How I got my body: Mark Webber, F1 driver

17 October 2009, 23:26:00 | Tom Lamont

How I got my body: Mark Webber, F1 driver

Born in New South Wales on 27 August 1976, Aussie driver Mark Webber made his debut in Formula One with Minardi in 2002. After stints with Jaguar and Williams, Webber joined Red Bull Racing in 2007, going on to win his first grand prix in Germany in July this year. He lives in Buckinghamshire with his English partner, Ann.


Staying still is important in an F1 car. If we move around in the seat we're wasting energy. So despite the speeds we go around corners, we have to hold our heads static. The forces we're subjected to during braking are incredible – on, off, on, off.

In terms of the effect on our necks, we experience three or four decent car crashes every lap. If you did five laps with me, and went to the doctor afterwards, he'd diagnose you with whiplash. I go to a clinic and wear a special helmet attached to pulleys and weights, to build up neck strength.


My left arse cheek hurts the most after a race. We brake with our left leg – 60 kilos of pressure, 10 times a lap – and the glutes are a massive part of our stability in the car. Though our seats are perfectly tailored to our arses, the whole pelvis area gets very achey.


I broke my right leg in a bicycle accident last year, and felt lucky. At the scene of the crash [in Tasmania, part of Webber's annual fundraising cycling event] we weren't sure if my left femur was gone too – and if I'd broken that leg I would have been in a lot of trouble because of the braking.


My worst scar is from the French grand prix in 2005. A plug popped off one of the pipes in the cockpit, and the heat basically blowtorched through my fireproofs, through my underwear, and peeled back the skin on my hip. It happened early on in the race and I told my team I was thinking about retiring. They weren't too keen on that. So I did the whole race, 50-odd laps. The crew splashed cold water into the cockpit during pit stops, but that only helped for a lap or two.


I'm one of the tallest drivers on the grid. If I was racing in the 80s or 90s, I would have been in big shit. But the cars have got bigger. I've tried getting into the old F1 cockpits. Can't do it.


I don't really drink alcohol, except champagne on the podium. It's usually warm because it's been sitting in the sun for ages. Otherwise, I eat what I like, when I need to. My weight hasn't changed for 20 years.


In Fuji, a few years ago, I got food poisoning before a race. As we say in Australia, I felt as low as shark shit, and I was sick in the car, right inside my helmet. I didn't finish the race – I got taken out by Sebastian [Vettel, now Webber's Red Bull team-mate] – but vomit wasn't the reason for retirement.