Webber Driven at Home

Quiz Mark Webber on motor racing history and he knows enough to tell you that the only two Australian formula one drivers so far to have won a grand prix also went on to win world championships. They were Sir Jack Brabham, the rugged former dirt-track racer who won the title three times in 1959, '60 and '66, and Alan Jones, who repeated the achievement in 1980 driving for Frank Williams, Webber's current employer.

Tomorrow, as Brabham celebrates his 80th birthday, Webber aims to expand that elite group to three drivers as he goes for victory here in Melbourne in the promising Williams-Cosworth FW28 which he drove to sixth place in the season's opening race in Bahrain. "The Australian grand prix is always a special fixture on the formula one calendar because there's a tremendous atmosphere at Albert Park," he said. "There's a big buzz around the city, our recent pace has been encouraging and there's no question we'd like a big points haul here."

A generation ago Jones's tough and uncompromising style sharply defined what Williams and his technical director Patrick Head came to expect from a formula one driver. He was blunt, direct and never the first to blink when it came to jousting in wheel-to-wheel combat.

Webber, 29, may not have Jones's obviously aggressive cutting edge, but his more reserved demeanour should not be interpreted as softness. Not only is he out to prove to Williams that he is a winner, but he has no qualms about going head to head with his gifted young team-mate Nico Rosberg, who showed outstanding form in the first two races of the season.

"If you get nailed on the day, then that's the way it is," said Webber. "Nico is a great guy for the future of the sport. That's really healthy, and I have always believed that if you come into this business and expect to have a comfortable life then you're in the wrong sport."

This is precisely the right attitude for any driver who finds himself in the cockpit of a Williams. Those who feel the need for any sort of emotional life support system out of the car might well be advised to steer well clear of the team. As Keke Rosberg - Nico's father - pointedly remarked after winning the 1982 world championship in a Williams: "The trouble with Frank and Patrick is that they've never forgiven me for not being Alan Jones."

Webber's passion for motor racing developed on the back of the enthusiasm of his father Alan, who was always a huge fan of single-seater racing. In his youth, Webber Snr trekked from the family home at Queanbeyan, 400 miles north of Melbourne, to circuits such as Warwick Farm near Sydney and Lakeside, close to Brisbane, to watch visiting formula one drivers racing in the prestigious Tasman series back in the 1960s.

"I was absolutely fanatical about formula one when I was growing up in the mid-80s and I think to a large extent my father inspired my interest in the sport," said Webber, who later came to England to continue a fledgling career racing Formula Ford single seaters before climbing the ladder through Formula 3000 to the role of test driver for the Benetton team.

Webber made his formula one mark at Albert Park on his debut for Paul Stoddart's Minardi team in 2002. Successfully dodging the debris resulting from a first-corner pile-up which decimated the field, the novice kept his nerve to finish a splendid fifth. It launched his career, propelling him into Jaguar's squad for the next two seasons before signing for Williams at the start of 2005.

He pays tribute to his manager Flavio Briatore, who successfully steered him towards the Williams berth, telling Frank that he could have Webber or Giancarlo Fisichella (whom he also managed), but not both. "I've never allowed myself any regrets," said Webber firmly. "Flavio was always fantastic with me. I made the decision to drive for Frank because I wanted to tick that box. I'd do absolutely anything for the team and I've told them, 'Tell me what you want me to do and I'll be there.'

"I hope and would like to believe that I've established myself as a good operator and that I've done a good job for Williams. We had a bit of a disappointing season last year when we weren't quite able to maintain the competitive momentum of the FW26, the 2004 car, but I've got massive respect for the technical decisions the team have since taken to move forward."

Yet by the same token Webber acknowledged how difficult it can be to build a successful career on formula one's notoriously shifting sands. "It sure can be a bloody fickle business," he said. "There were times in the past when I used to lap Fisichella when I was in the Jaguar, but look at him now.

"But you just have to look forward in this sport, never backwards."