In the first part of our in-depth interview, we asked Australia’s only Formula 1 driver how much he’s loving his first race-winning season, and how close his career came to a premature end last year.
Mark Webber hands over a small, clear plastic bag containing a pair of two-inch screws, by way of introduction.
“Came out of my leg, mate.”
Not so long ago, Mark was in hospital having the bones in his right lower leg unbolted from a metal rod that has been holding together his tibia and fibia since last year. Are they titanium?
“Yeah,” Mark grins with macabre enthusiasm. “Adrian loved that.”
Adrian, for those non-petrolheads among you, is Adrian Newey, chief technical officer of Red Bull Racing, the team that has shredded the Formula 1 form book this season to create what, at mid-season, looks to be the sport’s fastest car. He knows a bit about premium lightweight materials.
That Webber should immediately make light of a potentially career-ending injury is typical of a driver for whom the phrase ‘Aussie grit’ would have to have been coined if it hadn’t existed already. For, on the cusp of turning 33, and finally in a rocketship after an eight-season apprenticeship driving a lot of pretty earthbound machinery, no one could ever accuse Mark Webber of having had it easy. And that was before he broke his leg severely last November while competing in his annual off-season ‘Mark Webber Challenge’ endurance event in Tasmania after hitting a car’s bull bars at around 25mph (40kph).
It was a pretty bad injury, wasn’t it?
“I didn’t realise how long a road it would be to recovery. When I was first being told about six to eight weeks in hospital, I was like, ‘That doesn’t sound too bad…’ Then you get rid of your crutches… and you start to understand where you’re at. I think doctors are a bit like builders: they’re very good at telling you, ‘Just a little bit longer, next week, next week…’ In the end, they could see I was getting pretty impatient hearing that, so they had to come clean and say it was a six- to eight-month injury. The tibia and fibia were both totally snapped in half. But the team have been incredibly supportive, from Dietrich [Mateschitz, Red Bull founder] down. They trusted me to do all I could to get back to fitness, and that was before we knew how good the car would be.”
Did you ever think your career might be over?
“Well, at the scene, on the roadside in Tasmania where I had the collision with the 4x4, was the only time I really shat myself. I was in a huge amount of pain but still quite relaxed, and I was thinking, “Bloody hell, here we are – this is my event, in Tassie,” and it had been a really good day, so I was gutted for wasting all the hard work. But I didn’t have the courage to look at my leg. I could see from people’s reactions that they were not that comfortable with what they were seeing, and that was the only time I really got nervous. The main concern was getting a pulse to the foot otherwise, well… really bad things can happen. The paramedics got to me in about 15 minutes, and it was only when I knew that I wasn’t going to lose my leg that I started thinking about the injury and saying to myself, “This is really pretty bad.” My pelvis and my spine had taken a heavy knock, too, so at that moment I wasn’t thinking about car racing at all! After that, it was morphine and surgery, and when I came round I started thinking again about my career. So it was only for five minutes in the whole time that I thought it might be career-threatening. That’s not too bad.”
If you hadn’t been a Formula 1 driver, how would life have turned out?
“I would have been involved in dad’s garage business, back in Queanbeyan [in New South Wales]. It would have been something to do with the petrol station and cars, or motorbikes. Although I did do my apprenticeship as a plumber, so I suppose I might have been mending your pipes.”
So, no alternative pro sport appealed?
“No. I played a lot of other sports as a youngster – it’s what we used to do when school wasn’t getting in the way – and, through F1, I’ve met a lot of other top-level athletes who have helped me enjoy their sports now. But when I started karting, all my other sports went backwards and that became the focus.”
How does it feel to be an F1 winner?
“I’m hoping wins are like muscles. You get one, then you get a few more. This year has been very special.”
What have you got that took you to Formula 1, compared with rivals who might have made it but didn’t?
“Well, coming from Australia was a disadvantage in terms of location – it’s not the easiest place to come from and set up your career. But the advantage was that I had to make it work, so I ended up really submerging myself in racing. There’s nothing to fall back on when you’re 12,000 miles from home. Everyone has a level of desire and I think when you’ve come that far just to get started, the flame keeps burning. I was very lucky with Annie [Mark’s partner, Ann Neal], too. We were both incredibly driven and determined to make it all the way. We were just not prepared to give up. We used to piss people off so badly, chasing them for sponsorship or whatever, but when you don’t know where your next pound’s coming from, that’s what you do. I raced against some extremely talented guys coming through, and some of them made it to F1 but couldn’t stick it when they got there. I definitely seemed to flourish as I drove bigger and faster cars.”
Talking of talented guys, your team-mate, Sebastian Vettel, looks pretty tasty…
“Yep, he’s the most talented team-mate I’ve had, and I have to say I like a lot of things about him. For starters, he came through the Red Bull family and got to Formula 1 purely on his talent. He’s incredibly skilful for a youngster [Vettel is 21] and it’s funny sometimes when we’re talking over a glass of hot chocolate and I mention something that happened in, say, 1986, and he’ll roll his eyes! I’m hardly old myself. So, sure, he’s young and doing some great things for someone his age. [At the British Grand Prix, Vettel took his third win from 34 starts]. These types of story are good for F1. For me to be able to take it to him more often than not has been incredibly rewarding. So far, we have proved to be a very good team together and it’s working very, very well.”
Does it mess with your head when you see a young guy come in and start winning so soon?
“Well, it’s a bit like Lewis Hamilton winning the world championship in his second season. You’d love to have that situation straight away in your career because it gives you a totally different platform. You haven’t got to come home on a Sunday night after driving absolutely balls-out for 15th place. Every driver would love to be in a car as fast as ours [the RB5] so early on, and until you get into one, there are always a few little bits in your head saying, “If you had the opportunity, could you be completely consistent and drive the awesome times?” but then when you get into a top car, it’s easy to do fast times. Seb and I were cruising at Silverstone [where they finished one–two]. But at least I’ve got the chance now. It would be far more frustrating never to have had the opportunity.”
Comments
Add a comment