Q&A with Mark Webber

Mark Webber discusses his relationship with Sebastian Vettel, his highlights of 2012 and his future…

Mark Webber discusses his relationship with Sebastian Vettel, his highlights of 2012 and his future.

Q. It’s been a long year, such a gruelling year, what are your plans now for winter? I understand that you will spend quite a lot of time in Australia like last year, Tasmania Challenge?
MW: “Yes I’m flying to Australia tonight, I’ve got my Tasmania Challenge which is very important to me for several reasons. Cancer has been pretty tough in my family so I’d like to put something back into the community in Australia. We’ve set up some adventure race where people come and inter and come and do a 5 day healthy day discipline sort of event. Its our biggest year this year we’re having so I’m bloody excited about that. The race starts tomorrow…”

Q. Relaxing then?!
MW: “I’ll be doing that. I’ll be on the course on Friday and Saturday having a bit of a look around doing some mountain biking. The water stuff we’re doing is pretty awesome so I want to go and look at that.”

Q. Tell us about your relationship with Seb, do you guys get on well?
MW: “We’ve been up and down, probably like any relationship or marriage. Sometimes its great and sometimes you need to work at it a bit more. We obviously have good respect for each other. I think ultimately what’s at stake, its not possible for us to be super close but in general it’s good. It’s quite funny after India, apparently the German media were picking up on something where we were into each other big time and having huge problems with each other, but I was on Seb’s plane that night together travelling with him. With team-mates it’s always a testy relationship where I think you get closer when you stop. Its like with David Coulthard and myself, we were okay as team mates, good respect, but as soon as you stop the guard comes down and you are closer.”

Q. When you hear about the late nights these guys back in MK put in how much do you appreciate it and how much do you feel it when you’re at the track?
MW: “You really think about it a lot when you have some success. You don’t think about it when the car stops but you think about it when you have success, when you’re leading the last laps of the GP and it all starts to come to you – the effort that goes to get that car in that position. There are so many micro balances going on, just look at Monaco GP weekend, if you had a fly on the wall on what goes on getting that car in the environment they work in, it’s very impressive.”

Q. Mark, what about your own future. Is the fact that you’re still winning races and still measuring yourself against the best enough to continue?
MW: “Yes, so long as you still have something to offer yourself, you continue. If I turned up, or any driver turned up, and said well I can’t win the championship, then you would only have two or three drivers on the grid. That’s my goal, to put together a campaign for which I have fought for championships. I have had some good and very special memories in the last two or three years. I’m not at the start of my career I know that, I’m more to the back end of my career, but when you’re no longer performing at your peak, or where your peak was, then you have to be real with yourself and say it’s the right time now to stop, and I don’t think it’s the right time now. If I got spanked 20-0 in qualifying and was literally not on the radar, then yeah, its obvious, but until that point comes and I’m motivated, I’ll keep competing.”

Q. What were the highlights of your season?
MW: “That would have to be the wins in Silverstone and Monaco. They are two special races. There were ups and downs this season – it was perhaps not as consistent as I would have liked – but there were some strong finishes. I’m now looking forward to a good break and to coming back strong next year.”

Source – Red Bull