Given that it was the scene of the biggest disappointment of his Formula One career, Mark Webber could be forgiven for not feeling much warmth towards Yas Marina Circuit.
The Australian arrived at the 2010 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix with a great chance of becoming the world champion.
He was second in the standings, eight points behind championship leader Fernando Alonso, and knew a victory would give him an excellent chance of taking the title.
Unfortunately, it did not work out for the Australian: Webber finished eighth and could only watch as his Red Bull Racing teammate Sebastian Vettel won the race and the title.
Despite the setback, Webber, 39, who retired from F1 in 2013, is an enthusiast of the Abu Dhabi race, and he will be a regular sight for fans over the race weekend as he serves as an ambassador for the event.
“It is a cracking event under the lights, and there is a real carnival/festival sort of feel to it,” Webber said of the race. “It is a lot of fun and I am looking forward to being involved with it again.”
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This is Webber’s second race as a Yas Marina ambassador, following his debut a year ago. The role involves him talking with fans in the hospitality areas, making appearances around the track and helping promote the venue’s social media over the weekend.
Lewis Hamilton has already wrapped up the drivers’ title, and Mercedes-GP the constructors’ competition, but Webber expects a lively atmosphere at Yas Marina Circuit.
“Lewis has had a dominating year, but I do not think that will hurt the atmosphere here at all,” he said. “It should be a great weekend.”
Webber’s best result in five races at Yas Marina was second, which he achieved in both 2009 and 2013, and he acknowledged he had always found the grand prix a tough one, as he looked back at his record there, including his despair in 2010.
“It was always a challenging weekend as there were always some really hot races,” he said. “Obviously, it is at night, which helps us a little bit, but it was still physically tough.
“It was a tough grand prix for me in 2010 because that was when the world title did not go my way and Sebastian won the championship.
“He led the championship for one race, which was the right one as it was the last one.
“It didn’t go our way, for Fernando and me, and we did not deserve the championship, obviously.”
Webber has continued to race, taking part in the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) with Porsche, but he said it did take time to adjust to not being in the world of F1.
“My first year, or six months, was a little difficult as it was a new scenario,” he said. “I am comfortable now on the outside. I had my time. I really enjoyed my long career and I don’t crave to be in the cockpit at all.”
Life in the WEC, where races last six hours, almost four times as long as the average grand prix, is going well for Webber, who could arrive in Abu Dhabi as a world champion.
He and Porsche teammates Timo Bernhard and Brendon Hartley have won the past four races, and if they are on the podium in Bahrain next weekend they will win the title.
The nearest rivals are the Audi trio of Andre Lotterer, Marcel Fassler and Benoit Treluyer. Of their season-long rivalry, Webber said: “The battle between the Audis and the Porsches is getting pretty feisty at the moment, so it was just a long, long arm wrestle, basically.”
This year, Webber added “author” to his CV when his autobiography, Aussie Grit, was published. In the book he writes of his F1 career and the often acrimonious incidents at Red Bull with teammate Vettel.
Of the experience of the book, and what he had set out to achieve, he said: “You want to be open and frank and you want to talk about how things happened but not get bogged down in ‘we went there and finished fourth, and then we went there and finished fifth’, or whatever.
“It was trying to have it so the reader could consume the sport and what it was like to be a professional, the people I met, the influential people I met, and what it was like to compete in the sport during the period that I was in it.”
gcaygill@thenational.ae
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