Mark Webber could be forgiven for wanting to pinch himself to make sure the past year wasn’t a dream. It’s really no surprise as the driver, in his quest to become the first Australian to maintain a permanent place in Formula 1 in over a decade, has managed to attract two very different sporting giants – Rugby Australia. The league’s sponsorship stars David Campes and Mercedes sporting director Norbert Haug.

“I wake up very happy every morning,” admits Webb, 21, who began struggling to raise a budget to compete in the British Formula Three Championship in 1997 and ended up driving Michael’s same junior Mercedes project. Schumacher, Heinz-Harald Frentzen and Jan Magnussen enter F1.

“I remember looking at pictures of Schumacher, Frentzen and (Carl) Wendlinger (who made up Mercedes’ junior sports car team in the early 90s) on the karting and thinking ‘imagine that’. And here I am, being looked after by Mercedes.”

Webber readily admits he would never have completed the F3 season without funding from Campese and Mercedes, where he finished fourth in the British Championship and won the season-ending Macau Grand Prix. fourth place. “David (Campes) poached me once,” he said, “and then Mercedes poached me again in the middle of the season.

“After winning the Formula Ford Festival at the end of 1996, I needed to build a profile in Australia to help secure sponsorship to get me into British F3,” he explained. “I wanted a connection with David so I could dangle in front of sponsors. The connection with David was that we were both from the same place in New South Wales; in fact, we were born in Queanbeyan The same hospital. When we got in touch, he said he was starting a sports marketing company.”

Webber explained that while Campese’s company had contributed significantly to his F3 budget, the coffers were all but empty after five races in the Autosport-backed British F3 series. “I would give it my all and take a lot of risks to come into F3, but although we had some good results, our backs were firmly against the wall.

Webb came to attention when he won the Formula Ford Festival at Brands Hatch in 1996

Photograph: Andre Vor/Sutton Images

“Then I got the best call a young driver could get: Norbert Haug said he wanted me to do a test on the CLK-GTR,” said Webb, who introduced the three-pointed star’s sports boss myself at the Australian Grand Prix at the beginning of the year. “Mercedes did save my F3 season. They did it after seeing that I had only driven 40 laps. They were in the wet.

Haug seemed impressed not only by Webber’s success in Formula Ford and F3, but also by the fact that he was “going his own way without a lot of sponsorship”. According to his new boss, the Australian has all the “basic ingredients”. “If you win the festival, that represents you,” Haug said. “Mark is also mature for his age and I think that’s important.”

Webber has three tests following his CLK-GTR debut and is now looking ahead to the FIA ​​GT Championship in Oschersleben near Berlin in two weeks’ time. He said it was purely “newspaper talk” about him joining Nick Heidfeld, another Mercedes-backed youngster in the McLaren-run West Competition Formula 3000 team, or even Bertram Schafer Racing in the German F3 championship, he said.

“I’ve been hired to help Mercedes defend their FIA title since last year, but I want to challenge strongly to win the race. As far as my career is concerned, if the driver does well, Mercedes will reward him”

“I’m very happy to race the CLK; it’s going to be a fantastic experience. If you asked me whether I’d prefer to drive a GT or an F3 car, I’d say GT because of the power,” Weber said, referring to the CLK-GTR’s seven-litre The V12, is believed to push out over 600 horsepower. “The important thing is that these cars are still very fast. You brake very late and the aerodynamics play a big role.”

These are great experiences for an F1 aspiring driver, or even one looking to follow another Mercedes junior, Dario Franchitti, into the CART Championship series. But Webb said he hasn’t planned for his future yet.

“I’m going to go to every test and every race and see how it turns out. I have a lot to learn in GT racing, like handling traffic. The races will be completely different from the 20-lap cars I’m used to in F3. But whatever Whatever I do in the future, it will be a good experience, even if I end up doing GT for 20 years.”

Later that year, Webber would start the Mercedes on pole at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, but retired after just 19 laps

Photograph: Rainer W. Schlegelmilch / motorsport pictures

Hauge also won’t be attracted to what the 3-point star has in store for Webber. It’s worth pointing out, though, that the Australian is an official member of the factory AMG team, while reigning F3000 international champion Ricardo Zonta had to secure a place in Persson Motorsport, which is effectively Mercedes Adams’ semi-finished FIA series.

“There was no plan,” said Haug, who teamed up with Webber’s teammate Marcel Thiemann. “That would be completely wrong. Mark is on a really good team and he has the opportunity to show himself in a good way. If he does that, then we’re going to have to start thinking about the next step. I wouldn’t say Mark will end up Into F1, but if he’s strong enough there might be a chance.”

However, Webber has made no secret of his desire for F1. “I’m very competitive and very eager, so I’d be disappointed if I didn’t achieve my last dream. But on the other hand, I’ve achieved a lot of dreams: coming to England and racing; winning festivals; then doing F3.

“I’ve been hired to help Mercedes defend their FIA title since last year, but I wanted to challenge hard to win. As far as my career is concerned, if the driver does well, Mercedes will give Reward – I’m up for the challenge.”

Webber was runner-up for Mercedes in the 1998 FIA GT Championship

Photography: Ralph Hardwick