www.porscheroadandrace.com Interview with Mark Webber Published: 5th January 2018 By: Glen Smale Online version: https://www.porscheroadandrace.com/interview-with-mark-webber/ www.porscheroadandrace.com Mark Webber being interviewed at the Geneva Motor Show 2014, on the occasion of the world debut of the Porsche 919 Hybrid www.porscheroadandrace.com Porsche’s return to the top category of the World Endurance Championship (WEC) was announced by Wolfgang Hatz, Porsche AG Board of Management Member for Research and Development, on Saturday 8 December 2012, on the occasion of the end of season ‘Night of Champions’ celebration. The first rollout of the new LMP1 car was planned for mid-2013 and on 27 June that year it was confirmed that the Aussie driver, Mark Webber, would be contracted to drive the new prototype. The #20 Porsche 919 Hybrid on the starting grid of the Silverstone 6 Hour 2014, the car’s first race Webber’s move to Porsche had been speculated about in the press for quite some time, but at the time, Fritz Enzinger, Head of LMP1, commented, “I learned to appreciate Mark’s qualities when we were both involved in Formula One. He is one of the best pilots I could imagine for our team. I’m absolutely delighted that we have such an experienced and fast www.porscheroadandrace.com regular driver on board from 2014.” There can be little doubt that Webber’s vast experience helped Porsche to prepare and fine-tune the performance and handling of the new 919 Hybrid. Introduction Every so often, through the mist of unsmiling, emotionless and sometimes characterless faces of some Formula One drivers who meander through their careers with apparent boredom, comes a driver who changes all of that. Mark Webber, was one such driver who showed an optimism that was unfamiliar in other quarters of the Formula One paddock. www.porscheroadandrace.com Mark Webber being interviewed during the media’s ‘Meet the Team’ event prior to the Silverstone 6 Hours in 2014 www.porscheroadandrace.com Born on 27 August 1976 in Queanbeyan, New South Wales, the slender (now) 41-year old Webber racked up nine wins and 42 podiums during his more than 200 Formula One race career. Before his Formula One days though, Webber worked his way up the hard way through the ranks of Formula Ford, Formula 3, Formula 3000 and as a Formula One test driver. In 1999, he drove for the Mercedes-Benz sports car team in which he endured not one but two horrific airborne incidents at Le Mans. The #20 Porsche 919 Hybrid on the starting grid of the Silverstone 6 Hour 2014, the car’s first race – drivers: Mark Webber/Timo Bernhard/Brendon Hartley These crashes, though, didn’t detract from Webber’s love of racing and at the turn of the millennium he embarked on a Formula One career that would thrust him firmly into the public eye as a lovable celebrity and a world-class racing driver. His career in Formula One ran until the end of 2013. www.porscheroadandrace.com It was an early start for the whole Porsche Team at the Silverstone 6 Hours 2014 Interview In May 2014, I was lucky enough to conduct an interview with Mark Webber ahead of his first race in the Silverstone 6 Hours behind the wheel of the #20 Porsche 919 Hybrid… Growing up in Australia, what triggered your passion for motorsport and who were your racing heroes? It was actually motorbikes originally, as my Dad had a motorbike shop. I started on motorbikes really, and that was my first access to engines and noise. My heroes in the early days were therefore motorbike guys like Mick Doohan. www.porscheroadandrace.com Mark Webber being interviewed during the media’s ‘Meet the Team’ event prior to the Silverstone 6 Hours in 2014 www.porscheroadandrace.com How did the move to the UK come about, and what were the main differences between your Formula Ford experiences in Australia and Britain? The UK move, at the end of 1995, really came about because if you wanted to be a top-flight racing driver, then you needed to leave Australia and come to the UK. My partner was instrumental in helping to give me the confidence to give it a go. It’s all well and good landing at Heathrow, but it’s what you do when you step out of the door, where you go and what you do, because it’s a big racing community over here, and quite overwhelming for a young guy from a country town in Australia. The racing styles were very different and in Australia the level of competition was just not there. We had three or four quick guys at the front, but when you come to Europe, there might be fifteen fast guys, so the depth was that much greater. The racing was more aggressive too, and there was more money over here, so people were happy to crash more, whereas in Australia you can’t crash because they just don’t have the money for repairs. So yes, it was a very sharp wake-up call for me. www.porscheroadandrace.com Mark Webber in discussion with Wolfgang Hatz (back to camera) and Fritz Enzinger at the Silverstone 6 Hours 2014 In Formula One, at what point did you realise you’d like a new challenge? Was the ambition always to get into closed-top racing? Probably in the last few years I realised that Formula One was coming to an end for me. You have got to be a realist and know that nothing lasts forever, and age 37 or 38 is certainly in the window in which to have a look at moving on. Obviously, your age is only a number, but I felt that it was time to look for a change, but then [I had to consider] what I would do…would I stop racing or continue to compete? Porsche were in contact with me and the whole thing just came together. I said, “You know what, why not, it’s a new programme and it would be exciting to grow with them and they have got a great history as well,” and so that was enough of a tonic for me to continue my racing. www.porscheroadandrace.com Mark Webber at the Silverstone 6 Hours 2014, the first race for the Porsche 919 Hybrid Can you outline how your relationship with Porsche Motorsport developed? To be honest, it started with me being a Porsche customer. Then I met board member Wolfgang Hatz a few years ago at Zeltweg in Austria, I was out there doing some Red Bull work [in 2011] and he just gave me a little wink about a future programme and so we stayed in touch. Since then I have met many people who have been involved in the [Porsche] family for so long from a racing and technical perspective at Weissach. I mean Matthias Mueller is such a racing enthusiast, and also just such a normal guy, he loves competing and it has been great for me to meet all those guys who have had such a great history. www.porscheroadandrace.com The #20 Porsche 919 Hybrid in the pits during the Silverstone 6 Hours in 2014 – drivers: Mark Webber/Timo Bernhard/Brendon Hartley At 1.83m squeezing into a F1 cockpit is not the easiest thing, but how does it compare with getting in and out of the hatch of the Porsche 919? I can get into the 919 quicker than I can get into a Formula One car, I need to because I have to do a pit stop in 30 seconds! I was a little more comfortable in the Formula One car in terms of the seating position because in the Porsche I now have to share the seat with Brendon, but Timo has his own seat. But getting out of the right-hand door is not easy, because by regulation they want us to get out of the right-hand door, which is a bit of a challenge. Where have the major advances come from since you last drove sports cars? www.porscheroadandrace.com The cars have improved a bit in every area really, in safety, and the cockpit environment is a bit more aggressive but there are areas they can still tighten up in there. I mean the technology they are using now was just not around. I had a gear stick in LMP previously, but now it’s all on the steering wheel. The cars are super complex, and there is still stuff going on with this car that I don’t understand, but it’s the same for all for the drivers. The engineers too are still learning, there are so many things that we can still learn and keep doing better. I suppose that’s why they put these regulations in place, because there is so much performance and low-hanging fruit to get at in the future, so yeah, there is lots to learn. www.porscheroadandrace.com Mark Webber being interviewed during the media’s ‘Meet the Team’ event prior to the Silverstone 6 Hours in 2014 www.porscheroadandrace.com What challenges will you personally have to overcome in your first year of racing with Porsche? You’re a part of a much larger driving team this year, how are you finding working with other drivers? It is a big component of endurance racing to have teammates. From the seating position to seat belt positions, to seat belt lengths, then down to how you like the radio to latch on or off, and how you like the gears.