Mark Webber: The Truth About Vettel, Red Bull and Why I Was Never Their Number One
The High Performance Podcast
High Performance
4.6 • 4.8K Ratings
🗓️ 20 March 2026
⏱️ 46 minutes
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Summary
Mark Webber came from a small town in rural Australia with no money, no connections, and a body the wrong size for a Formula One car. He made it to the very top anyway, achieving nine Grand Prix wins, 42 podiums and World Endurance Champion - becoming one of the most respected drivers of his generation.
We re-visit this conversation with Mark, where he opens up about the years at Red Bull when he believed his own team was favouring Sebastian Vettel at every turn. Engines allegedly turned down when he was catching his teammate. A new front wing arriving at the track and going to the other car. A World Championship slipping away in the final race of the season. It got so bad that Mark did something almost unheard of in Formula One — he wrote a private letter directly to the man who owned the entire operation.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | When you're getting right to the end of a championship, you start to see shadows, you start to see, you know, is he with me or is he not with me? |
| 0:08.4 | You know, is she with me or what, you know, where are their loyalties really? But ultimately... How good did it feel, though, when you said, not bad for a number two driver, did it feel good? Yeah, of course, yeah. Well, and I had one to say out the day before, but, you know, I had to wait another day until I won. |
| 0:19.7 | This is not lawn bowls, mate. |
| 0:20.8 | Not anything against people out there play lawn bowls, but there was a lot at stake. |
| 0:24.7 | And, of course... I had I wanted to say it the day before, but, you know, I had to wait another day until I won. This is not lawn bowls, mate. |
| 0:39.1 | Not anything against people out there play lawn bowls, but there was a lot at stake. And of course, with a lot at stake, there's going to be feathers ruffled every now and again. What does it actually feel like to be the best in the world and still feel like you're being treated as second best. Well, today's guest is Mark Webb, |
| 0:44.5 | nine-time Formula One Grand Prix winner. He got 42 podiums in his career. He became the World Endurance Champion, without question, one of the nicest guys that I met in my time working |
| 0:49.2 | in Formula One. And as a guy, he is one of the most respected racing drivers of his generation. |
| 0:55.0 | But you know what makes his story extraordinary? |
| 0:57.2 | It isn't the trophies. |
| 0:58.6 | It's how he got them. |
| 1:00.2 | He had a teammate in Sebastian Vettel who he believed the team favoured at every turn, |
| 1:04.9 | whether that's engines being turned down, new front wings being handed to the other car, |
| 1:09.1 | a championship sleeping away in the final |
| 1:11.0 | races of the season. You know, it got so bad that Mark did something almost unheard of in |
| 1:15.8 | Formula One, wrote a private letter directly to the man who ran the entire operation, Dietrich |
| 1:22.7 | Mattershitz. In this conversation, Mark opens up about all of it, what it took to stay in the fight, how he turned the anger into fuel, |
| 1:30.1 | why he ended up winning nine Grand Prix in a car, |
| 1:32.4 | some people didn't even want him to drive, |
| 1:35.0 | and what it really felt like to, in his words, be a number two driver. |
| 1:39.8 | This is one of my favourite conversations on the show, |
| 1:42.0 | as we welcome to high performance, |
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