Mark Webber assesses the current level of F1

Hired by Porsche, Mark Webber knows the F1 environment in which he won 9 times. He praises the quality of some drivers but finds others quite weak. He takes the opportunity to criticize Marcus Ericsson and Felipe Nasr, pay drivers, who, in his opinion, do not help the discipline: « These guys have phenomenal levels, but the depth has never been so weak. We need to have high-level drivers, as they have at the very top of the grid, the cars need to be faster ».

If pay drivers help teams complete their annual budget, for Mark Webber it’s not a good thing as he explains on the BBC: « If you go towards the back of the grid, there are a lot of pay drivers and that’s not a good thing ».

Wednesday evening, the former Williams driver spoke in the latest edition of the F1 Midweek report where he reiterated the same criticisms he had made on the BBC: « Formula 1 has quality drivers at the front of the pack, but I still think that drivers who come with financial backing have too much power in F1. They decide how long they stay in F1 and which team they want to race for ».

If he criticized the Sauber drivers, Mark Webber does not understand why Pastor Maldonado is still in F1:

« For example, Pastor who states: « I haven’t made a decision yet, I don’t know where I’m going next year » how does this sport work? If you’re not performing well enough in your single-seater, then leave man ».

He reflects on his own beginnings in F1, where he believes that when a young driver arrived, it was thanks to their performance and not due to their status as a paying driver: « There have always been drivers with financial support, don’t get me wrong, but when I started in 2002 with Minardi, even in 2010 or back in the 90s, I think the guys earned their place when they arrived in F1 thanks to their performance in the junior categories and not due to their financial backing ».