![]() ![]() "It wasn't that straightforward initially to get out of the contract, but they saw that there was no real goal for me within their programme as there was effectively not racing happening, which was a problem." Hampered further by the limited sportscar opportunities as the 'golden era' of GT1 ended with most manufacturers withdrawing - thus paving the way for the largely unchallenged Audi domination that would come for the next decade - Mark recognised this as his opportunity to return to single-seaters, even if Mercedes were reluctant to let him exit his contract so easily. While the more experienced members of the team would have the security to hold firm in readiness for Mercedes' next move (several joined the manufacturer's revived DTM programme), Mark didn't want to wait to placed somewhere he didn't want to go. However, there was no 'horse' to get back onto, Mercedes canning its sportscar programme immediately as it re-evaluated its participation in motorsport. You have to dig deep, and press on and get back on the horse." "When you're in a life threatening situation you have to deal with that and come back on it. "I remember everything and of course you have hesitations," he says, discussing the thought-process of getting in the car for a second time after such an incident. Mark suffers his second identical crash on the Mulsanne Straight during morning warm-up, ruling him out of the race I started a contract with Mercedes - a long term contract - and they paid for the rest of my Formula 3 season and I started working for them in 98 as a driver of sports cars. "We organised a test and it went very, very well. He accepted - reasoning it was a 'say yes or go home' situation -, Mercedes funding the remainder of his British F3 season before preparing him for a career in sportscars. The test went well and a full-time Mercedes factory deal was now on offer.Įven then, Mark admits he had his doubts, his long-held desire for pursuing a single-seater route to F1 questioning what appeared to be a logical decision to slip under the safety of a works-backed umbrella. Haug remained keen to get his man though and instead organised a test for Mark at the A1 Ring in an effort to tempt him. I was only racing Formula Ford six months before that, so I wasn't overly excited to go straight into a race to be honest." This is a car with 900hp which is very quick compared to what I'd driven in the past. "I said 'OK, that's at Nurburgring for the next race'. "He said we've got a seat with Bernd Schneider," he continues. ![]() An extraordinary offer to have been tabled for someone so inexperienced, it was for this reason that Mark would turn the chance down. ![]() Haug had been keenly watching Mark's progress in F3 and liked what he had seen, so much so that he would make the offer Mark the unprecedented chance to partner Bernd Schneider in its Mercedes CLK-GTR in the FIA GT Championship, replacing Alex Wurz, who had gone on to assume Berger's Benetton F1 seat. Strictly speaking, it didn't change much at all initially. McLaren to make Formula E, WEC entry decisions in early 2022 ![]()
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