![]() ![]() In contrast, there are nine stops on the 2016 WEC calendar, which focuses on its jewel in the crown, Le Mans. The 2016 F1 season will have a record 21 grands prix, spanning 252 days. “The heart rate is also lower, so in that endurance racing is easier than F1.” “The g-forces on the body are lower,” the nine-time Grand Prix winner adds. The Porsche LMP1 hybrid car has a minimum weight of 875 kilos compared to 702 kilos for an F1 car, meaning a difference not only in the size demands of the drivers but also in the physical dynamics they must deal with on the track. “Now I have a little bit of room to move, a couple of kilos, which probably doesn’t sound much but it’s nice that you can have that because the overall weight of the car is that little bit more,” says Webber, confessing his love for ice cream, chocolate and “a bit of red wine here and there.” Off the scales - Formula One's appetite for dieting driversĪt six feet tall, he weighed around 11st 11lb (75 kg) when at Red Bull – more than 10 kg heavier than what he once called the ideal driver weight. It’s not unusual to find F1 drivers locked in a duel with the man on the other side of the garage – just ask Mercedes rivals Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg – but teamwork is the essence of endurance racing. ![]() “The individual side of F1 is so intense but I now enjoy sharing the car with two other teammates,” says Webber, who won the 2015 world title with New Zealander Brendon Hartley and German Timo Bernhard. “Le Mans has always been like that, mixing professional and ‘gentlemen’ racers, but that’s been a mind shift for me.” “I race in the LMP1 category and we’re arguably the fastest drivers and the fastest cars, but we’ve got to deal with amateurs sprinkled through the race,” Webber says. The championship has four classes, all racing at different top speeds, from the futuristic LMP1 prototype racers to the GTE Pro-Am sports car category which pairs amateur drivers with professionals.Īt Silverstone there will be 33 cars on the grid, compared to a maximum of 22 cars in F1 this season, and for June’s legendary Le Mans 24-hour race the field increases to 60. The wait is almost over! 12:00 April 17, Green Flag goes out for the 2016 #WEC #6hSilverstone in the UK! Gear up □□□ /PbuZZqJI31- FIA World Endurance Championship April 8, 2016 The WEC is a bit like driving on the freeway – there are slow cars, fast drivers and a plenty of people in between, some of whom may or may not know which lane they should be in. “There’s a lot of different categories in WEC racing.” “The biggest challenge for me is dealing with the traffic,” Webber explains. He tells CNN’s The Circuit about his transition from F1 to endurance racing. The Porsche driver will begin his title defense this weekend when the new WEC season opens at Great Britain’s Silverstone circuit. The no-nonsense Australian might appreciate the irony that the victory laurels came in the World Endurance Championship (WEC), where staying power is part of the game, rather than the fast-paced world of F1. Sometimes it is good to race as the tortoise rather than the hare – just ask Mark Webber.Īfter 12 years striving in Formula One, including five years of intense rivalry with his Red Bull teammate Sebastian Vettel, the popular racer finally won his first world title in 2015. ![]()
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