Motorsport: Webber's win just reward for maligned racer

MELBOURNE - When Mark Webber was spiralling through the air at 300km/h in an out-of-control Mercedes at Le Mans in 1999 a career of any sort looked doubtful.

When he announced in triumph that he had joined the Formula One giant Williams in 2005, only to watch the team turn to dust, his dreams evaporated again.

And when he broke his leg in a bicycle crash in Tasmania last year just weeks before crucial pre-season testing for the 2009 F1 season, it appeared unlikely he would take his place in the Red Bull outfit in time for the first race.

Mark Webber has had more doubters than believers in his native country.

He has contributed to some poor finishes but in large part he has been the victim of unworthy machinery and simple bad luck.

Webber's maiden Formula One win at the legendary Nurburgring in Germany overnight was a rare feat for any F1 driver with his background.

He was not a debonair European or South American playboy driver backed by massive sponsorship dollars which guaranteed him a seat in an F1 car.

Webber came up the hard way, in the tradition of Australians of the past who risked everything to pursue an improbable dream abroad with borrowed cash and nothing but persistence, grit and raw talent to bulldoze a pathway through a field of rich kids.

From local motorcycle racing he moved to karting in 1991 at the age of 14 and on to the Australian Formula Ford series where he won several times but most importantly, met Ann Neal, the Englishwoman who was to become his unstoppable public relations campaigner and ensured he had the right connections when he moved to Britain.

In 1996 he won four times in the British Formula Ford series but money was quickly running out and Webber's future looked bleak before Australian rugby union great David Campese lent him the money to finish the 1997 season.

He was approached by Mercedes-AMG to drive in the FIA GT Championship and with this would come one of Webber's defining motorsport moments.

During practice for the 1999 Le Mans 24 Hours race Webber's aerodynamically-flawed car flipped twice in separate runs down the Mulsanne Straight at 300 km/h.

As his car somersaulted towards the forest Webber said later his only thought had been of trying to wrench open the door to escape if it exploded in flames.

The Australian walked away and advised Mercedes to "burn the lot". He was stunned to be asked why he was wrecking their cars.

Then, another white knight stepped in - rough and tumble compatriot Paul Stoddart, who handed over $1million for him to race in Formula 3000, where he finished third on debut in 2000 and second in 2001, while also a Benetton F1 team test driver.

Webber finally moved to F1 with Stoddart's Minardi team in 2002 and, miraculously, finished fifth on debut at his home race at Albert Park, his ailing black car keeping at bay Mika Salo's Ferrari amid scenes of jubilation.

One season later he was picked up by the under-funded Jaguar team.

Webber over-performed with Jaguar, qualifying several times well beyond the car's accepted status. He also saw off a string of team-mates.

Then came Webber's crucial mistake. Ignoring the advice of his manager Flavio Briatore to take up a drive with Renault in 2005, Webber went to Williams for whom Australian Alan Jones had won the 1980 world championship.

Possibly spurred by boyhood memories of the once-great team, he quickly realised Williams was a cardboard cutout of its earlier incarnation.

Renault's Fernando Alonso, meanwhile, became world champion in 2005 and 2006.

His cars were ridiculously unreliable and Webber got the blame from those not in the know for failing to finish.

He did score his first podium, third place in Monaco in 2005, but the following year suffered an extraordinary 11 race retirements.

Webber walked away in disgust, later saying he was "lucky to get out alive" from the team.

He was picked up by Red Bull in 2007 and had two ordinary years punctuated by a third at the European GP.

Last year Ferrari and McLaren both neglected development of their 2009 cars as they duelled to the end of the season for the world title - unlike Honda which was bought by ex Ferrari chief Ross Brawn and renamed Brawn, and Red Bull, now the championship pacesetters.

Webber has revelled in the new car's ability under engineering genius Adrian Newey and in the lead-up to his breakthrough victory, took second placings this year in China, Turkey and England and a third in Spain.

The great irony for Webber is that the one time he has a winning car he has, for the first time in his career, a teammate in German Christian Vettel, who has generally out-qualified him.

Webber in recent years has been philosophical about his inability to triumph, saying he never thought he would ever race in Formula One.

But now he can have the last word.

It was the "hello" which offered to his detractors after winning in Germany - a clear pointer to his ability given the right machine.

- AAP