AUSTRALIAN F1 DRIVER Mark Webber says that he will resist the temptation to favour Australians in the hunt for drivers for his GP3 team MW Arden.
The team, which Webber started with Red Bull Racing boss Christian Horner, will race in next year’s GP3 series - a feeder series for GP2 and a training ground for F1 hopefuls.
Speaking with Autosport, Webber said that while young Aussies might be a preference, the number one aim is to put the team in the best position to win.
"Yes, there is going to be a part of me that leans toward my part of the world," Webber said.
"But we’re in a performance business and Christian and I have exactly the same mentality about this team – we want to be toward the front and we will do whatever we can to get there."
Webber himself will test the team’s car next week at Paul Ricard as part of a promotional event.
The GP3 series was conceived by Bernie Ecclestone and disgraced Renault F1 boss Flavio Briatore.
GP3 races will be run exclusively in Europe, each car using a Dallara built chassis and drawing power from a 209kW Renault engine.
Unlike the multi-million dollar budgets required to field an F1 team, GP3’s organisers claim a full season in the new series can be run for just under $1 million.
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What a shame, every other person and company in open wheeler racing favours their own country men, why won’t Webber do the same if he is in a position to do so? Seems a little unpatriotic to me. I’m not saying he should put mugs into the drivers seat, but surely we have enough Australian talent to at least give a look in.
Some of the drivers in F1 at the moment are pathetic, so I don’t think they are picking from the best talent pool anyway, maybe the wealthiest talent pool. Ahhhh Mr Webber you forget where you came from and how hard it was for you, now you want to be the only Australian there, shame!
That is a shame. Why wouldnt he give the aussies a go. It is already so hard to get into this area of racing, why would he not give his own country men a chance?
Mark, you have lost a little of my respect!
I wonder wether Josh and Jess have aven read the article above or just the headline. Motor racing at the elite level is far more business than sport and as such decisions aren’t alwyas based on patriotism or national pride, if you recall they tried that with A1GP and it didn’t exactly set the world on fire.
And furthermore it irks me to the point of putting fingers to keyboard that ignorant grandstanders can call anyone in F1 a pathetic driver. even the least successful and underfunded drivers are incredibly gifted and would leave 99% of the rest of the racing world in the shade.
My two cents!
If they are good enough they will get the drive.
Exactly, if they are good enough they will get a drive, its not just Mark’s team, its Horner’s team as well. But if if they had to choose between 2 drivers of equal ability, I don’t doubt the Aussie would get the nod.
Looks like Red Bull a testing an Aussie thats good enough anyway - Daniel Ricciardo