24 January 2023 , 20:00
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Mark Webber called out some modern-day Formula 1 drivers over their "bulls***" complaints about their career "sacrifices".
Webber faced plenty of adversity during his own F1 career, which yielded nine race wins between 2002 and 2013. In particular, his final years in the sport racing for Red Bull saw him come to blows regularly with team-mate Sebastian Vettel, and left the Australian feeling mistreated.
Perhaps with his own battles in mind, the 46-year-old did not mince his words when speaking about some current drivers. "Let's not beat around the bush – you're paid a handsome sum of money to do a very, very phenomenal job, and that's not a burden," he told the Performance Hackers podcast.
"I never spoke about sacrifices. People talk about sacrifices and that I gave a lot up – I think that's an absolute load of bulls**t. Because if you want something enough...
“These young drivers have come from Australia and [say]: 'I have made all these sacrifices'. Well, they aren't. If it's a sacrifice already, then I think you're on the back foot.
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"It's all upside for me, in terms of exposing yourself and working with the best people and getting the best out of yourself. Even the last three years of my career, I was on a one-year contract because I was right on the edge of being replaced.
Mark Webber won nine F1 races in his own career (PA)"I did take that as a fire right behind me to continue to deliver and say: 'I'm going to be renewed if I bring value to this operation, I bring value to myself and the people around me, my team, and I've got pride in how I go about it'."
As Webber can attest to, F1 can be a brutal and cold world and that does make it difficult for drivers. As he recalled, the Aussie spent much of his career without being able to be too certain about his long-term future, but the right attitude to have, in his mind, is to not dwell on what you cannot control.
Webber added: "My first contract in F1 was for two races, can you believe that? It was three weeks. So, really brutal, but I had no cards at the table. That's how it was. So what am I going to do, spill milk or step up?"