071 Mark Webber on racing in formula one

This week’s guest former Formula One driver Mark Webber. During his career Mark won nine Formula one Grands Prix, finishing third on three occasions, while driving for Red Bull racing. Mark has also won the FIA World Endurance Championship with Porsche.

In this interview I ask mark about how he’s making sense of his career now that he’s retired and hear all about a strange mix of feeling fortunate and experiencing the loss of his career. We discuss physically and mentally what he felt he was losing that meant he wasn’t able to compete. Mark shares how he with the help of his father was stretching to ever higher standards and he offers a fascinating insight into competing against the very best in Michael Schumacher. In a really powerful section Mark divulges what it was like to experience some of the most severe and spectacular (in the factual sense of the word) crashes. Perhaps what was just as fascinating was how Mark processed his thoughts and what struck me about this discussion was how effective Mark is at using frameworks to move to action, deliver the necessary behaviours, discipline and focus required to ascend, recover and improve. Much of this is self-taught, instinctive and so perhaps is a talent itself.

 

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Show notes

Mark discusses how covid-19 has affected him and Formula 1

Personality traits, competition scenarios and keeping perspective/composure

Retirement and career reflections

Levels of boredom

Mark does not want to get in a grand prix car again

Grand prix driving is a young mans’ game

It’s tough at the top, winning, tough conversation/messages and self-discipline to adapt

Mark’s youth, how did he rise to the top?

The subtlety of feedback

The paranoid perfection pressure

The crunch moment – not having a plan B

Moments when Mark new he was ‘good’

Winning in Europe

Michael Schumacher the desire, pressure, belief and risks

Adapting to scenarios, team mates and pressures

The crashes

Providing support to others

Hindsight is their foresight

Doing the basics brilliantly and focus on yourself

 

Links

Mark Webber on Twitter

https://twitter.com/AussieGrit

and Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/aussiegrit/

Supporting Champions on Twitter www.twitter.com/support_champs

Steve Ingham on Twitter www.twitter.com/ingham_steve

Supporting Champions on Linkedin, www.linkedin.com/company/supporting-champions

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/supportingchampions/

 

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