Webber Goes From Start to Finish With Grace Darren Staples/Reuters An elated Mark Webber tossing his hat to the crowd after his second place at the British Grand Prix on June 30. Since his debut in Formula One in 2002, he has finished on the podium 36 times. Mark Webber's debut in Formula One, at the Australian Grand Prix in 2002, was among the most memorable moments of recent series history. In fact, it was perhaps the most memorable of fifth-place finishes. Not only was it Webber's home race, it was also that of his team's owner, and the team, Minardi, had not scored so high in eight years. It was so exceptional that Webber and Minardi's owner, Paul Stoddart, were invited to celebrate on the podium after the top three drivers had finished their ceremony. "It's a dream for Mark Webber, a dream for Australia and a dream for Paul Stoddart," said James Allen in the live ITV coverage of the race. When Webber, now 36 and a driver at the Red Bull team, leaves at the end of the current season after 12 years at the top, his contribution to the series may long be remembered as a dream. Webber's announcement last week that he was retiring from Formula One hit the paddock like a thunderclap. It was not the end of a world champion's career, but it was the end of something equally as great: A driver who on a human level has few equals in modern Formula One was leaving the series. "I'm very proud of where I've come from; I don't forget the street that I grew up on in Australia," Webber said at the British Grand Prix last weekend after his announcement. Formula One is seen as the pinnacle, and as any sportsman or woman will know, you're not 25 forever, so you've got to get the decision right and the timing right and stop when you're still performing well. He went on to finish that race in second place, just .7 seconds behind the winner, Nico Rosberg. The winner of nine Grands Prix, 36 podiums, 11 fastest laps, and a career high of finishing third in the series in 2010 - when he lost the title in the last race, after having lead the series for much of the season - Webber is one of the greatest drivers of his generation. Although he rose steadily up through the lower categories, he did not win any series, having finished second and third several times, including second in British Formula Ford in 1996, and third and second in Formula 3000 in 2000 and 2001, respectively. So when he arrived in Formula One at the small Minardi team, few could have predicted the long, successful career at the top that lay ahead. Any doubt as to his place in the elite series was erased during that first race in Australia, and it set the tone for his subsequent popularity within the sport. That popularity was founded on an engaging, intelligent, affable character, in a driver who showed great racing talent year after year, consistently beating his teammates. In his first eight seasons, he outscored them all except in 2007, when he joined Red Bull. That year, his teammate, David Coulthard, scored 4 points more. But that would not have happened had Webber not been bumped off the track by his future rival and teammate, Sebastian Vettel, who was then at the Toro Rosso team. It was the Japanese Grand Prix and Webber was in second position, behind the safety car in the rain, with his best chance to win a race yet, when the younger driver, behind him in third, suddenly plowed into his car and wiped them both off the track. Webber was furious. Yet fury was not a word often linked to Webber. Few drivers took as much time to respond to the media as Webber, and in a fair and even manner. He could occasionally prove to be irascible, as when a journalist asked again whether he would act as a supporting driver to Vettel, who was 10 years younger than him. He responded with a negative, personal comment for which he later apologized. It was a leitmotif, surfacing in another negative comment after he won the British Grand Prix in 2010 and said, "Not a bad job for a second driver." Most of the time, however, Webber was an outstanding professional in interviews and on the track or in other public situations. His problem was that despite his talent he was never at the right team at the right time early in his career. From Minardi, he moved in 2003 to the Jaguar team, which was owned by Ford and should have been a great team, but it never came together.