him in the chance of a podium, thanks to him staying out on track despite being ill with food poisoning. It got so bad that he was actually sick while driving but he persevered to move up the order, only to be taken out by certain a rookie called Sebastian Vettel…

9. Le Mans success

He has never won at Le Mans but Webber came incredibly close in 2015, finishing in second place (one lap down on the victorious No.19 car) after a few late problems dropped his car out of contention.

One less than ideal element of being an F1 driver is the media commitments, but Webber certainly seemed to enjoy taking on Top Gear’s Reasonably Priced Car. The whole segment was hilarious and proved just why Webber has become one of the most likeable drivers in motorsport.

Another part of racing in F1 is sponsorship. Sometimes, the adverts turn out OK. Other times, they’re pretty funny. Webber’s Canberra Milk ad probably falls in the middle of that spectrum, because it’s funny yet strangely captivating.

12. F1 send-off

One of my favourite moments from his F1 career was actually the moment after his final race. He finished second at the 2013 Brazilian Grand Prix, a great drive and performance. Afterwards he wanted to show the fans something different and who’s under the race helmet, so he removed it for the slow-down lap and took the atmosphere in. It was a pretty special way to bow out.

Thanks for all the good times, Mark! What’s your favourite ever racing moment from Webber’s career?