Photo credit: Curt Smith, Mark Webber at USGP Austin 2017 — CC BY 2.0
Photo credit: Curt Smith, Mark Webber at USGP Austin 2017 — CC BY 2.0 – CROPPED VIA FLICKR
Few moments in motorsport history are as shocking as watching a car lift into the sky.
For Mark Webber, the 1999 24 Hours of Le Mans became the scene ofone of the most infamous incidents in endurance racing history and the story goes far beyond just a single crash.
The Car That Shouldn’t Fly
Mark Webber was driving the Mercedes-Benz CLR prototype, a sleek, purpose built car designed to dominate endurance racing.
On paper it promised cutting-edge aerodynamics, in practice, it had a fatal flaw.
The car’s aero design, with a flat underbody and a pronounced front overhang, made it dangerously unstable at high speeds, particularly when following other cars closely or cresting a rise in the track.
At roughly 300 km/h (186 mph), turbulent air could get beneath the CLR, lifting it off the tarmac, what should have been a marvel of engineering became a vehicle that could take flight like an airplane.
First Flip: Qualifying Chaos
The nightmare began during the qualifying sessions; Mark Webber, trying to push the car to its limits, hit the critical section between Mulsanne and Indianapolis corners.
Suddenly, the car lifted off the ground and flipped backward, landing upside down, remarkable, Webber escaped serious injury, a testament to modern race safety engineering.
The Mercedes team repaired the car, confident that the problem was solved, but confidence turned to disblelief just hours later.
Second Flip: Warm-Up Mayhem
During the final warm-up session the following day, the same scenario repeated.
Webber’s CLR, on the first lap, took off again in nearly the exact spot as the previous day.
The car flipped backward, landing on its roof once more, according to reports, Mark Webber later described the experience as ‘horrible;’ and he continued saying that he has seen the sky and then the ground and then again the sky, not a nice feeling.
However, Mercedes though that the turbulent air caused the incidents and instructed their drivers to simply avoid getting too close to other cars, but the team did not fully acknowledge the severity of the aerodynamic flaw until it became undeniable.
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Peter Dumbreck’s – Another Flip!
The final straw came during the race itself, teammate Petter Dumbreck experience an even more dramatic flip.
Traveling near 322 km/h (200 mph), Dumbreck’s CLR became airborne, flipping multiple times and landing over the safety barriers into the trees.
The incident was televised and widely circulated, forcing Mercedes to act decisively.
Following Dumbreck’s crash, Mercedes withdrew the remaining CLR entries and canceled the entire program.
The CLR, a car that had promised glory, had instead become a symbol of danger and design miscalculation.
Mark Webber commenting the incidents
Webber emerged from both flips virtually unscathed, though understandably shaken.
The incidents had a lasting impact on Le Mans and endurance racing, regulations were tightened, safety improvements were made and track modifications were introduced to reduce the risk of cars becoming airborne at high speed.
In interviews and his autobiography, Mark Webber reflected on the surreal nature of the flips, describing it as like airplane taking off, and acknowledging the luck involved in walking away from both incidents.
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Lessons from the Sky – 1999 Mercedes CLR Flips
The 1999 Mercedes CLR flips remains a stark reminder that even the fastest car in the world is no match for flawed aerodynamics.
For Mark Webber, the flips were terrifying, but they also cemented his reputation as a driver capable of surviving the most extreme situations.
For Mercedes and Le Mans, the events reshaped thinking about car design, track safety and the limits of speed.
The story of Webber and the CLR is not just about crashes; it is about how even the smallest miscalculation can turn a race car into a flying danger.
Mark Webber’s Flip in Formula 1
Mark Webber’s terrifying flips were not limited to Le Mans. In Formula 1, he experienced another dramatic airborne moment at the 2010 Valencia Grand Prix.
While driving for Red Bull Racing, Webber was attempting a high-speed overtake on Heikki Kovalainen’s Lotus at over 300 km/h (180 mph). Misjudging his braking point, according to reports Webber noted that Kovalainen’s Lotus car braked earlier than expected, Webber made contact with the rear of the Lotus.
The collision sent Webber’s car soaring into the air before it slammed into the tire barriers, creating one of the most memorable crashes of the 2010 season.
