Webber might not be a #1, but he really is one of the few with a relatively untarnished record (has not been beaten by any teammate). Of course, he has generally had relatively slow teammates. I'd put him in the top 5 (since JPM has left).
As per German TV and Radio : 2nd August 2006 Also in the news in the wee hours of the morning.. Rennmaus
[I have been less impressed with Webber though. It seems that the talent doesn't live up to the hype with that guy. I hope he doesn't land at Renault. He reminds me of Coulthard, a career full of rides that he is unworthy of. On the basis of merit, Webber doesn not deserve a seat at either McLaren or Renault. Can anyone say Champ Car? If it is good enough for Justin Wilson, it is good enough for Webber.] You're kidding aren't you? I know being an Aussie I'm a bit biased, but here's a guy who every year in this sport has been hobbled by a crap car. At Minardi he often showed the car to be better than what it was and was voted rookie of the year. He was stuck at Jaguar when Ford were in control and with all their money they couldn't organise to fight their way out of a wet paper bag. Now he's at Williams who are having their worst season in 20 years and can't make a car to finish a race this year even if Nico could keep it on the track. The only team with less race laps this year is super aguri and they have no points to Williams 10 points at least. Sure Webber's made a few mistakes that have cost him dearly in races (find me a driver who hasn't) but by far the majority of his DNF's are for mechanical failures with all the teams he's been at. It's hard for your talent to live up to hype if you have to race a donkey against stallions. On merit according to the F1 magazines I've read, the only other driver in F1 that is as fit as Mark and works as hard behind the scenes analyising info and working with the team is Schuey, so why wouldn't he deserve a drive with another top team. As for a comparison with DC, well DC's been very fortunate to be in a top team at the peak of its form. I say Give Mark a go in the same position as DC was when he was at Mclaren and then compare the two. In a car that good that can finish a race I reckon Webber would do much better than you give him credit for.
