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Date of Birth: 27 August 1976
Birthplace: Queanbeyan, Australia
Marital status: Single
Height: 185cm
Weight: 75kg
Wins: 0
Points Score: 2
Number of GP: 16
Pole Positions: 0
Podiums: 0
First GP: 2002 (Melbourne)
Best Result: 5th
Current Team: Jaguar
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History:
1991 : |
Junior karting debut at national level |
1992 : |
Won NSW and ACT state karting championships |
1993 : |
Winer of the King of Karting (Clubman Light Class); Karting
Canberra Cup |
1994 : |
Australian Formula Ford Championship |
1995 : |
Formula Ford |
1996 : |
Winner of the Formula Formula Ford Festival |
1997 : |
British Formula 3 Championship |
1998 : |
Official works Mercedes junior driver |
1999 : |
Official works Mercedes driver |
2000 : |
Formula 3000 Championship (3rd) |
2001 : |
Formula 3000 Championship (2nd), Benetton test driver |
2002 : |
Formula 1 (Minardi), 16th with 2 points |
Career:
The announcement that Mark Webber will race for
the KL Minardi Asiatech team in this year's FIA World Formula One Championship
marks the culmination of six years hard work by the 25-year old from Queanbeyan,
New South Wales. Webber becomes the first Australian since David Brabham (in
1994) to race in Formula One and he will make his grand prix debut in front of
his home crowd at Melbourne's Albert Park circuit in the Foster's Australian
Formula One Grand Prix on March 1-3.
In fact, Webber is the first driver
in recent history to make his F1 debut in his home grand prix, and on a track he
won on in 1996 at the inaugural Melbourne Australian F1 Grand Prix when he
competed in a Formula Brabham (nee Holden) race.
Webber had just turned
18 when he left Australia at the end of 1995 after competing in karting and the
Australian Formula Ford championship. An impressive international debut, which
saw him finish third in the1995 Formula Ford Festival at Brands Hatch in
England, prompted the famous Van Diemen Formula Ford team (which had run Ayrton
Senna and Eddie Irvine in their formative years) to sign him for the 1996
British Championship. Webber finished runner-up in that series and scored a
crushing victory at the 1996 Formula Ford Festival - an annual event with an
impressive list of previous winners including grand prix stars, Johnny Herbert
and Eddie Irvine.
Following success in British Formula Ford, Webber
graduated to the British Formula 3 Championship in 1997 with a team run by
fellow Australian Alan Docking. He finished fourth in the series despite
struggling to find the necessary budget and was almost forced to quit mid-season
when his funding ran out. However, fellow Queanbeyanite and former Wallabies
rugby union legend, David Campese, came to the rescue and personally financed
Webber's next few races which continued to yield good results. Before long, his
strong performances in the British series and international F3 events had
attracted the attention of Mercedes boss, Norbert Haug, who invited Webber to
test for the Mercedes AMG sportscar team.
The test was a huge success and
Webber signed with the team to compete in the 1998 FIA GT Championship,
partnering former F1 driver Bernd Schneider. Under Mercedes' guidance, Webber
matured quickly and revelled in working with a major manufacturer in a racing
environment at the age of just 20.
The 1998 season was a memorable one,
with a huge test program and 10-round championship which took Webber to the
States, Japan and Europe. The Webber/Schneider combination took five wins but
were pipped to the title by team-mates, Klaus Ludwig and Ricardo Zonta. Webber
was promoted to his own car in 1999 but his love of sportscars came to a
premature end when he was involved in two spectacular, high-speed accidents at
the 1999 Le Mans 24 Hour Race. An apparent aerodynamic fault with the design of
the Mercedes caused the cars of Webber and team-mate Peter Dumbreck to
somersault, leaving Mercedes to withdraw its remaining car from the race and the
curtailment of its 1999 sportscar campaign.
Indeed, although sidelined
for the remainder of 1999 Webber was determined to get his single-seater career
back on track for the following season. He began working towards a drive in the
international Formula 3000 championship with Paul Stoddart's new European
Formula Racing team after being introduced to Paul by F1 team boss, Eddie
Jordan.
In 2000, Foster's joined Yellow Pages as a personal sponsor as
Webber contested the FIA International F3000 Championship. He took the EFR team
to new highs, with victory in round two of the series at Silverstone to take an
unexpected early lead in the championship. Ultimately, he ended the season third
overall in the drivers' championship behind two third term drivers, Bruno
Junqueira and Nicolas Minassian, and was the highest placed rookie.
His
results earned him the interest of the Benetton PlayLife Formula One team and in
September 2000 he completed a successful three day test for the tea0m at Estoril
(Portugal). This led to the team signing Webber on a long-term contract, and for
the 2001 season he was contracted by Benetton to race for Super Nova Racing in
Formula 3000, as well as being the official test and reserve driver for the
Benetton Renault F1 team.
In 2001, Webber scored wins at Imola, Monaco and Magny Cours and finished
runner-up in the F3000 series while, in between races, he tested extensively for
the Benetton Renault F1 team and contributed towards the team's end-of-season
performance boost. Webber completed the long haul to Formula One in 2002 when he
joined the Minardi team. In his debut race in front of home fans, Mark drove the
PS02 to fifth place and two points. The crowd went wild and it was a moment the
young Aussie will never forget.
Sadly, no further points were
forthcoming in 2002, however he put in a brilliant performance at the Monaco GP,
one that didn't go unnoticed, especially by team bosses at Jaguar Racing. They
soon signed Mark up for 2003 where he will partner Antonio Pizzonia.