Mark Webber: The Greatest Australian F1 Driver in Thirty Years
The Australian Mark Webber is one of the best Formula 1 drivers in the world at the moment. After a thrilling victory at this weekend’s British Grand Prix, he is all set to take the F1 championship this year and if he is able to will become the first Australian driver to do so in thirty years. Having recently overcome problems with his team, Red Bull he is all set to win the rest of the races and come out on top this year.
Webber has had a phenomenal ride up the ranks since he started racing in Formula 1 in 2002. Before joining F1 he had no championships to his name and he had to prove himself every step of the way. The racer has always been underestimated in his career because he did not perform as well in his junior years as some of his team mates did before coming to the big league. What he did manage to do though was prove himself upon joining Red Bull; his counterpart in the team, Sebastian Vettel is regarded as one of the best drivers to emerge from Germany since Michael Schumacher, and Webber has been neck and neck with the German for a long time now. He has now managed to go above his team mate in the points tally with 128 points in the championships to Vettel’s 121 points. He managed this feat with an amazing win in the British Grand Prix.
It has not all been smooth sailing for the Australian this year though. In the European Grand Prix, he was involved in a horrific crash with Heikki Kovalainen. Webber’s car hit the back of Kovalainen’s Lotus going 190 mph and went flying through the air doing a few somersaults before landing upside down. He managed to walk away from the accident with only a few cuts and bruises but it could have been much worse. Both blamed each other for the crash and both of them had to retire from the race but in the end they should consider themselves lucky that nothing worse than a few cuts and bruises ensued in the end.
Webber has been having some issues with his team recently as well. Firstly when he and his teammate Vettel collided during the Turkish grand Prix, his team immediately favoured Vettel over Webber. This led to some concerns from the Australian who had to sit down with the management and clear the air. His management had to clear the air with him again when they controversially switched the front wing on his car and gave it to Vettel before the British GP. Webber managed to win the race despite not having the wing and made some sarcastic comments regarding the issue after the race to vent his frustration. He also said that he might not be continuing with Red Bull after 2011. The team fixed the problem with the driver and he later stated that the issue was now settled and that the only problem was that it might have been better had he been told of the switch earlier.
Webber and Vettel have a very competitive relationship for team mates. They are both out to beat each other and it looks like Webber has the upper hand at the moment but Vettel should not be counted out and he can come back very strongly at anytime. Red Bull applauds their rivalry and encourages it but sometimes they do so at the expense of one of the drivers. It seems as if Red Bull is raising two extremely talented and competitive children and they do not know who to favour. With nine races left in the 2010 season, it will be very interesting to see what happens inside the Red Bull camp and which way the support eventually falls.
Webber is a fantastic driver and he looks all set to give the championship leader; Lewis Hamilton a tough time with his current points onslaught. With many races to clinch the top spot still left in the season, Webber will be gunning all out to claim the lead for 2010 and become the first Australian driver to do so in thirty years. It will be a great day for Australian sports if he manages to do so. The rest of the season is going to be extremely interesting and we are all in for a thrilling set of races to come.
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