Webber began racing in 1995 in the Australian Formula Ford series before moving to Europe in 1996. He made a name for himself by winning the 1996 Formula Ford Festival. After a successful season in British Formula 3, he joined Mercedes-Benz as an FIA GT works driver, taking the runner-up spot in 1998.
His first F1 opportunity came in 1999 with Arrows, which led to a full-time testing contract with Benetton in 2001. Throughout this time, he won four Formula 3000 races in two years and took second place overall. With Minardi, he saw his first F1 Grand Prix in 2002 at the Australian Grand Prix with a fifth place finish. In 2003 and 2004 he raced with Jaguar before moving to BMW Williams in 2005.
Webber scored his first F1 podium finish in 2005, finishing third at Monaco. He ended the season 10th in the standings after scoring 10 points finishes.
In 2006, the Australian started the season on the right foot – scoring a sixth place finish in the season opening Grand Prix of Bahrain – but it was the first of only three points-paying finishes of the season. As a result, Webber's seven points put him 15th in the final standings.
Webber moved over to Red Bull Racing in 2007, partnering with David Coulthard. While Webber did well with qualifying, often placing within the top 10, poor reliablity with the car led him to often finish outside the points. He did though, score one podium finish, a third at Nurburgring, and finished with 10 points on the season.
Webber improved in the final points in 2008 after scoring 21 points on the season to finish 11th. He earned the team its first front row starting spot for the Grand Prix of Great Britain.
During the off-season before the 2009 season, while competing in his Mark Webber Pure Tasmania Challenge, Webber collided with a car while bicycling and broke his leg.