How Eddie Jordan Saved Mark Webber's Career

Became an official pilot Mercedes en Endurance, Mark Webber has had two flights to the 24 Hours of Le Mans 1999. The third, suffered by Peter Dumbreck in a race, sealed the fate of the star brand in competition beyond the current year. The Australian found himself without a drive, and without prospects for the future. As he explained in the "Formula For Success" podcast alongside David Coulthard, a certain Eddie Jordan would become a central figure in his path to Formula 1, a championship he achieved in 2002.

"I didn't have a steering wheel anymore at the end of 1999, nothing at all.", he explained in the podcast Jordan hosted before his death. “At the endurance level with Mercedes, I was paid around 50 Deutsche Marks a year, and we had a lot of problems that year. I was unemployed, and above all, I was no longer wanted.” That’s when he did everything he could to get in touch with Jordan: “I started calling his assistant Gisele non-stop. She was brilliant, a real watchdog, and she never put me on Eddie! So I thought I’d follow him out of the factory. I followed him to a gas station, got out, and said, ‘Eddie, I’d love a chance, even a straight test, just a chance to work with you if possible.’”

I think he saw the hunger and the will that were in me, and he told me that he had to introduce me to Paul Stoddart (boss in F3000 and future owner of Minardi. Editor's note). We went to Silverstone a week later, he introduced me to "Stoddie", and history was made.

A F3000 competitor with Stoddart's team, Webber made the step up to Formula 1 in 2002 with Minardi. He made a lasting impression in his first Grand Prix with a fifth-place finish on home soil in Melbourne. The two men even climbed onto the podium with the help of the local organizers, to celebrate this achievement with the entire crowd present. Webber then continued his career at Jaguar, Williams et Red Bull, a team with which he won nine victories, before returning to Endurance and the 24 Hours of Le Mans with Porsche in 2015.

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