Webber 4th in the world

Capital region local Mark Webber scored a second place on the weekend in the season-ending Grand Prix at Abu Dabi. It was an almost incident-free race, with just one guy clipping Webber's rear wheel and losing part of his front spoiler (which almost hit a following driver in the helmet!).

The final 10 laps were nail-biters, with Jensen Button closing quickly on Webber, then having two serious goes at him on the final lap.

The podium finish gave Webber fourth overall in the F1 world championship - a great outcome considering how many DNFs he had through mechanical failures or getting caught up in other people's prangs.

The star of the meet though was the new Abu Dabi track. So unlike the Bahrain track that is swept by traction-defying sands. Extraordinary architecture of the surrounding buildings, a billiards table-smooth surface, and lots of passing opportunities. I think we'll be seeing plenty more races on this track.

Webber gets Brazilian

In the wee hours of the morning, “our” Queanbeyan boy Mark Webber has pulled off a win at the Brazilian Formula 1 Grand Prix win.

I was thinking “why bother getting up at 3am for another disappointment – just set the recorder instead”. Unfortunately forgot to not listen to the news or read the sports pages in the paper today so have blown the excitement of watching his win.

With a good car and an improving team, things are looking great for Webber next year. It would be great to have the first Aussie F1 champ since Alan Jones coming from the local region.

Oh…apparently some other bloke wrapped up the 2009 world championship…