Mark Webber was once told by F1 team boss that he made a ‘mistake’ by not offering him a contract

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Mark Webber finished his Formula 1 career with nine wins, 42 podiums and more than 1000 points.

After making 215 race starts, Mark Webber eventually hung up his helmet at the 2013 Brazilian Grand Prix, finishing second to Red Bull teammate Sebastian Vettel and leapfrogging Lewis Hamilton in the drivers’ championship.

Webber is one of the few drivers who has ended up on the podium on his debut as well, although not because he recorded a top-three finish.

The Australian came home in the points on his F1 debut for Minardi at the 2002 Australian Grand Prix, a remarkable result considering the status of the minnows.

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During his career, Webber only raced for four teams, but he’s still a regular figure in the sport both as a pundit and as Oscar Piastri’s manager.

The nine-time race winner knows all about the driver market from his own experiences, and Webber is now helping Piastri navigate the politics of the F1 paddock.

READ MORE: Ranking the top five Australian F1 drivers of all time, including Daniel Ricciardo and Oscar Piastri

Frank Williams admitted letting Mark Webber join Red Bull was a ‘mistake’

After a season racing for Minardi, Webber joined Jaguar and was under Flavio Briatore’s management during his career.

Three years with the Ford-backed British team came to an end when Red Bull took over, and Webber found himself at Williams.

Frank Williams and Patrick Head had high hopes for their team, but two seasons and just a single podium later, Webber was allowed to join Red Bull to become David Coulthard’s teammate in 2007.

“You could say we made a mistake,” Williams said to Kleine Zeitung, via Drive, when asked about Webber’s departure.

“Our car was a disappointment, and we thought he was a part of that problem. Therefore, he was not our first choice [for 2007].”

Patrick Head added in an interview with The Guardian: “It wasn’t that we thought he wasn’t worth a decent salary, but we’d lost a major sponsor, and we were going through some very tough times commercially,

“For the amount Flavio was asking, we didn’t think we could build a car that would justify keeping him on.

“He was very quick over a single lap, but in our view, he had an occasional tendency to make mistakes in the race and suddenly go off.

“In his first year with Red Bull, he was pretty much the same. But in his second year with them, we noticed that those in-race mistakes disappeared.”

READ MORE: All to know about Williams Racing from team principal to Mercedes ties

Mark Webber realised his own ‘mistake’ when he joined Williams

Webber’s career took off at Red Bull, and after two tricky campaigns, he made the most of the rule changes in 2009 that saw Brawn GP win an unexpected championship.

The Australian driver was in contention to win the 2010 title, but was pipped by Vettel and Fernando Alonso at the final race in Abu Dhabi.

The 49-year-old went on to finish third in the championship on three occasions, and Piastri ended up replicating Webber’s 2010 campaign by ending up in the same position last season.

What was telling about Webber’s career was how quickly he kicked on after leaving Williams.

The Grove-based outfit won a single race in 2012 thanks to Pastor Maldonado, but haven’t returned to the top step of the podium since.

Webber admitted joining Williams was a mistake, and so while the relationship never worked between them, it thankfully didn’t harm his progress too much as he went on to become a multiple race winner.