For immediate release                                                                September 17 2000

Mark Webber set the F1 pit lane buzzing after setting the fastest time in testing at Estoril (Portugal) last week in his first major test with the Mild Seven Benetton Playlife Formula One team. The 24-year old Australian from Queanbeyan, NSW completed 147 laps over the three day test as Benetton continued to assess him as a possible test driver for their world championship winning team next season. 

Webber who has never driven at Estoril before, shared the track on the first day (September 11) with Williams driver, Ralf Schumacher, and at the close of play was only 4/10ths of a second off Schumacher’s best time with a best lap of 1min 23.5s.

However, in a bid to obtain a more direct comparison, Benetton flew in their number 1 driver, Giancarlo Fisichella, to drive the car on Tuesday morning, with the Italian setting a benchmark time of 1min 21.710s. Having been told by the team that they would be satisfied to see him come within 6/10ths of Fisichella’s time, Webber’s big opportunity finally came on Wednesday morning when he was given the same tyres and fuel load as Fisichella, and sent out for his make-or-break run. Webber stunned the team when he set a time of 1min 21.712s, just 2/1000ths of a second slower than their regular driver!    

“I was very happy and relieved to match Giancarlo’s times,” said Webber afterwards, “From the very start of the test I was always very comfortable in the car and felt in control the whole time. I got down to a 1min 22.3 on Tuesday afternoon and knew I could improve a bit more as I had been putting in a lot of times around that bracket. I thought that if I could circulate around there in the 21s the next day, it would be a reasonable effort.” 

Clearly impressed by what they had seen, Benetton, headed by sporting manager, Gordon Message, and technical director, Pat Symonds, who had both flown in specially for the final day of the test, invited Webber to go for another timed run later in the day and he didn’t disappoint either, slicing a further 4/10ths off his own best time, with a time of 1min 21.33s to leave him topping the times after three days of testing. Ironically, the only other driver running on Wednesday was newly crowned FIA International F3000 Championship, Bruno Junqueira, fulfilling his last obligation as Williams test driver. The Brazilian’s best time was a 1min 22.2s.

Said a highly delighted Webber, “It was a dream week for me. I really, really enjoyed driving the car. Benetton were absolutely brilliant and gave me every chance possible to do my best and they seemed very pleased with the outcome. For sure, when I went quicker on my last run on Wednesday evening, the track was improving but I was improving too. I hope I’ve done enough to satisfy the team and will have the chance to test with them again.” 

Although not usually known for lavishing praise on drivers, Pat Symonds was extremely vocal in his summing up of Webber’s efforts and in an interview in the Melbourne Herald Sun said, “I had heard he was good but frankly I’m amazed! I think we will see Mark in Formula One very soon.”

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