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| Birth Name(s) : Mark Webber |
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Full Mark Webber Biography
Mark Alan Webber, (born August 27, 1976) is an Australian Formula One driver. He was born in Queanbeyan, New South Wales, son of Alan, the local motorcycle dealer. He is the first Australian to race in Formula One since David Brabham in 1994.
Continuing with Jaguar in 2004, Webber qualified sixth fastest for the first race of the season, the Australian Grand Prix, but faced his second consecutive retirement from his home race, this time due to a gearbox failure. The following race, the Malaysian Grand Prix, Webber produced the best qualifying performance of his career, splitting the dominant Ferraris to line up 2nd on the grid. The race was disappointing though, a stall at the start meaning he was well outside the top 10 by the time the cars reached turn 1. An aggressive lap saw him move up to ninth place, but during an exciting battle with Ralf Schumacher, the German collided with him and forced Webber to pit with damage to his front wing and tyre. In his desperation to make up for the lost time, Webber exceeded the pitlane speed limit and was handed a drive-through penalty, which left him even further behind. More frustration eventually led to the end of his race, as he spun into the gravel trap on the outside of the final corner on lap 23. The situation improved for the following race in Bahrain though, as Webber picked up his first point for the season despite a small mistake in qualifying which left him in 14th and marked the first time he had been outqualified by his teammate in F1. He was unable to continue his pointscoring form, however, as intermittent electrical problems in San Marino and a lack of grip in Spain meant that he could do no better than 13th and 12th in those races.
Webber was granted an early release from his Jaguar contract to be allowed to test with his new team Williams over the winter. Williams had announced earlier that Jenson Button would drive for the team in 2005 alongside Webber, but after claims the Brit was still contracted to BAR, his contract with Williams was overturned. With his new teammate undecided, and apparently going down to a "shootout" between Nick Heidfeld and Pizzonia, Webber hit back at Pizzonia's claims of unfair treatment during 2003, claiming the Brazilian was lying and saying he was a "loser" for believing that there was favouritism towards Webber, comments which led to a reprimand from his new team.
Heidfeld was finally announced as Webber's 2005 teammate at the Williams season launch on January 31, with Webber admitting he was pleased with the eventual decision. Webber's move to Williams brought about comparisons to Alan Jones, Australia's last F1 World Champion (also in a Williams) and expectations were high as Webber's former team boss Paul Stoddart predicted Webber would take his first victory in 2005, while Williams technical director Sam Michael said Webber would eventually win the World Championship with Williams. In his first race for the team, the 2005 Australian Grand Prix, Webber took 3rd on the grid but was beaten to the first corner by David Coulthard and eventually finished fifth – still unable to improve on his best F1 finish. His best chance to do so though came in the following race in Malaysia. After qualifying fourth, Webber was running behind the Renault of Giancarlo Fisichella, who was struggling due to a lack of downforce and tyre grip. As Webber closed in and attempted a pass around the outside of turn 15, Fisichella locked up his brakes and slid into the side of Webber's car, eliminating both drivers from the race. Fisichella was later reprimanded by race stewards because of the incident, but as Heidfeld took third in place of Webber, the weekend came to epitomise Webber's growing reputation as a fast qualifier who did not perform well under pressure in race situations. It was later revealed that Webber had competed in the first two races carrying a fractured rib, an injury he had sustained during pre-season testing at Barcelona, though he "didn't want to make a fuss" about it and would be fully fit in time for the Bahrain Grand Prix.Webber at the 2005 Canadian Grand Prix.
After some speculation of Webber joining the Renault team, which is run by his manager Flavio Briatore, it was announced on August 7, 2006, that Webber would join Red Bull Racing for 2007 to partner David Coulthard, replacing former Jaguar Racing team mate Christian Klien. It is rumored that Flavio Briatore arranged an agreement with Red Bull that they will offer Webber a racing seat if Renault supplied the engines. On January 26, 2007 the new Red Bull RB3 challenger was unveiled in Spain, a car that has Mark Webber's hopes pinned upon it. Mark drove the car in a shakedown successfully at the Barcelona circuit on the same day. The car features heavy revisions to the team's previous cars, and looks very much like Adrian Newey's (RB3 designer) previous cars which have either won or come close to the World Title. The car is fitted with a Renault RS27 engine.
In the Malaysian Grand Prix, he again out qualified experienced team mate David Coulthard, and finished tenth, encouraging for such a new and radical car for the team. Bahrain was also going well for both drivers, running sixth and seventh, until both cars retired due to mechanical malfunctions. Webber again was hampered by the aforementioned jammed fuel flap, radically affecting the aerodynamic drag, which is a vital set-up point for the Sakhir circuit. |
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