It is lunchtime and I am driving home from Germany. It is a lovely summer day and tomorrow is Bastille Day and so intend to have a picnic and watch the fireworks on the banks of some sunny French river. I have decided that this is going to be a good week for me, no matter what the FIA, FOTA and FOM get up to. Life is too short to waste summer days worrying about it. Yesterday at the Nurburgring was good. Mark Webber drove a super race. He won in style and as the played Advance Australia Fair I found myself feeling rather emotional. Sometimes after a race I happy – usually actually – there is no-one winning at the moment who I don’t like or do not trust. But this was different. I have been a Webber fan since long before he was famous. I worked for 15 years for a leading Australian Motorsport mag – there are not many of them – and so we got to know each other well. I have known his partner Ann for even longer and over the years I have taken a lot of grief for believing in Mark, just as I still believe in Tonio Liuzzi and take a lot of ribbing about that. That is the way it is.
When they played the Aussie anthem it was just a nice feeling to hear the notes and enjoy Mark’s happiness. He deserves the success. He has been through the mill to make it and has had the force of character to stay his own man. To have his own opinions and to speak out when feels strongly about something. What I like most however is that he believes that it is not just about winning. It is about winning in the right way… It is a concept that some in this sport cannot grasp – and that I think is what makes this special.
I also loved it that Mark said “Hello” to all those who did not believe in him…
That’s style..,
I hope that we hear Advance Australia Fair a lot more..,
Finally!!!! Congratulations to Mark Webber on a sensational drive. It has been a long wait between F1 wins for us Aussies – when Alan Jones last won, Advance Australia Fair wasn’t even our national anthem – we were still singing God Save the Queen!! Maybe those Aussie “doubters” can now start believing in Mark’s ability.
It was good to finally see him win … and I’m a kiwi so that means a lot for me to say I support an Aussie!
But Mark is a top bloke and I hope he gets to make a proper run on the championship now.
Enjoy your Bastille Day celebrations – I remember fondly my summer holidays as a child in France and one year we sat and had an evening picnic near an old ruined chateau to watch the fireworks with friends … good times!
It was a great win and it was a good win even with a drive-through.
I think the racing was good too, very tense when Alonso was hunting down the Brawns who seemed to be eating their tyres.
Räikkönen now surely is Sutil’s nemesis.
Joe, it was fantastic to see Mark finally on the top step. It was nerve wracking watching the race, waiting for his terrible luck to snatch the race from him, but he wasn’t to be denied.
Fantastic after all the politics, and all the spite from Max, to have a genuinely nice guy win his first race when so many thought his time was gone. I just hope there are many more.
Go you good thing!
I couldn’t agree more Joe, and certainly the sense I had yesterday was that it was the most popular win in many years. The man has a lot of friends, and has truly shown his mettle by matching young Vettel (that “bloody kid”
) this year. Many people thought he would be blown away, but even with the injury problem he has shown just how good he is when given the right equipment.
I’m so pleased for him. I had 50p each way on him (yes, I’m a major player) and won 90p. So that was nice too.
I must admit Webber was saying hello to me… sort of. I didn’t doubt he could ever win a race but I never expected him to beat Vettel in a straight fight, but he destroyed him yesterday. I’ve criticised some of his performances this season, especially in qualifying, but the reality is he’s scored plenty of points and finished in front of Vettel a few times. And all this has happened within a few months of what sounded like a really nasty broken leg. So congratulations to Mark Webber!
And it’s interesting that you mention Tonio Liuzzi, Joe, I’ve noticed over the years that you seem to rate him highly. I must admit I saw little to suggest he was a potential superstar while he was at Toro Rosso, but as with Webber I’d be happy to be proved wrong. He mentioned
in an interview on the BBC on Saturday that he will probably be racing next season, for one of the current teams. Have you heard who this might be?
C’était sympa de voir un pilote fier de son drapeau sur le podium !!! Joe a raison, Mark est un pilote qui a de la classe, du caractère, un pilote à l’ancienne j’oserai dire !!!
Totally agree with you joe and great to see a so-called “journeyman” show that he is so much more
And also a massive contrast to the ill-considered comments from Rubens
Hope you have a great week
Like you I’ve long been convinced that Mark had *it* (you don’t stick a Jaguar on the front row without being pretty special, and he was in contention for victory at Monaco in the hardly stellar 06 Williams too) and he strikes me as one of the most down to earth guys in the F1 field too. Great to see him win.
Have a good week
Hooray for Webber and for the championship battle getting closer.
I haven’t seen this mentioned yet, and certainly it didn’t get addressed fully in U.S. TV coverage… the assessment of his drive-through penalty could have played much differently. If he had to drive through on lap 5 instead of lap 14, his track position would have likely prevented him from a win.
The story of a drive-through-and-win will go down well in the books, but a more rapid decision by the stewards could easily have extended his streak beyond 130.
It was great to see Mark Webber win; long time coming – but worth the wait. I don’t think there has been such a popular winner for years. He won in style and now has a shot at the title. Red Bull have got to take as many points off the weakened Brawn as they can before the team re-groups; they have got to make hey while the sun shines…
S.
Absolutely agree 100%, though I guess I would having been a Webber fan for the past decade or so! But bias aside, the straight-talking Aussie is like a breath of fresh air in the corporate world that is F1 and thankfully Red Bull give him the chance to say what he feels.
Listening to his post-race conversation with the pitwall was overwhelming and I admit I had a bit of a tear in my eye, or was that grit?!!
Thoroughly deserved and hopefully the floodgates have been opened.
I wonder now where the people are that used to call him just a one-lap specialist eh?
Joe
Yes it was great to see Webber finally crack a win I had my doubts when he got that drive through but he came through in style to knock Vettel off in front of his home crowd. So much for the one lap specialist. And with a pin in his leg too.
Hey, Joe. Do you know anything about Fernando Alonso setting up a professional cycling team? Apparently Spanish press are talking about Alonso being interested in hiring Alberto Contador and setting up a team around him.
Joe,
It was in that Australian motorsport mag that I first encountered your work. Now that you don’t write for them anymore, I’ve stopped buying it regularly. Nothing against them, but I was much relieved to find your blog and more recently your podcast contributions.
As an Aussie F1 fan, I now anticipate having to explain to my friends who don’t follow F1, that Mr Webbers’ driving has not suddenly improved, rather that he finally has the car to do the job!
Very happy to read your thoughts on this one. Been a Webber fan for his whole career. The only problem is that now he is making it all the way through a race, – have to stay up later.