Webber - Aussie Grit

I HAVE ALWAYS BELIEVED I HAD A BIT OF THE OLD AUSSIE battler in me. When I think of my own Australian sporting heroes, past and present, such as Jack Brabham, Mick Doohan, Steve Waugh and Lleyton Hewitt, as well as talent they all had or have very similar traits: tenacity, the sheer guts and determination to go out there and achieve something thats pretty difficult to do like competing at the highest level on the international stage. To me, thats always been a large part of our make-up in Australia.

Men like them share the same sporting qualities Im most attracted to: integrity, humility and a sense of fair play. They dont constantly go on about what theyve done or belittle their opposition, they show respect. They always bounce back and never give up.

In the world of F1, Im still not sure to this day whether my Aussie battler mentality was the right one to take into the fray week in, week out. But I felt I performed better when I had my back to the wall: in a bizarre way I preferred to be chasing rather than leading. As much as I was encouraged by others from time to time to take a different stance, it was how I felt most comfortable in my own skin and thats all that really matters: being able to look yourself in the mirror.

There is a degree of selfishness involved: after all, youre the one in the cockpit trying to get the job done. Any elite athlete will admit to this side of his or her make-up. Were demanding, we have priorities, we want to focus on areas that are important to us, and nothing else matters. And being an elite athlete is no nine-to-five job: in fact it can come very close to consuming every waking moment, and that makes it particularly tough for those who have to live with you! Luke could certainly testify to that: with so much of our time and energy focused on my career, our home life took a back seat, certainly in the early years. At weekends Ann and I would be off racing somewhere in the UK or Europe, so Luke didnt have the same family life as his friends. With the help of a fantastic support network we did our best to ensure he had as normal a childhood as possible, but he still ribs us to this day about missing out on Sunday roasts and family holidays.

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Looking at my racing heroes like Brabham and Doohan another way, I admit its a shame that I havent done all that they did. Yes, Im a Grand Prix winner, yes, if I had won many more races it would have been nice, and what would be really nice would have been to go out as a World Champion. I didnt, but I gave it everything I had; my talent, my willingness to fly back to Australia in the early days for three frantic days to try to find a sponsor, full of cold sores, stressed out, on the phone crying all those days are the capital we put in the bank. At times we thought Id never even get to Formula 1. Once you reach that level you are constantly learning more about yourself. I would love to have achieved more but the man in the mirror looks back at me and tells me I did the best that I could. Ours may have been a different journey but we got there in the end.

You look at the sporting greats and ask why they got more out of their careers than you did and I know exactly why. Men like Schumacher, Rossi, or rally champion Sbastien Loeb: Ive been fortunate enough to watch all of them at close quarters. They get priorities and compromises right; they can slow things down mentally when theyre operating on the limit. Mental recall is also a huge strength. A small example: I shared a KTM X-Bow car with Sbastien Loeb at a Red Bull event. The passenger had to operate a paintball machine-gun and hit targets while the driver navigated the course. When he got in the car, Loeb was very fussy over pedal positions, seat positions, making sure the seatbelts were sorted for the driver swap so we could win time there. He also ensured the gun was at a perfect height for most of our targets before we set off for the race. He wasnt doing it for fun either: our car won! It was all in the preparation.

Ive been immensely impressed by how Valentino manages to keep finding drive and desire. Even more impressive is his ability to learn new techniques in the twilight of his career. In 2011, when he was at his lowest ebb in terms of results, he was involved in the accident that killed his great friend Marco Simoncelli in the Malaysian MotoGP. To recover from that tragedy, to rekindle the passion for winning when he could so easily have walked away, proved his enduring love of the sport.

Men like them had something extra in each column, or maybe there were some columns I hadnt covered at all. But I believe Aussie grit really helped me a lot; my preparation certainly helped me massively in getting to Formula 1 and surviving in that environment. I was tenacious; I think my bravery helped me as well; and as Lance Armstrong once said to me, Im the most intense Australian hes ever met!

To let that intensity down a little I have always enjoyed watching other sports: Manchester United at Old Trafford, the Olympic Games in London, watching Mo Farah coming off the final bend in the 5000 metres the veins standing out on his neck, a man on the absolute limit and in the loudest stadium I have ever been to in my life! True grit Or the Isle of Man TT: the sheer courage involved in what a man on a motorcycle can do, just off-the-charts stuff I never, ever take days like that for granted.

Ive loved meeting some of the worlds greatest sportspeople too: I once had 10 minutes with Pel. It was just the great footballer, one other person and me in a room and he was such an amazing, friendly gentleman. Pel changed a lot of peoples lives: if he hadnt done what he did, so many others would never have had the opportunity to try to follow in his footsteps. I had a very small taste of that in Pels own backyard, and it simply whetted my appetite. Before my first victory in Brazil, in So Paulo in 2010, I visited a youth boxing club on the Wednesday: I said to Red Bull I wanted to go and see these youngsters and to their credit they helped me make that happen. And it was a great experience: you can see it in their eyes, this is their way to escape and its just brilliant, I really enjoy seeing that spark. You can give them a chance, a bit of light in their lives, something to aspire to.

Some of that feeling spilled over into my decision to help my young fellow Aussie Will Power when he needed someone to give him wings of his own, racing in Europe before going on to really make the grade in the United States. More recently Ive been taking a close interest in young New Zealander Mitch Evans as he finds his way in Europe. While they still need to possess that raw hunger, drive and determination, it seems only logical that young drivers should learn from what I achieved or how I coped with all those setbacks on the way through. David Campese, just to repeat the clearest example, was trying to give a young Aussie bloke wings when he helped me all those years ago. In motor racing and elsewhere I want to give something back in my own modest way in terms of helping people realise their potential. The word cant is not really on: encouraging people to understand that, accept it and then act accordingly is a very rewarding thing to do and see.

In certain cases success comes only if you are prepared to put your reputation your own self-respect at risk. Think Michael Schumacher at La Rascasse back in 2006 when he deliberately parked his car in qualifying for the Monaco GP after he messed up his own lap. More recently, Seb exposed a side of himself that was at odds with his cheerful, boyishly charming image with that egotistical, Numero uno forefinger gesture to the cameras after every pole, every victory. The public rarely see F1 drivers with their helmets off, which is why I removed mine on my slow-down lap at my final F1 race in Brazil. Its really only the men on the podium the fans get a good look at, and I thought Seb repeatedly shoving his finger in front of the camera could have a negative effect, not just on how he was perceived by the fans but, more importantly in my eyes, by other elite sportspeople. You want to earn their respect. You do that when you win with sincerity, style and grace, the way Roger Federer always has.