Mark Webber will start his final Grand Prix in Brazil from fourth on the grid after struggling to get the best out of his intermediate tyres on a drying track in Q3.
Meanwhile Webber is playing down the emotional resonance of the weekend, having said on Thursday that it was business as usual.
“The drivers’ briefing was interesting,” he said when asked by this writer if it was now hitting home. “Just because the guys gave me a very good reception, and I had a little chat with them. Obviously your colleagues, they’re the ones that you work so hard to compete against over 17 years, and that means a lot to you, so that was quite touching.
“So, good to get a good reception off those guys, a lot that have obviously raced for all of my races, that was good. That was a bit of wake-up call, and tomorrow, but other than that, completely normal to be honest, mate.
“I’ll come in, I’ll do my normal prep, I’m not going to change much now. We’ll do what we can tomorrow, and if it’s like this it’s sensational for the neutral at home, but obviously on the pit wall and in the car it’s a super testing venue, as we saw today. Sergio dropped it obviously, so it’s easy to have some problems with this track.”
Webber’s former RBR team mate David Coulthard’s last race finished on the first lap at this very venue.
“Of course, it will be nice to finish well. DC was very unfortunate. Most of the time statistically a Grand Prix driver in his last race it’s his last race for a reason, it’s not because he’s at the top! Or he didn’t know it was his last race and got sacked over the winter. In my case I do know it’s my last race, I’ll go out there and do my best. Obviously there might be some things creeping into my mind here and there, but I’ll keep those out as much as I can, and just focus on the job at hand.
“Maybe tomorrow when I get into the car for the last time and step out of the car for the last time, that will be the most extreme case of emotions. If the Kleenex is out, I’ve made the wrong decision…”
He admitted some frustration about qualifying.
“I never felt comfortable on the last set,” said the Aussie. “It was better on the extremes, inters I was in the shit the first lap, tried to get them in the second lap, third lap… I thought we’d be worse off, to be honest. That was that.” He added: “I’m not going to talk about, it’s a non-event for me, tyres and the conditions.”
Adam Cooper F1 
Never been keen on the guy, to be honest. Too much to say and, because his first language is English, too much of it is lapped up by the British press. Rather the same with Hamilton, if truth be told. And Alonso.
What happened to all the gentlemen in F1. The closest we have these days is a 26 year old German, and what a truly magnificent ambassador he is (albeit with the occasional display of petulance).
Yes Yvonne they should all be robots.
Good stuff, Adam, as usual… Webber wears his heart out on his sleeve — which is a good place to display such intense passion for those who are able to appreciate it, and in our cases, lucky enough to witness it. Commenting after-the-fact and having witnessed Mark’s final F1 cooldown lap from the couch in the States — I thought it was one of the coolest ever and a product of his passion and appreciation for the moment…to our benefit!