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Nick Lars Heidfeld (born May 10, 1977 in Mönchengladbach, West Germany) is a German racing driver, who raced in Formula One from to
Despite scoring regular podium finishes in and , Heidfeld has yet to win a race during his ten seasons in Formula One. This means that amongst the current drivers, he has had the most GP starts without standing at the top spot on the podium. Heidfeld has now started over 150 races, so if he were to eventually win a race he would break the record for most starts before a maiden victory. This is currently held by Mark Webber, who claimed his first victory on his 131st attempt. Heidfeld also currently holds three other dubious records; he is the driver who has scored the highest number of world championship points without a Grand Prix win, shares the record for the most podium finishes without a Grand Prix win with Stefan Johansson, and has the most second place finishes without a win, with 8. He also holds the record for the most consecutive race classifications with a tally of 41, and shares the record for most finishes in a season with Tiago Monteiro after finishing all 18 races in the 2008 season.
at the 2004 Canadian Grand Prix]]
During the winter of 2004–2005, Heidfeld tested with the Williams team, in a 'shootout' against Antônio Pizzonia for the second race seat alongside Mark Webber. At the Williams launch on January 31, 2005, it was announced that Heidfeld would be the race driver for the team in 2005.
At the seventh race of the 2005 season at the Nürburgring circuit, his home Grand Prix, Heidfeld took his first ever pole position. He also achieved his best race position to-date in Monaco where he finished second, which he equalled at the Nürburgring.
Heidfeld missed the Italian and Belgian Grands Prix due to injuries suffered in a testing accident. Scheduled to come back for Brazil, he was injured again when hit by a motorbike when out cycling, and therefore forced to sit out the rest of the season.
for BMW Sauber at the 2006 Monaco Grand Prix]]
During 2006 Heidfeld scored points several times for his new team. At Melbourne he ran as high as second until the safety car came out. He eventually finished fourth. At Indianapolis, he was eliminated in a spectacular first lap accident which saw fellow drivers Scott Speed, Jenson Button, Kimi Räikkönen and Juan Pablo Montoya also go out. Heidfeld's car was launched into a quadruple barrel roll, but he and the other drivers all walked away unharmed. The Hungarian Grand Prix saw Heidfeld give BMW Sauber their first podium finish and best result of the year, when he finished third, even though he had only qualified tenth on the grid.
At the end of 2006, Heidfeld was quoted attacking the media's saturation coverage of his teammate Robert Kubica, who had scored fewer points than him. This has happened two other times in the German's career; in 2001 when he was teammates with Kimi Räikkönen (whom he beat twelve points to nine) and in 2002, when he was teammates with Felipe Massa (whom he beat by seven points to four). Räikkönen and Massa later formed the 2007 Ferrari driver line-up.
Heidfeld started the 2007 season strongly. In Bahrain, he chased down and overtook reigning world champion Fernando Alonso around the outside, finishing half a minute ahead of his BMW teammate Kubica. He scored three fourth places in the opening three races, a sixth in Monaco, and a second place at the Canadian Grand Prix, where he also out-qualified both Ferraris, equalling his best ever Grand Prix finish. After retiring from fifth place at Indianapolis, he was outscored by team-mate Kubica at both Magny-Cours and Silverstone. At an eventful European Grand Prix at the Nürburgring, Heidfeld's home circuit, where he collided with Kubica on the opening lap, he recovered and overtook Kubica on the final lap to finish sixth, despite making six pitstops during the race. Heidfeld returned to form in Hungary, qualifying second and finishing third to score his and BMW's second podium of the season. He finished fourth at the Turkish and Italian Grand Prix, and fifth in the Belgian Grand Prix. He eventually finished a career-best fifth in the championship with 61 points, outpointing Kubica by 22.
On 28 April 2007, Heidfeld drove three demonstration laps around the Nürburgring's legendary 14 mile Nordschleife track, which made him the first driver in 31 years to pilot a current F1 car there. About 45,000 spectators attended the event, which was held after a four hour VLN endurance race.
After several months of negotiations, BMW confirmed that Heidfeld would stay with the team for .
Heidfeld began the 2008 season strongly, finishing second in Australia after qualifying fifth. In Malaysia, he qualified fifth but dropped down to tenth at the first corner after being pushed wide by Jarno Trulli. He got back up to sixth, also setting his first ever fastest lap in the process. In Bahrain he started from sixth place but he did not gain a place at the start, but passed Trulli and Heikki Kovalainen to climb up to fourth. He finished there and this fourth gave him second in the championship.
After a few disappointing qualifying sessions and races in the following weeks (after which the German press started to call him "Leidfeld", with "Leid" meaning "misery" in German), Kubica and Heidfeld made BMW Sauber history by securing the third-year team's first victory, and first one-two finish respectively in Canada. Heidfeld was positioned eighth on the grid and after losing a place at the start, before gaining it back, was sitting comfortably in eighth place once again before a safety car situation saw the top 7 cars enter the pits in what was to soon become a bizarre series of errors that left Heidfeld and Kubica battling for the top two places. Heidfeld was switched to a one stop fuel strategy and came out of his stop ahead of Kubica, but considerably heavier on fuel. Not long afterwards, Heidfeld moved off the racing line allowing Kubica to make an easy pass, which then allowed the lighter BMW Sauber to build up a considerable lead on Heidfeld, who was occupied with preventing Fernando Alonso, also in a lighter car, from chasing Kubica. The gap built by Kubica allowed him to rejoin the race comfortably in the lead after his final pitstop with no threats behind him. Heidfeld finished the race second, solidifying his fifth place position in the driver's points. Heidfeld had a disappointing race in France, failing to score any points. He came back strongly at the British Grand Prix, starting fifth and finishing second in the wet conditions. Another strong performance, where he set the fastest lap of the race for the second time this season, was his home grand prix at the Hockenheimring showed that, for the time being, he had reversed the performance deficit to his team mate. Another second place finish at the Belgian Grand Prix, followed by 5th and 6th place finishes in Italy and Singapore respectively put him just one point behind current World Champion Kimi Räikkönen with just three races remaining.
It was confirmed on October 6 that both Heidfeld and team-mate Kubica would remain at the BMW Sauber team for the season.
In the last three races Heidfeld scored four points, ending in sixth place in the standings after being passed by Fernando Alonso at the last round of the season. However, Heidfeld became only the second driver to finish 18 races in a single season, after Tiago Monteiro completed the same feat with Jordan in 2005. Heidfeld also became the first driver to finish every single race in a season since Michael Schumacher in 2002.
Heidfeld began in Australia by qualifying in 11th place and finishing 10th in the race. At the Malaysian Grand Prix, Heidfeld again qualified in 11th, but started 10th as Sebastian Vettel was issued a 10 place drop (for an incident caused in Australia with Heidfeld's team-mate Kubica). The race was stopped due to torrential rain on the 33rd lap, when Heidfeld was third, but as set out in the regulations, the result was taken at the end of the penultimate completed lap, when Heidfeld had been running second. Because less than 75% of the race distance had been covered, the drivers only received half points. He scored a further 2 points at the , and finished 5th at Spa to score another 4 points. A seventh place finish at Monza added a further 2 points to his 2009 tally. Nevertheless, four points-scoring finishes in the final six races secured him thirteenth position in the Drivers' Championship, two points ahead of Kubica.
In Singapore, Heidfeld's run of 41 consecutive classified finishes was brought to an end due to a collision with Force India's Adrian Sutil.
At the Australian Grand Prix, Heidfeld was chosen to succeed Pedro de la Rosa as Chairman of the Grand Prix Drivers' Association. He left the position upon taking the role of Pirelli's test driver ahead of the Belgian Grand Prix, and was replaced by Rubens Barrichello.
In August 2010, with Heidfeld not yet having driven the Mercedes MGP W01 car, the team released him from his contract so that he could become the Pirelli tyre company's test driver. Heidfeld tested a Toyota TF109 car fitted with Pirelli tyres on a number of occasions in 2010, ahead of the firm's replacement of Bridgestone as the sport's sole tyre supplier in . Heidfeld completed three tests for Pirelli in Mugello, Paul Ricard and Jerez before being released from his duties to join Sauber, with his place being taken by Romain Grosjean.
In September 2010, Heidfeld returned to the Formula One grid, replacing Pedro de la Rosa at the Sauber team for the remainder of the 2010 season. This marked his third spell with them. On October 4, 2010, Sauber confirmed their driver line-up for 2011 as Kamui Kobayashi and Sergio Pérez, seemingly leaving Heidfeld without a drive for 2011.
Category:German racecar drivers Category:German Formula One drivers Category:Williams Formula One drivers Category:International Formula 3000 Champions Category:German Formula Three Championship drivers Category:People from Mönchengladbach Category:1977 births Category:Living people Category:International Formula 3000 drivers Category:24 Hours of Le Mans drivers Category:German expatriates in Monaco Category:German expatriates in Switzerland
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| Name | Troy Corser |
|---|---|
| Nationality | Australian |
| Birthdate | |
| Birthplace | Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia |
| Current team | Team Alpha BMW |
| Bike number | 11 |
| Sbk championships | 2. , |
| Sbk race starts | 283 |
| Sbk race wins | 33 |
| Sbk podiums | 118 |
| Sbk poles | 41 |
| Sbk fastest laps | 42 |
| Sbk last season | 2008 |
| Sbk last position | 3rd (72pts) |
| Website | troycorser.com |
Having previously won the Australian and AMA Superbike Championship titles, and shone in a handful of wildcard rides in the Superbike World Championship (taking five podiums), he went to the series fulltime in . He was classified 11th in WSBK for , hence his riding #11, which he used for many years. Pole for the first round showed his potential, although he only took one podium until his win at round 5 at the Salzburgring (partly due to collisions with Anthony Gobert and Piergorgio Bontempi at Monza). A strong remainder of the season (including a win at Laguna Seca, one of the few tracks on the schedule that he knew) saw him beat Aaron Slight to 2nd overall.
He won this title in , but 1997 was an unsuccessful and fragmented year in the 500cc World Championship, while teamed with Luca Cadalora on Yamaha YZR-500, Power Horse backed, team.
Back in WSBK for , he came close to retaking the title, helped by a double win at Laguna, the second race by a mere 0.005sec. He lead the standings before the final round, took pole, but crashing and breaking ribs in a warm-up crash. For he was teamed with Carl Fogarty on Davide Tardozzi's team, the title going to Foggy with Corser again third. In and he was on a factory Aprilia RSV-Mille. He would take the Aprilia to its first WSBK wins in 2000, and opened 2001 with a double victory in South Africa, but a double DNF at Monza scuppered his hopes of a championship challenge.
In he joined Carl Fogarty's Foggy Petronas team, and spent the year developing the bike before racing it in and . He finished 9th in the 2004 championship, with a best result of 3rd, but chose to leave the team after this.
In he raced for the Alstare Suzuki Team on the GSX-R1000 which enabled him to regain his position as Superbike World Champion, winning the championship after a run of early-season victories - later in the season Chris Vermeulen and Noriyuki Haga were usually the men to beat.
Troy won two races early in , however a crash at Phillip Island, and a DNF at Silverstone enabled compatriot Troy Bayliss to gain the upper hand in the early stages of the title chase. A double non-finish at Assen with 4 rounds to go left him 5th in the championship, behind Bayliss, James Toseland, Noriyuki Haga and Andrew Pitt. He ultimately overhauled Pitt to finish 4th, through a double podium at the final round. For he left Suzuki to join Yamaha, however he was outpaced by team-mate Noriyuki Haga and finished 5th overall, with eight podiums but no wins. He remained with the team for , pipping Haga to finish as championship runner-up behind Bayliss.
For the 2009 WSBK season Corser is to ride for BMW alongside Ruben Xaus on BMW's new superbike. His best result in the first half of the season was an 8th place in the opener at Philip Island, although there were several other minor points finishes. Strong results later in the season saw him finish 13th overall.
Corser and Xaus continued with the team for 2010. Corser scored two fifth places at Assen, he took BMW's first ever WSBK podium in race two at Monza, aided by a first-lap collision between Xaus, Jonathan Rea and Toseland. He also took pole at Misano and had scored in every race until being forced to miss Brno following a practice crash.
Troy has been on pole at Philip Island and Valencia four times, equalling a championship record for a single track. Of the eight cases of a rider having 10 or more podium finishes at a particular circuit, Troy has four - 13 at Misano, 11 each at Laguna Seca and Philip Island, and 10 at Donington Park.
Category:1971 births Category:Living people Category:Australian motorcycle racers Category:Superbike World Championship riders Category:500cc World Championship riders Category:AMA Superbike Championship riders Category:People from Wollongong
This text is licensed under the Creative Commons CC-BY-SA License. This text was originally published on Wikipedia and was developed by the Wikipedia community.
| Name | Fernando Alonso |
|---|---|
| Caption | Alonso at the 2010 Malaysian Grand Prix |
| Date of birth | July 29, 1981 |
| Nationality | Spanish |
| 2010 team | Ferrari |
| 2010 car number | 8 |
| 2011 team | Ferrari |
| 2011 car number | 5 |
| Races | 159 (158 starts) |
| Championships | 2 (, ) |
| Wins | 26 |
| Podiums | 63 |
| Points | 829 |
| Poles | 20 |
| Fastest laps | 18 |
| First race | 2001 Australian Grand Prix |
| First win | 2003 Hungarian Grand Prix |
| Last win | 2010 Korean Grand Prix |
| Last race | |
| Last season | 2010 |
| Last position | 2nd (252 pts) |
On 25 September 2005, he won the Formula One World Driver's Championship title at the age of 24 years and 58 days, breaking Emerson Fittipaldi's record of being the youngest Formula One World Drivers' Champion (this record was subsequently broken by Lewis Hamilton then broken again by Sebastian Vettel). After retaining the title the following year, Alonso also became the youngest double Champion. In , he became the second F1 driver, after Michael Schumacher, to score at least 100 points for three consecutive seasons. Nicknamed , a typical pseudonym for Fernando in Asturias, his place of birth, Alonso acts as a Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF. In Formula One, he is often referred to as "the most complete driver on the grid".
They lived in Oxford, England until they moved their residence to Switzerland in 2006. Alonso owned a house in Mont-sur-Rolle, near Lake Geneva from 2006 to 2010, and in February 2010 he moved house to Lugano in order to be closer to his new Formula One employer Ferrari. It is highly common for Formula One stars to take up residence in Switzerland to reduce their tax bills.
He is an avid card tricks fan and usually demonstrates various tricks during the race weekend. He is also interested in other sports, like cycling, football and tennis. Alonso has hinted at running a cycling team in the 2011 edition of the Tour de France with Alberto Contador leading the team.
In addition to Spanish, he speaks English and Italian.
Former Minardi F1 driver Adrián Campos gave Alonso his first test in a race car in October 1998. After three days of testing at the Albacete circuit, Alonso had matched the lap times of Campos' previous driver Marc Gené. Campos signed Alonso to race for him in the 1999 Spanish Euro Open MoviStar by Nissan series. In his second race, again at Albacete, Alonso won for the first time. He took the championship by one point from championship rival Manuel Giao by winning and setting fastest lap at the last race of the season. Alonso also tested for the Minardi Formula One team, lapping 1.5 seconds faster than the other drivers at the test. A month later it was confirmed that Massa was going to take the vacant Sauber seat for 2002.
In September, his manager Flavio Briatore had begun planning to place Alonso at Benetton. Briatore considered promoting Alonso for 2002, in place of his race driver Jenson Button, but instead chose to take Alonso on as Renault test driver for 2002. He scored no points in the season; his best finish being tenth at the .
;2004 Formula One team at the 2004 United States Grand Prix]]
Alonso remained with Renault for the season, scoring podiums in Australia, France, Germany and Hungary. At Indianapolis he suffered a high-speed accident while running in third place after a tyre deflated. In France he took pole position and finished second, running Michael Schumacher close for victory. Towards the end of the year teammate Jarno Trulli's performances deteriorated and he dropped Renault boss Flavio Briatore as his manager. Trulli's relationship with the team deteriorated to the extent that he signed for Toyota from 2005 onwards, and he was replaced for the final three races of the season by former world champion Jacques Villeneuve. Alonso ended the year fourth in the championship standings with 59 points.
;2005 .]]
For the season, Alonso was joined at Renault by Italian driver Giancarlo Fisichella. At the first race in Australia Alonso started near the back due to rain in qualifying but fought his way to third. He won the next two races in Malaysia and Bahrain from pole position, and took a third win in the after a 13-lap battle with Michael Schumacher.
McLaren's improving form saw Räikkönen win in Spain and Monaco while Alonso finished second and fourth, respectively. Räikkönen was on course to win the at the Nürburgring when his car's front-right suspension failed (due to a flat spot on the tyre caused by Räikkönen locking his wheels under braking while passing Jacques Villeneuve) on the last lap, giving victory to Alonso.
Alonso failed to score in the Canadian and United States Grands Prix. He crashed out of the former, and in the latter all the Michelin runners withdrew due to safety concerns over their tyres. Alonso took his third pole position and fifth win at the . He followed this with pole position a week later at the , where he finished second behind Montoya. McLaren's Kimi Räikkönen led the until his car's hydraulics failed. Alonso went on to win the race.
Alonso qualified 6th in the but finished 11th after a collision with the Toyota of Ralf Schumacher. As the season entered its final stages Alonso finished second in three consecutive races, collecting vital championship points. Räikkönen won in Turkey and Belgium, but was fourth at Monza after engine trouble in qualifying, meaning Alonso's lead had been reduced by only one point.
Alonso sealed the title by finishing third in Brazil while Montoya won from Räikkönen. The Spaniard became the youngest Drivers' Champion at the age of 24 years and 59 days old, breaking Emerson Fittipaldi's record. He also ended the 5-year dominance of Michael Schumacher.
Commenting on his victory, he said: "I just want to dedicate this championship to my family, and all my close friends who have supported me through my career. Spain is not a country with an F1 culture, and we had to fight alone, every step of the way, to make this happen. A huge thank-you should also go to the team as well — they are the best in Formula One, and we have done this together. It will say that I am world champion, but we are all champions — and they deserve this." In the May 2007 issue of F1 Racing, Alonso said that the 2005 Brazilian Grand Prix was his greatest race. He said, "It was a dream come true and a very emotional day. In the last few laps I leaped, thinking I could hear noises from the engine- from everywhere! But all was okay and I can remember my relief when I crossed the finish line."
The Japanese and Chinese Grands Prix saw Alonso and Renault abandon the conservative style evident in Brazil when he was still chasing the drivers' title. Starting from 16th on the grid, he eventually finished third behind Räikkönen and Fisichella. The Chinese Grand Prix saw Renault and Alonso win to claim the first Constructors' Championship for the Renault F1 team.
In 2005, he was awarded with the Sports Prince of Asturias Award.
;2006 .]]
Alonso won the first race of the season in Bahrain, overtaking Michael Schumacher after coming out of the pit lane with 18 laps left, after starting fourth. He qualified seventh at the due to a fuelling error but finished second to team mate Giancarlo Fisichella. He won the after overtaking leader Jenson Button's Honda.
After poor qualifying at San Marino, Alonso was unable to pass Michael Schumacher in an encounter that echoed their battle the previous year. Schumacher beat Alonso again in the after the Spaniard started on pole, but Alonso hit back, becoming the first Spaniard to win the Spanish Grand Prix. Alonso took pole position for the after Schumacher was penalised by the stewards for "deliberately [stopping] his car on the circuit in the last few minutes of qualifying", denying his rivals, Alonso included, the opportunity of recording fastest qualifying lap. Alonso won the race.
He extended his winning streak to four races with victories in Britain and Canada. Both wins came from pole position, and the British round was his first win, pole and fastest lap treble. Schumacher's fight back began at Indianapolis where the German won and Alonso was fifth. Schumacher won the , with Alonso in second, and the Spaniard was fifth in the . That cut Alonso's championship lead to 11 points.
Alonso incurred a penalty for an infraction in practice at the which left him 15th on the grid. Alonso looked set for an unlikely win as he overtook most of the field, including Schumacher around the outside of turn five, as he showed prowess in the wet conditions, but he crashed out of the race when a wheel nut fell off his car following a pit stop. Schumacher scored one point after Robert Kubica was disqualified.
Alonso finished second in Turkey, holding back third-placed Schumacher to claim two vital points, but he lost a lot of ground after a controversial . He suffered a puncture during qualifying that damaged bodywork at the back of his car. He qualified fifth but was later punished and he started the race from tenth. In the race he rose to third place before an engine failure forced him to retire. Schumacher won the Grand Prix and cut Alonso's Championship lead to two points.
At the following round in China, Alonso took pole position during a wet qualifying session but finished second to Schumacher in the race. The result tied Alonso and Schumacher on points in the drivers championship. At the , the Ferraris of Schumacher and Massa qualified first and second, more than half a second faster than the Renaults in fifth and sixth. But during the race Alonso rose to second and took the win after Schumacher's engine failed. It gave him a ten point advantage over Schumacher, needing only one point from the final round to retain the title. Second place in the on October 22 gave Alonso the championship. With Schumacher finishing fourth, the final difference was 13 points. Alonso thus became the youngest double champion in the sport's history. Renault also clinched the Constructors' Championship with a 5-point gap over Ferrari.
On December 19, 2005, Alonso announced that he would be moving to McLaren for 2007. His contract with Renault was set to expire on December 31, 2006. However, on December 15, 2006, Alonso was allowed by Flavio Briatore and the Renault F1 Team to test for one day for McLaren at Jerez, as a result of his successes with Renault. Driving an unbranded MP4-21 and wearing a plain white helmet and overalls, Alonso completed 95 laps. Lewis Hamilton was chosen as his partner for the season. McLaren were reported to be paying Alonso £ 20 million (approx $ 39 million c. 2007) in 2007. Alonso debuted with the new McLaren car on January 15, 2007, in the streets of Valencia.
On 8 April 2007 in his second race for the team, Alonso secured his first win for McLaren, and the team's first since 2005, by leading the majority of the . A difficult drive at Bahrain's Sakhir circuit a week later, saw him finishing fifth behind his rookie team mate who took a podium finish. In the fourth race of the year in Spain, his home grand prix, he qualified second, but suffered a first lap collision with Felipe Massa which caused some damage to his car and dropped him to fourth, before finishing third. On May 27, Alonso secured his second victory for McLaren at Monaco, scoring pole position, fastest lap and the race win and in the process lapping the entire field up to 3rd position. At the Nürburgring he took his third win of the year in a dramatic race affected by intermittent rain showers, overtaking Massa for the lead with just four laps remaining. After the controversy at the (see below), however, relations between Alonso and his team declined. It was reported in the media that he was no longer on speaking terms with Hamilton, and it was speculated that he might leave McLaren at the end of the season. On 7 August 2007 The Times reported that McLaren would let Alonso leave the team at the end of the season if he wished, two years earlier than his contract allowed. Alonso went on to finish third in the driver's championship, level on points with team-mate Hamilton and just one point behind World Champion Kimi Räikkönen (the closest 1–2–3 in WDC history).
As part of the espionage controversy between McLaren and Ferrari, the former were found guilty of breaching the Article 151c of the FIA's sporting regulations but went unpunished due to a lack of evidence. However, following the acquisition of new evidence by the FIA, a new hearing was held on September 13. The new evidence consisted largely of email traffic between Alonso and test driver Pedro de la Rosa. The FIA's World Motor Sport Council report following the hearing stated that Alonso and de la Rosa had obtained and used confidential Ferrari technical data and sporting strategy information from senior McLaren engineer Mike Coughlan via Ferrari employee Nigel Stepney, including during test sessions. Both drivers were spared sanctions in exchange for providing evidence.
On 2 November 2007, after a turbulent year with McLaren, it was announced that McLaren and Alonso had mutually agreed to terminate his contract and that he would be free to join any team for 2008 without paying McLaren any compensation.
Alonso was linked with several teams for the 2008 season after his split with McLaren. Renault, Red Bull, Toyota and Honda were all suggested in the media. Renault's Flavio Briatore stated that he would welcome Alonso's return to the French team. On 10 December 2007, Alonso signed a two-year contract to drive for Renault alongside Brazilian driver Nelson Piquet, Jr. for around £25 million.
In the first two rounds of the season, the Renault was not as competitive as it had previously been. Alonso finished fourth and eighth in Australia and Malaysia respectively, fuelling rumours that Alonso would leave the team because he was disappointed with his Renault and was either moving to BMW Sauber, Honda or Toyota. BMW boss Mario Theissen was keen to get Alonso to replace Nick Heidfeld in order to get the team their first win. Honda rumours started when Alonso said in an interview that he felt there was something about Honda and he wanted to drive for them in and switching to Ferrari in . Toyota said they were eager to give a top driver their seat. But the most likely place that Alonso would go was to replace Felipe Massa at Ferrari in , especially in light of the general belief that there was an "out clause" in Fernando Alonso's contract with Renault which would give him the freedom to move to another team for the next season should he be able to secure a deal. However Ferrari president Luca Cordero di Montezemolo stated that Massa's seat in the team was secure and would stay that way until the end of his contract in 2010. Räikkönen was also given a two-year contract extension to partner Massa until the end of 2010, essentially closing the door on Alonso for a possible move to Ferrari. In 2008, Alonso denied the "out clause" rumour.
In the , Lewis Hamilton ran into the back of Alonso's Renault, heavily damaging the rear wing of the Spaniard's car, as well as his own nosecone. Stewards did not seek to investigate the incident but critics alleged he braked (or didn't accelerate as expected) in front of Hamilton causing Hamilton to crash into him. The telemetry data from Alonso's car proved these accusations to be wrong. Hamilton himself stated "I was behind him, and I moved to the right, and he moved to the right and that was it – a racing incident I guess". It was later revealed by McLaren that Hamilton's front wing, which was damaged when he hit Alonso earlier in the race, had broken seconds before the impact and has been identified as the cause of the crash. Alonso started the with promising pace, qualifying on the front row in second place behind Kimi Räikkönen even though he had a light fuel load. He was running in fifth place when his engine blew on lap 35. He praised his team after finishing sixth in the , as he was behind the more competitive BMW cars at the end, and said that the result "confirms the progress we have made, and is thanks to the hard work of everyone in the team".
Alonso failed to score in the next two races, finishing tenth at the , after puncturing a tyre against the barrier and a collision with Nick Heidfeld and retiring from the after crashing into the wall on lap 45, having qualified fourth. Alonso had been keeping pace with the BMW Saubers, who would eventually go on to record their maiden win with Robert Kubica after pitlane dramas plagued both Ferrari and McLaren. In France, Alonso qualified behind the two Ferraris in third, aided by Lewis Hamilton's grid penalty for the pit-lane accident in Canada. However, he was on a light fuel load, and his task was made much harder by being beaten by the slower Toyota of Jarno Trulli at the start. He then faded back to seventh and towards the end of the race while catching Mark Webber's Red Bull he ran wide at the Adelaide hairpin and slipped behind team-mate Piquet, Jr. to finish eighth.
Alonso finished sixth at Silverstone, saying that he had used up all of his available tyres for the unpredictable wet conditions, and that by using practically slick tyres towards the end, he lost a lot of time in certain places on the track. Despite qualifying fifth at the , he finished in eleventh after spinning off whilst battling with the Williams of Nico Rosberg. In the , he finished in fourth place having started seventh, aided by Lewis Hamilton's early puncture and Felipe Massa's engine failing in the closing stages.
In the , Alonso performed strongly in all three practice sessions and the first round of qualifying. However, he failed to make it through the second round of qualifying, starting 12th. During the opening lap of the race, Alonso was hit by Kazuki Nakajima in the rear wing of his car and sustained unrepairable damage to his gearbox, and was forced to retire from the race. In Belgium, Alonso ran in the top five for most of the race, but when heavy rain fell towards the end of the race, he gambled on pitting for wet tyres with one lap to go. He dropped four places, but a fast final lap saw him reclaim the lost spots, passing Kubica and Sebastian Vettel at the final corner. In the , Alonso achieved his second consecutive fourth place, and allowed Renault to equal Toyota for fourth in the constructors standings.
Alonso claimed his first victory and podium of the season by winning the . After performing strongly in practice, a fuel pressure problem in the second part of qualifying forced him to park the car, causing him to qualify 15th. In the race he started with a light fuel load on soft tyres, and pitted early when he realised that this would not be successful. However, team-mate Piquet crashed bringing out the safety car, which eliminated the lead of the frontrunners. When they pitted after the pit lane was reopened, they rejoined behind those who had already stopped. This moved Alonso up among top six, and he ultimately won the race, earning the 20th win and 50th podium of his career. In September 2009, after being dropped by Renault, Piquet said that the crash had been intentional and had been requested by Flavio Briatore and Pat Symonds. Alonso was declared to be innocent by the subsequent FIA investigation.
Alonso carried his good form into the , for which he qualified fourth. Running on a two stop strategy Alonso won his second successive race, finishing ahead of Kubica and Räikkönen. In the last 2 races in China and Brazil, Alonso scored a fourth and a second place respectively. In the last eight races of the season Alonso scored 48 points, which was more than any other driver (over the same period Massa scored 43 points and Hamilton scored 40 points). He finished the season fifth overall with 61 points, while also enabling Renault to finish fourth in the constructors standings with 80 points, ahead of fifth-placed Toyota.
On 5 November, Flavio Briatore confirmed that Renault had agreed a two year extension on Alonso's original contract, ending speculation about a supposed move to Ferrari, and a Renault contract "out-clause".
;2009
The new Renault R29 car did not meet up to Alonso's expectations at the start of the year, after it performed poorly in winter testing, despite the fact that there were no major reliability issues. For the second consecutive year, Nelson Piquet, Jr. would be his team-mate.
In the he avoided a first lap accident and benefited from the late safety car in the closing stages, deployed for Robert Kubica and Sebastian Vettel's collision, to finish fifth. Although pleased to score points, he was "disappointed" at how his KERS system worked during the race. He did not score points in Malaysia (eleventh) or China (ninth, after he qualified in second), finishing over a minute behind the race winner on both occasions.
He finished eighth in the , despite struggling with a broken drinks bottle during the race, which resulted in him collapsing with dehydration during a post-race TV interview. In Spain he spent most of the race in sixth despite an exciting battle with Mark Webber early on, before capitalising on Felipe Massa backing off with fuel conservation worries on the last lap, and going on to finish fifth. In Monaco, he benefited from the retirements of Heikki Kovalainen and Sebastian Vettel to score two points for seventh after a steady performance from ninth on the grid.
He failed to score any points in Turkey, as he was unable to keep pace with the frontrunners, and struggled on to finish tenth, while in Britain, he lost places at the start, and got stuck behind Nick Heidfeld early on. Despite some good fights, especially with former teammate Lewis Hamilton, the poor pace of his car meant he was always likely to struggle for points and finished in 14th, two places behind team-mate Piquet. At the Nurburgring, Alonso lost places at the first corner, before getting stuck in traffic. However, he went on to finish seventh, and was catching the two Brawn cars of Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello towards the end. For the last stint, he was the fastest man on the track, half a second quicker than the leaders, which resulted in the fastest lap of the race.
In Hungary, he took his only pole position of the season (on a short fuel load), and led for the first stint of the race until his retirement, when his pit-crew fitted a wheel incorrectly. After replacing the wheel, Alonso retired with a fuel pump problem. In Valencia, he finished in sixth place, describing it was the best he could do, after his team appealed successfully over a one-race ban suspended for the race after the pit-stop incident in Hungary. However, his fastest race lap was slower than new team-mate Romain Grosjean, replacing the sacked Piquet, despite Grosjean spending most of the race towards the back.
Alonso was forced to retire in Belgium in a near repeat of the front tyre incident in Hungary, although this time the tyre was damaged after contact with Adrian Sutil's Force India on the first lap. This led to a chaotic pit stop when a replacement tyre could not be fitted properly and his team chose to retire him on safety grounds to avoid a further sanction following the Hungarian incident. At Monza he finished sixth, passing McLaren's Heikki Kovalainen during the race, despite again complaining about the car's KERS system, particularly after getting away from the grid poorly.
He finished in a strong third place in Singapore, admitting that it was a great result, "allowing to put behind us the past few weeks". However, this was his and Renault's only podium of 2009, a year after the Crashgate saga. Alonso controversially dedicated his podium afterwards to recently departed team boss Flavio Briatore, saying "he is part of the success we had today".
In Japan, he was penalised five grid places for failing to slow down for yellow flags after Sébastien Buemi crashed, scattering debris onto the track. The R29's pace was again disappointing, when he could only manage to climb up to 10th from 16th place on the grid, despite a late safety car period after Jaime Alguersuari crashed heavily. Alonso said that his race was pretty much decided in qualifying, although he admitted that his car seemed to be fairly competitive. In Brazil however, he retired on the first lap when Adrian Sutil and Jarno Trulli collided, and Alonso was unable to avoid the out-of-control Force India, which had spun onto the wet grass, terminally damaging a sidepod on the Spaniard's car, forcing him to retire.
He admitted that he had wanted to end his successful period at Renault on a high at the final race of the year in Abu Dhabi. However, he spent the whole race towards the back of the grid, and finished 14th after qualifying in 16th. After the race, he paid tribute to Renault, saying that he wanted "to thank the entire team for everything that we have achieved together", and wanted to concentrate on the positives during his time with Renault, which had included winning the and world championship titles. He finished ninth in the drivers standings overall, scoring all of Renault's 26 points during the season. As a result, Renault only finished eighth in the constructors ahead of two other teams, Force India and Toro Rosso.
In the , Alonso qualified third behind the two Red Bull cars of Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber. At the start, on a damp track, Alonso was tipped into a spin by eventual race winner Jenson Button, and rejoined last. Alonso charged back to fourth and then held off late race attacks from Lewis Hamilton and Mark Webber to finish fourth, only two seconds behind teammate Felipe Massa.
In China, Alonso qualified third again, behind Vettel and Webber. Alonso jumped the start, for which he was later given a drive-through penalty, which dropped him down to 15th, over a minute behind race leader Nico Rosberg. With the help of a safety car which bunched the field together, and due to a series of overtaking manoeuvres, Alonso finished fourth. During the race, one of his overtaking maneuvers was on team-mate Massa as the two entered the pit lane to change to intermediate tyres when the rain came. This aggressive overtaking, in which Massa had to put two wheels on the grass to avoid a collision, and then had to wait behind Alonso during Alonso's stop which cost him a few places, raised questions that all was not well between the Ferrari teammates. However, both drivers quickly quashed the speculation, saying that the overtaking did not affect the relationship between the drivers at all, and that they are as friendly as they were before.
The first European round was in Spain where Alonso qualified fourth behind the Red Bulls and former McLaren team mate Hamilton. Alonso ran fourth until the final 15 laps of the race, when he first was elevated to third after Vettel suffered brake problems which forced him to go for an extra pit stop, and then gained another place when Hamilton's tyre failed on the penultimate lap. He finished second, thus getting his first podium after the win in Bahrain.
In Monaco, Alonso crashed his car in practice and was unable to take part in qualifying. He started 24th and last but charged up to sixth. On the last lap, Michael Schumacher passed him under the safety car to take the place, but was then penalized for the overtaking, giving sixth back to Alonso.
For the , Alonso qualified fourth and was promoted to third after Mark Webber's penalty for a gearbox change. He finished third after a racelong battle with the McLarens and Red Bulls, getting only his second podium after his win in Bahrain.
In the next round in Valencia, Alonso secured fourth on the grid in qualifying. During the race, he was right on the gearbox of Lewis Hamilton's McLaren when the Safety Car was deployed following Mark Webber's somersaulting crash after rear-ending Heikki Kovalainen. After a brief hesitation, Hamilton drove past the Safety Car, while Alonso and Massa took up position behind it. This allowed the McLaren driver (and several other drivers) to secure a significant advantage, and following their pitstops, the Ferrari drivers found themselves at the tail end of the field. Alonso was heard over the team radio insisting that Ferrari take up the matter with race director Charlie Whiting. The FIA stewards did ultimately award Hamilton a drive-through penalty, but the significant delay between the offence and the verdict (due to a delay in securing aerial footage of Hamilton's pass on the Safety Car) and the relatively short length of the pitlane at Valencia, meant that Hamilton was able to re-emerge from the pits without losing position. Finishing the race in eighth position, Alonso criticised the FIA for 'manipulating' the race result, a statement which he later moderated. Ferrari were equally critical of the FIA's stewarding of the event.
At the at Silverstone, Alonso lined up third on the grid. However, clutch problems at the start caused his Ferrari to bog down and Alonso had dropped several positions by the time the pack reached the first corner. Alonso attempted to stage a fightback, and while attempting to pass Robert Kubica's Renault down the outside at Vale, was forced on to the grass as Kubica closed the door on him. Alonso rejoined the track ahead of Kubica, and maintained track position ahead of the Pole. Alonso was heard on the radio explaining to his team that Kubica had forced him on to the grass, while Kubica informed his team that Alonso had illegally passed him by cutting the chicane. After some delay, the stewards awarded Alonso a drive-through penalty for failing to yield the position back to Kubica. The situation was further exacerbated by the untimely deployment of the Safety Car owing to debris on the track, which bunched the field up, and caused Alonso to drop to the tail of the pack once he served his penalty. Alonso crossed the line in fourteenth place, a minute behind race winner Mark Webber, setting the fastest lap of the race on the final lap, having changed tyres after a puncture. More accusations followed after the race, with Ferrari alleging that the FIA had not responded to their requests for clarification, and the FIA insisting that they had requested Ferrari to give back Alonso's position to Kubica and thus obviate the need for an inquiry.
For the at Hockenheim, Alonso missed pole position by 0.002 seconds to Vettel, with Massa qualifying third. In the race, Vettel made a poor start and attempted to compensate by squeezing Alonso towards the pitwall. Seizing this opportunity, Massa overtook both of them, and entered the first corner with Alonso and Vettel in second and third places. Alonso then controversially overtook Massa and they crossed the line in that order to give Ferrari a 1–2 finish.
For the , Alonso qualified in third place, behind the two Red Bulls of Vettel and Webber. As the lights went out, he passed Webber into second place, and then drew alongside Vettel on the outside going into the first corner. Alonso lost out to Webber at the pitstops, but got ahead of Vettel when the latter was given a drive-through penalty. He was able to hold off Vettel and finish the race in second place. After a promising start in Belgium, qualifying yielded a disappointing grid position of tenth place. When the race started, things went from bad to worse as Alonso was torpedoed from behind by Rubens Barrichello's sliding Williams. Alonso recovered to eighth before spinning out of the race in the closing stages.
At the , Alonso claimed pole position ahead of Jenson Button, but trailed Button by the first corner. Alonso and Massa pursued the McLaren until it pitted. Alonso pitted the next lap, with a quicker stop allowing Alonso to return to the track wheel to wheel with Button, and narrowly edged him out into the first corner. He pulled clear to claim his 24th career win, his third of the season, and Ferrari's first win at Monza since . As an added bonus, Alonso also claimed the fastest lap of the race, resulting in a F1 hat-trick (pole, win and fastest lap).
At the , Alonso took pole position ahead of Vettel, the McLarens of Hamilton and Button and the second Red Bull of championship leader Webber. When the lights went out, Alonso made a solid start and led Vettel into the first corner. Alonso soaked up pressure from Vettel for the entire race and crossed the line less than 0.3 seconds ahead of the Red Bull. Once more, Alonso set the fastest lap of the race in the closing stages. In Japan, Alonso finished third, behind Vettel and Webber, then won in Korea after Vettel retired with engine failure. He also scored his fifth fastest lap of the year, enough to give him the 2010 DHL Fastest Lap Award after a countback with Lewis Hamilton. In Abu Dhabi, Alonso entered the event with an eight-point lead, and qualified third. At the start of the race he lost a place to Button and then a strategic error by his team meant that Alonso spent the rest of the race stuck behind Vitaly Petrov, and lost out on world championship honours to Sebastian Vettel.
Category:1981 births Category:Living people Category:People from Oviedo Category:Spanish racecar drivers Category:Spanish Formula One drivers Category:Minardi Formula One drivers Category:Renault Formula One drivers Category:McLaren Formula One drivers Category:Ferrari Formula One drivers Category:Formula One World Drivers' Champions Category:International Formula 3000 drivers Category:Monaco Grand Prix winners Category:CIK-FIA Karting World Championship drivers Category:Spanish Roman Catholics Category:Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland Category:Spanish expatriate sportspeople in the United Kingdom Category:UNICEF people
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| Name | Mark Webber |
|---|---|
| Caption | Webber at the 2010 Japanese Grand Prix |
| Nationality | n |
| Date of birth | August 27, 1976 |
| 2010 team | Red Bull Racing |
| 2010 car number | 6 |
| 2011 team | Red Bull Racing |
| 2011 car number | 2 |
| Races | 159 (157 starts) |
| Championships | 0 |
| Wins | 6 |
| Podiums | 20 |
| Points | 411.5 |
| Poles | 6 |
| Fastest laps | 6 |
| First race | 2002 Australian Grand Prix |
| First win | 2009 German Grand Prix |
| Last win | 2010 Hungarian Grand Prix |
| Last race | |
| Last season | 2010 |
| Last position | 3rd (242 pts) |
After some racing success in Australia, Webber moved to the United Kingdom in 1995 to further his motorsport career. Webber began a partnership with fellow Australian Paul Stoddart, at that time owner of the European Racing Formula 3000 team, which eventually took them both into Formula One when Stoddart bought the Minardi team.
Webber made his Formula One debut in , scoring Minardi's first points in three years at his and Stoddart's home race. After his first season Jaguar Racing took him on as lead driver. During two years with the generally uncompetitive team Webber several times qualified on the front two rows of the grid and outperformed his team mates. His first F1 win was with Red Bull Racing in the 2009 German Grand Prix, which followed second places at the 2009 Chinese, Turkish, and British Grands Prix. By the end of 2009, Webber had scored eight podiums, including another victory in Brazil. His eight podiums in compares to only two podiums in the first seven years of his career. He has since added ten more podiums in , including victories in Spain, Monaco, Britain and Hungary. Webber finished the 2010 season in third place having led for a long period, losing out to teammate Sebastian Vettel.
Webber was also a long-term director of the Grand Prix Drivers' Association, the Formula One drivers' union.
Webber took victory in just his fourth ever F3 race, at Brands Hatch, leading from start to finish and setting a new lap record in the process. He took a further four podium finishes, including a second place in the support race for the 1997 British Grand Prix, and finished the season in fourth overall. Webber also took strong finishes in the Marlboro Masters at Zandvoort (3rd) and the Macau Grand Prix (4th), both times making his circuit debut.
During the 1997 season, Webber was approached by Mercedes-AMG to compete in a sports car race. Although he initially declined the offer he was persuaded at the end of the year when invited to participate in a test session for the team at the A1-Ring in Austria. AMG were suitably impressed with Webber, and he was signed as the official Mercedes works junior driver for the 1998 FIA GT Championship, alongside reigning champion Bernd Schneider. Travelling around the world, including the United States, Japan and Europe, the pair won five of the ten rounds on their way to second in the overall standings, beaten to the Championship by teammates Klaus Ludwig and Ricardo Zonta by just eight seconds in the final race at Laguna Seca. Webber remained with the AMG team for 1999, and was promoted to his own race car for the season. However, his sportscar career came to an early end after he flipped twice on the Mulsanne straight during practice for the 1999 24 Hours of Le Mans race.
Webber was signed as test driver for the Arrows F1 team for 2000, and also gained sponsorship from Australian beer company Foster's whilst competing in Formula 3000. Webber took victory in round two of the season at Silverstone, and finished the series with two fastest laps and three podiums on his way to third overall—the highest position of any rookie that year. Contract issues meant that Webber was never able to drive the Arrows A21 car, and rejected a full contract offer for 2001 in July. However, he was offered a three day evaluation test for Benetton at the end of the year, outpacing F1 drivers Ralf Schumacher and Giancarlo Fisichella at Estoril. The results were good enough to earn him the test driver role with the team for 2001, and he also agreed to take on team boss Flavio Briatore as manager in return for finance for a further F3000 season. Webber joined the championship-winning Super Nova Racing team, and despite winning at Imola, Monaco and Magny-Cours, he finished second overall to British driver Justin Wilson. Webber was replaced as test driver for Benetton for 2002 by Fernando Alonso, but Briatore managed to secure Webber a contract to race alongside Alex Yoong in the Stoddart-owned Minardi team, making him the first Australian in Formula One since David Brabham in 1994. The start of the race featured a spectacular accident between Ralf Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello, the aftermath of which forced eight cars to retire from the race. Webber, who had a problem with his launch control at the start, battled with a broken differential to fend off the experienced Mika Salo in a much faster Toyota and finish fifth. The result made Webber just the fourth Australian F1 driver to score World Championship points, and the first Minardi driver to score points since Marc Gené in .
Webber was forced into retirement in the , before picking up consecutive 11th-place finishes in the following two races. He, along with Yoong, was forced to pull out of the due to potentially dangerous wing failures during the weekend.
Webber picked up two more 11th place finishes, but was unable to score points for the remainder of the year, his next best result coming in France, where he finished 8th. In the , Webber lost two kilograms in weight over the length of the race as he was forced to drive without a drink after his water bottle broke. Webber was able to outqualify Yoong (and Anthony Davidson, who replaced Yoong for the Hungarian and Belgian Grands Prix) in every race, and his two points in Australia were the only points that Minardi scored all season, helping them to 9th in the Constructors' Championship, ahead of Toyota and Arrows. Webber's results earned him the "Rookie of the Year" award in F1 Racing magazine's annual Man of the Year awards (receiving 53.70% of public votes), the Autosport.com "Rookie of the Year" award and "F1 Newcomer of the Year" at the annual Grand Prix Party "Bernie" Awards. In light of his season, notable Formula One journalist Peter Windsor related Webber to World Champion Nigel Mansell, saying they had similar amounts of "raw talent". In November 2002 it was announced that Webber would join Jaguar Racing for the following season alongside Brazilian Williams test driver Antônio Pizzonia.
Webber took provisional pole position in Friday qualifying of the , out-qualifying local driver Rubens Barrichello by 0.138 seconds during a rain-affected session. He continued his good performance in the Saturday session taking a career-best 3rd on the grid, Jaguar Racing's best qualifying performance in their four-year Formula One history. In the race, which was hit heavily by rain, Webber was in seventh place when he attempted to cool his tyres by driving through a puddle lying off-line in the final corner. The resultant lack of grip caused Webber to crash heavily into the pit straight walls, leaving debris on the track which caused a second major crash; Fernando Alonso hitting a stray tyre. The race was subsequently red-flagged, and although Webber was originally classified in 7th, an FIA investigation found a timekeeping error which meant that Webber was placed 9th in the re-classification.
Webber's good qualifying form continued into the but at the start of the race he had dropped from 5th to 11th by the first corner due to a launch control failure that affected both Jaguars. He retired from the race after 54 laps with a driveshaft failure, his fourth consecutive non-finish for the year. His luck improved in the following races though, taking his first points in Spain and signing a new 2-year contract with the team reportedly worth $US6 million per season.
He then went on to score points in five of the next six races on his way to moving into the top 10 in the World Drivers' Championship, the run of results interrupted only by an engine failure in Monaco. One of his best races came in Austria where despite starting from the pitlane and suffering a drive-through penalty he set the race's third fastest lap, behind only the Ferraris of Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello, finishing in 7th place.
At the , as the procession of cars exited the Becketts corner onto the Hangar straight on lap 11, now-defrocked priest Neil Horan cleared the fence wearing a kilt whilst waving banners with the statements "Read the Bible" and "The Bible is always right". Horan ran towards the sequence of cars forcing several cars to swerve to avoid him. Webber came closest to hitting Horan in a terrifying parallel to the accident at the 1977 South African Grand Prix where volunteer track marshal, Jansen Van Vuuren, ran across the main straight to aid a car and was hit at by Welsh driver Tom Pryce. The safety car was deployed to remove Horan from the track, and Webber eventually finished 14th.
After Silverstone, Webber had scored 12 Championship points, compared to Pizzonia's 0, and after much speculation it was announced that Minardi driver Justin Wilson would replace the Brazilian for the remainder of the year. The saw Webber's sixth retirement of the season after he made a last lap lunge on Jenson Button in an attempt to salvage a point from the weekend.
Consecutive points finishes in Hungary and Italy saw Webber climb to ninth in the drivers' standings with a 5 point margin over Button. He was unable to hold onto this position however, after one too many laps on dry tyres saw him spin out from the lead of the , and a disappointing 11th-place result in Japan. These meant that he had finished on equal points with Button but lost out on a countback.
Although Wilson scored a point in the United States Grand Prix, Webber had still never been outqualified by a team-mate and, late in the year, Jaguar announced that rookie Christian Klien would team up with Webber for the 2004 season. Webber's results again earned him plaudits in the press, winning the 2003 "Driver of the Year" award from Autocar magazine.
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 starting 14th and marked the first time he had been outqualified by his team-mate in F1. He was unable to continue his point scoring 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 suffered two engine failures in practice for the , the first of which forced Webber to extinguish it himself after being unable to find a track-side marshal willing to help. In the race, Webber was forced to retire due to a loss of engine power. He was able to pick up two Championship points in the following race with a seventh place finish in the . Webber had lined up 14th on the grid, after being handed a one-second penalty for yellow flag infringements during Friday practice, but was able to move through the field to take his points tally to 3. After the race, he was criticised by Michael Schumacher for refusing to yield when Webber had emerged from his pit stop slightly ahead of (but one lap behind) Schumacher. Upon hearing the comments, Webber said he "would do exactly the same again" in the same situation.
at the 2004 United States Grand Prix]] There were consecutive retirements in Canada, where he was hit by Klien, and the United States where he suffered an oil leak. A change of luck gained him a 9th place finish in the and preceded a further championship point in the ; although his total of 4 points compared unfavourably to his 12 scored by the same time in the previous season. It was at this stage that former team-mate Pizzonia returned to racing as a replacement for the injured Ralf Schumacher and accused Jaguar of favouritism towards Webber during their time as team-mates saying that Webber received new car parts one or two races before Pizzonia. The claims were categorically denied by Jaguar boss David Pitchforth, and whilst Webber did not publicly comment on the situation at the time he had his best result of the season finishing sixth in the , running ahead of Pizzonia for the entire race. Meanwhile, reports emerged that Jaguar could not guarantee that they would compete in Formula One for the 2005 season and on 28 July, it was announced that Webber would drive for WilliamsF1 for 2005 and beyond. He would later admit this was the team that his "heart was always set on". Webber was unable to build on his points tally, however, and 10th place in Hungary followed by a first-lap accident in Belgium with 9th in Italy and 10th in China saw him sitting 13th in the Championship.
The penultimate race of the season, the saw Webber produce another good qualifying effort as he set the third fastest time. His race ended prematurely though when he suffered from a badly overheating cockpit, the cause of which could not be determined by Jaguar. The marked both Webber's last race for Jaguar and Jaguar's last race in Formula One, ending sadly for the team, as Klien turned in to a corner colliding with Webber as the Australian attempted to make up for a pit stop delay earlier in the race. Webber was forced to retire due to the damage and watched the remainder of the race from the grass on the outside of turn 1 as Klien finished 14th.
Heidfeld was finally announced as Webber's 2005 team-mate at the Williams season launch on 31 January, 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. 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.
.]] .]]
After qualifying fifth in Bahrain, Webber had been as high as third place in the race but he ultimately finished sixth, taking his points tally to 7 for the season. He followed this up by qualifying fourth and finishing a disappointing 10th after twice running wide off the track in the , although his position was revised to 7th after the disqualification of the BAR team and a resulting penalty to Ralf Schumacher. The race was a poor one for Williams (Heidfeld was 9th before the reclassification), but Webber hit back at the , qualifying 2nd and finishing 6th – his fourth points scoring finish in the first five races.
The following race in Monaco saw Webber take third place, the first podium finish of his career. On the rostrum Webber looked noticeably disappointed with the result after losing second place to team-mate Heidfeld due to the Williams team pitting Heidfeld before Webber causing Webber to lose time behind the slow Alonso. Webber had been ahead of Heidfeld for most of the race and would probably still have been second had the team pitted them in the more regular sequence. This best result of Webber's career was followed by one of his worst at the when, after qualifying third, he locked his brakes in the very first corner of the race and collided with Juan Pablo Montoya, forcing him to retire. Heidfeld started from pole position to finish in second place overtaking Webber in championship points in the process.
The race in Canada was affected by this previous result, as Webber was only able to qualify 14th, but he was pleased with an eventual 5th-place finish and a further 4 Championship points. The was the beginning of a lean streak for Webber with just one point-scoring finish in the next seven races, a seventh in Hungary, and by this stage he had slipped from 6th to 10th in the World Championship. Webber had another poor race in Turkey where he collided with Michael Schumacher after the German changed lines in the braking area, causing extensive damage to both cars.
With Heidfeld injured, Webber's former Jaguar team-mate Antônio Pizzonia stepped into the second Williams seat adding pressure on Webber to perform well given the public argument the pair had towards the end of 2004. The saw Pizzonia driving to seventh whilst Webber was caught up in a first-corner incident which led to him finishing 14th. The roles were reversed for the following race in Belgium as Webber finished in fourth place and Pizzonia retired after a collision with Juan Pablo Montoya in the closing laps. With rumours spreading that Heidfeld had in fact signed with BMW Sauber for the 2006 season, Pizzonia continued in the race seat, and in the , was clipped by David Coulthard in turn one. The contact caused Pizzonia to spin into the path of Webber forcing extensive repairs to the Australian's car. Webber took 17th place, setting the 8th fastest lap of the race, but was not classified as a finisher.
The final two races of the season saw Webber take 4th and 7th to consolidate his 10th place in the Drivers' Championship. Webber described the 2005 season as "frustrating" and acknowledged that his reputation had somewhat diminished but opted to stay on with Williams despite an offer from BMW Sauber. Webber's team-mate for 2006 would be German Nico Rosberg, becoming the seventh driver to partner Webber since 2002.
Webber was awarded the Lorenzo Bandini Trophy in 2006 for his 2005 season.
Webber's two following races in Malaysia and Australia were cut short due to mechanical problems. In Malaysia, Webber started 4th on the grid and was still running in that position before a hydraulics failure ended his race on lap 14. In his home race, Webber qualified seventh and was leading the race before his gearbox failed on lap 22. A sixth-place finish in San Marino saw Webber move up to 9th in the Championship. In the , hydraulics failure struck again ending his race after he had fought his way back to 12th from his 19th place start on the grid due to a mid-weekend engine change.
The marked the first time Webber failed to make the top 10 cut-off in the new qualifying system and he struggled during the race finishing ninth. Monaco, however, saw a huge improvement with Webber qualifying on the front row, after Michael Schumacher's grid penalty, holding third for a large part of the race before retiring when his exhaust burned a wiring loom. Webber's car was not as disadvantaged as at most other venues, as aerodynamic efficiency is not as important at Monaco.
At the , Webber was taken out on the first lap after an incident with Ralf Schumacher and Scott Speed. In France, Webber suffered a spectacular tyre blowout at maximum speed which he managed to control and return to the pits, parking in the garage. Germany was one of Webber's strongest races of the year where he was on target for a podium finish until mechanical failure stopped him with only 9 laps to go. The was another retirement for Webber as he slid into a barrier in the wet conditions and crushed his front wing under the chassis of the Williams. He finished only 10th in Turkey, where despite running fourth after a first-lap accident, he struggled from then on.
After another disappointing qualifying session at the where he qualified 19th, he finished in tenth place. In China, Webber scored Williams' first point since Rosberg's 7th in the European Grand Prix by finishing eighth, after passing the struggling David Coulthard in the closing stages of the race, after qualifying 14th. He qualified in the same position in Japan, but a lack of grip from his Bridgestone tyres saw him crash out of the race after 39 laps. His last race for Williams and the final race of 2006 at the ended in disappointment. After starting 11th, he contrived to collide with his team-mate Rosberg on the first lap and suffered terminal damage to the rear of the car. As a result, Rosberg had a big shunt at the end of the lap. Overall, it was a generally dismal season for Webber, scoring only 7 points to finish 14th overall in the drivers championship.
After some speculation of Webber joining the Renault team, which was run by Briatore, it was announced on 7 August 2006 that Webber would join Red Bull Racing for to partner David Coulthard, replacing former Jaguar Racing team mate Christian Klien. It is rumoured that Briatore arranged an agreement with Red Bull that, if they offered Webber a race seat, Renault would supply them with engines. On 26 January 2007 the new Red Bull RB3 challenger was unveiled in Spain, and Webber drove the car in a shakedown in Barcelona on the same day. The car featured heavy revisions to the team's previous cars and looked very much like designer Adrian Newey's previous cars which had either won or come close to the World Title. The car was fitted with a Renault RS27 engine.
, with a special Wings for Life livery]]
The potential of both the car and Webber, who had certainly worked well to out-qualify his vastly more experienced team-mate, was highlighted by the closeness they had to other teams which ran the Renault engine and although the Adrian Newey-designed car had flaws which contributed to Webber's scoreless season to that point. Though the pace of the car seemed to be picking up, with Coulthard qualifying in the top-10 for the , Webber was unable to convert his early weekend pace into a competitive grid position due to hydraulic problems. His race was much the same with a similar hydraulic problem leading to him retiring early in the race whilst team-mate Coulthard notched up the team's first points with a fifth place finish.
Webber finally recorded the second podium of his career at the after qualifying in 6th position. A rain spiced race and the retirement of Kimi Räikkönen, who was running third at the time, allowed Webber to claim third on the podium despite almost losing the position on the penultimate corner as he battled with Alexander Wurz.
at the 2007 French Grand Prix]]
His best chance at winning a race occurred at the where, in the wet conditions, Webber ran in 2nd place, setting the 3rd fastest lap of the race after the two McLarens. Towards the end of the race, Webber was running 2nd behind Lewis Hamilton, with no further pit stops to make, when Sebastian Vettel, driver for sister team Scuderia Toro Rosso, ran into the back of him when Hamilton suddenly reduced his speed in poor visibility and heavy rain under a safety car, taking both cars out of the race. He had been lapping faster than Hamilton due to damage on the McLaren's sidepod from contact with Robert Kubica. Out of the current Formula One drivers, until his win at the 2009 German Grand Prix, Webber has had the second highest number of starts without a win, and is often referred to as the "unluckiest man in modern Formula One", a title that was reinforced in Japan as Webber started the race suffering from food poisoning and vomited inside his helmet during the first safety car period. When questioned by ITV's Louise Goodman about the race ending collision Webber commented: "Well it's kids, isn't it. Kids with not enough experience, doing a good job then they fuck it all up," referring to Vettel running into the back of him behind the safety car.
Webber again looked strong at the final race of the season in Brazil. Webber qualified fifth in front of both BMW Saubers and behind only the Ferraris and McLarens. Webber looked strong in the race, running as high as fourth, before yet another mechanical failure brought an end to a disappointing but promising season for the Australian.
As per his contract, Webber started the year in Melbourne with Red Bull Racing. He recorded top-six lap times in each of the three practice sessions, and was on his way to the top ten in the qualifying session when the front right brake disc in his car failed going into turn 6 during Q2, sending him spinning off into the sand trap ending his qualifying session, and resulting in 15th position on the grid. Although starting well, he momentarily went off the track at turn 1 to avoid being involved in contact that had already erupted. Webber made several positions by turn 3 but an incident involving himself, Kazuki Nakajima and Anthony Davidson when he was slightly contacted by Davidson whilst trying to avoid the struggle between the other two drivers, ended his race.
Despite the retirement in Australia, the next 5 rounds saw a string of point-scoring positions, including a 4th at Monaco in the wet, one of the few finishers not to have made a mistake and subsequent pit-in, however his performance was overshadowed by Hamilton's win. Until 2009, this was Webber's best start to an F1 season since 2005 with Williams, managing five consecutive points scoring races.
On the Thursday of the weekend, it was announced that Webber had agreed to a one year extension to his contract at Red Bull Racing, leaving him contracted there until the end of the season. During qualifying for the Grand Prix, Webber equalled his best qualifying position with 2nd position on the grid, in front of Kimi Räikkönen and behind pole position-holder Heikki Kovalainen. As a result of Timo Glock's penalty from the for illegally passing Webber under yellow flags in the final lap(s) of the race, Webber was awarded 8th place and the point that came with it.
At the first night race in Formula One, the , Webber qualified in 13th position. Red Bull pulled in both Webber and David Coulthard for their pit stops as soon as they could when the safety car came on track, due to Nelson Piquet, Jr. crashing, giving them both great track position. This led to Webber running in 2nd place before a gearbox issue put him out of the race on lap 29.
Webber qualified 13th at the . After some first corner incidents he was stranded in last place; from there he progressed up the order, at one point in time sitting in fourth. Following his pit stop he emerged in 10th, with Nick Heidfeld and Nico Rosberg yet to pit, from where he continued to push, regained 8th once the two drivers in 8th and 9th both went in for their final pit stops. With two laps to go, Webber's tyres were close to bald – being compared to slicks. Losing almost 3 seconds a lap to the chasing Ferrari of Felipe Massa, who was on fresh tyres, he defended his point vigorously. Pressured by the Ferrari, he was out-powered by the superior engine of Massa and although great attempts at saving his place were shown, he finished in a hard-fought 9th position, on a one stop strategy which was then upgraded to 8th position after a post-race penalty to Sébastien Bourdais.
In China, Webber's engine failed on the home straight during the final practice session leaving him with a ten-place grid penalty. During qualifying on Saturday afternoon, he ended in 6th after Heidfeld was demoted for impeding Webber's team-mate Coulthard, and so Webber had to start from 16th after his penalty. Webber was on the grid in 16th and managed to end the first lap up four places in 12th before taking the 11th position off Glock on the second lap. By the first pit stop, Webber had overtaken Rubens Barrichello and Piquet Jr. for 9th place, but inevitably dropped back once he had entered the pits. The two-stop strategy that the team had adopted was not successful and Webber finished in 14th place. The was team-mate Coulthard's last race before his retirement from F1. Practice was close with the leading seven cars, including Webber in 7th, being less than a second apart. In Saturday afternoon qualifying, Webber managed 10th on the grid, and finished the race in 9th position.
Webber finished the season in 11th place in the Drivers' Championship with a total of 21 points, his most successful season after at Williams at that point in time.
Webber remained with Red Bull for , where he was joined by Sebastian Vettel after David Coulthard's retirement at the end of 2008. After sustaining a broken leg in a road accident during his charity event in Tasmania in the off-season, he returned to testing on February 11 with steel rods in his leg.
At the opening round in Australia, an error in qualifying left him in 10th on the grid for the start of the race. An incident with Rubens Barrichello, Heikki Kovalainen and Nick Heidfeld saw Webber in a damaged vehicle for the remainder of the race, eventually finishing last under the safety car. Post-race, Webber related his disappointment for not being able to perform well at his home GP after recovering from his broken leg.
The saw Webber qualify seventh and gain two positions due to penalties to other drivers. The race, which was halted early due to monsoonal rains, ended under the safety car with Webber in fourth. He was provisionally placed eighth, but further investigation brought his position up to sixth. He was awarded 1.5 points due to the half-points decision at the conclusion of the race. The proved a breakthrough for Webber. Starting in third position, the race began under the safety car due to heavy rain. Webber eventually brought his car home in second position, marking Webber's career-best finish and was also the first win (and 1–2 finish) for the Red Bull team.
race at the 2009 German Grand Prix]]
The saw Webber qualify fifth fastest and finish third, and he took fifth in Monaco. He followed this up with his equal career best second place in Turkey, equalling this result in the subsequent at Silverstone.
Webber qualified on pole for the first time in Formula One at the Nürburgring for the . This was the first time an Australian driver had claimed pole position since Alan Jones in . He went on to achieve his first Formula One victory despite receiving a drive through penalty early in the race for causing an avoidable collision at the start when he hit the Brawn GP of Rubens Barrichello. Webber went on to dominate the race and win ahead of his teammate Vettel, heading a Red Bull 1–2 and closing the gap to the Brawns in the Constructors' Championship. Webber moved up to third in the drivers' championship after his win, at that time his best position in Formula One, passing Barrichello in the championship standings.
On 23 July, Webber signed a new contract committing him to the Red Bull team for the 2010 Formula One season. Three days later, he finished third in Hungary, moving into second place in the Drivers' Championship. Webber also set his first ever fastest lap in Formula One. On 21 September 2009 the FIA banned Webber's manager, Flavio Briatore, from all FIA related activities and announced that it would not renew the superlicence for any driver managed or otherwise associated with Briatore. Since then, Briatore has been reinstated into Formula One and negotiations concerning management has since been declared legal.
Following his podium at the Hungarian Grand Prix, two ninth placings, two retirements and an unlucky saw Webber drop to fourth in the Championship, collecting no points. However, he went on to win his second Formula One race in Brazil, starting from second position on the grid, securing fourth place in the 2009 Championship. In the final race of the season, Webber managed second behind teammate Vettel. The result was Red Bull Racing's fourth 1–2 result of the season.
At the , Webber crashed into the back of Heikki Kovalainen's Lotus while approaching turn 12 on the ninth lap, flipping his car and crashing into the tyre barrier. Webber received only minor injuries, but retired from the race. This was reminiscent of two aerial backward flips he had at the wheel of a Mercedes-Benz CLR at the 1999 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Webber eventually finished the season in third, behind Vettel and Alonso, having led until the when he crashed out in the early stages. Webber could have won the championship at the final race in Abu Dhabi had he won the race and Alonso had finished no higher than third. Webber's teammate Vettel clinched the title with victory. Despite the disappointment, Webber confirmed that he would return with Red Bull in .
In December 2010, Webber revealed in his new book 'Up Front – 2010, A Season To Remember' that he raced the last four events of the season with a small fracture in his right shoulder, the result of a mountain bike crash sustained while riding at Lysterfield Park in Melbourne, the week before the Japanese Grand Prix. He was on his first mountain bike ride since his Tasmanian accident in 2008 when he crashed trying to avoid a fallen riding companion.
With Webber's switch from Jaguar to Williams at the end of 2004, the challenge was postponed until 2006, when he was able to secure a three-year deal with the Tasmanian Government to hold the event. The 2006 event (now named the "Mark Webber Pure Tasmania Challenge") was held over six days and covered nearly 600 km. Twelve teams competed in the event, and it raised A$500,000 for children's charities.
The 2007 Mark Webber Pure Tasmania Challenge was launched at the 2007 Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne when Webber was joined by sports stars and Kylie Minogue, and Hollywood star Anthony Edwards. The trek was another gruelling physical and mental adventure race about Tasmania in aid of charity but albeit with a new format. Teams competed for honours in two unique categories: the Van Diemen Cup – designed exclusively for corporate teams of four people, and the 2theXtreme Cup – a two person elite team entry. Both categories trekked, kayaked and cycled alongside each other as they covered approximately 450 km through World Heritage wilderness and along the idyllic coast of the Freycinet National Park. It was held from 17–23 November, and for the first time, one of Webber's fellow Formula One drivers, Heikki Kovalainen, joined him in the challenge.
During the 2008 event, Webber broke his leg when his bike collided with a car. He did not suffer any other injuries, but had a pin inserted into his broken bone.
The event was not held in 2009 or 2010.
On 1 December 2010, it was announced that the Challenge would return in 2011. Tourism Tasmania, Mark Webber Challenge Management and Octagon Australia will partner to bring the Challenge back for 2011, 2012 and 2013.
Half points awarded as less than 75% of race distance was completed.
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