Catching up with Porsche Brand Ambassador Mark Webber on his Porsche car collection and love for the brand
Porsche Brand Ambassador, nine-time F1 Grand Prix race winner and former FIA World Endurance Champion Mark Webber is a motorsport powerhouse. He reveals his love for Porsche, his own personal Porsche collection and bucket list road trips
During a competitive racing career spanning 25 years, Australian driver Mark Webber became one of the most recognisable and best-loved drivers on the grid. He racked up nine wins in a 12-season, 215-race Formula 1 career. Later, driving for Porsche, he joined teammates Timo Bernhard and Brendon Hartley in piloting the 919 Hybrid racecar to the FIA World Endurance Championship title in 2015. Since 2016, Mark has been a Porsche Brand Ambassador. Just after he had driven the new hybrid Porsche 911 Carrera GTS up the hillclimb at the 2024 Goodwood Festival of Speed, we caught up with him to talk all things Porsche and more besides.Even before he became a Porsche Brand Ambassador, the magnetic attraction of the brand meant that Mark Webber had already owned several Porsche models of his own Photo: PorscheHow does it feel being a Brand Ambassador for Porsche?“It’s an honour because it’s one of the most prestigious brands in the world. I’ve always loved Porsche and was buying them even before I got to race for them and before becoming an ambassador. And I’ve always loved the 911 and enjoyed them – from 2008 my daily [driver] was a 911 Turbo S. I think that the emblem is so powerful and everyone knows the embodiment of it – how classy it is, how elegant it is, and just the reliability that goes with the products associated with it. It’s quite extraordinary. It’s a real pleasure and an honour.”You recently took on the famous hillclimb for the debut of the new hybrid Porsche 911 at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. How did that go?“I've been behind the wheel of some very iconic Porsche cars here at Goodwood. I drove the new GT2 RS here a few years ago and I’ve also driven the first ever 356 from 1948 up the hillclimb. Of course, the 911 is really the icon. And hybrid technology is something that we’re very proud of.”Mark is very popular wherever he goes… but especially at events like the 2024 Goodwood Festival of Speed Photo: PorscheHow impressed are you by Porsche hybrid technology?“Porsche have done a great job with hybrid cars. I think the first ever hybrid Porsche was back at the turn of the 20th Century [the Semper Vivus] and I drove the 919 Hybrid at Le Mans a lot, which also had a lot of hybrid capabilities. The power and the deployment of the systems together make them extremely drivable and, acoustically, they’re still a beautiful car to drive. Everyone’s been asking me about the new hybrid 911. It’s awesome.”Were you involved in the development of the new hybrid 911 at all?“Not directly, but of course when you think about the racing cars that I’ve driven, then you could say [indirectly], yes. That’s what we are very good at here at Porsche – the transfer of technology. “The Porsche 919 Hybrid racecar was a very advanced hybrid system. A lot of people in the motor racing industry at the time said it was way too optimistic what Porsche was trying to achieve… and it turned out to be one of the most dominant sportscars ever designed. That’s what Porsche is capable of on the racetrack and so, of course, what we want to do with the Porsche road cars is very similar – we’re not going to just stand still. It’s all about the constant evolution of a car to always get better, get more power and find new tech and ways of propulsion.”Pictured here with a Porsche 911 GT2 RS Clubsport racecar at the legendary Bathurst circuit in his native Australia, Mark became a Porsche Brand Ambassador in 2016 after a glittering racing career Photo: PorscheWhat’s your current Porsche collection looking like and is there a dream Porsche you’d like to add to it?“It’s not that massive, you know. I’ve got some nice type 997 sportscars – a GT2 RS and a four-litre GT3 RS – which I love. They’re so light and compact. I’ve also got a 918 Spyder which I really, really love. And our family car is a Cayenne which we use a lot.“I’ve always loved the 959. Even when I was a young boy I had that poster on my wall, so I’d love the chance to one day maybe have a 959. I bought two of those cars before I was with Porsche, and they signified to me what the brand meant to me. Even before I was associated with the Porsche, they were important cars to me. I bought my 918 Spyder when I was with Porsche, but the ones before are so special to me. If I looked up how many hours I spent on the internet looking at them before I bought them, it would be embarrassing.“The 918 is around ten years old now, but it’s still going to be a beautiful car in the future. Every angle you look at it – it’s elegant, sexy and tough. The aerial shot of it, with the exhaust at the top, and the rear of the car looks beautiful.”What’s the best road trip you’ve ever been on?“I’ve driven a 918 Spyder in the mountains of Colorado with my wife and I’ll take that trip to my grave. Just the two of us and a 918 going through the hills. It was magnificent – and she trusted me.”
Consumption and emission information911 Carrera GTS
(WLTP): Fuel consumption combined: 11.0 – 10.5 l/100 km; CO₂ emissions combined: 251 – 239 g/km; CO₂ class: G.
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