For much of the Indian Grand Prix weekend Mark looked to be in the pound seat. His long run pace on the medium (prime) tyre was impressive during Friday practice and he put in a stunning qualifying lap to be the first of the prime runners on the grid, in fourth place.

“We did a lot right this weekend,” says Mark. “I was very happy with my lap on Saturday afternoon. I got the maximum from the car and I thought it left me in a good position because the prime was a much better race tyre. But it wasn’t clear-cut: the three guys ahead of me were on the option tyre, so it was always going to be an interesting race.”

Sadly, Mark was forced to retire at two-thirds distance following an alternator problem on his RB9 and so was unable to take the fight to the end. Coincidentally, it was the second season in succession that the popular Aussie has been forced to retire from a race with an alternator problem on the same day the team clinched the World Constructors Championship (last year it was at the USGP in Austin).

Mark was lying in second place on this occasion, having climbed up the order after making a poor get away from the dirty side of the grid.

“The start wasn’t great,” says Mark, “But the option runners were always going to be at an advantage there. What I needed to do after that was keep it clean and get as much life out of that first set of primes as I could.”

With the soft tyre only capable of surviving a handful of laps, many of the cars in front of Mark – including pole-sitter Sebastian Vettel – were forced to pit very early in the race. That left Mark in the lead on lap nine and he lost no time putting daylight between him and his pursuers. He made his first pitstop of the race on lap 28, after which he did a four-lap stint on the option rubber before putting on a fresh set of primes – on which he hoped to finish the race.

“Unfortunately, we weren’t able to see how the race would pan out because I was forced to retire with an alternator problem with a third of the race to go. There was already a gearbox issue, which I’d informed the team about, but there was very little warning about the alternator. The team suddenly informed me that I had to stop the car.”

It was a disappointing end to a momentous race for Red Bull Racing, in which the team claimed its fourth consecutive constructors’ world championship and Vettel his fourth drivers’ title.

“It would have been nice to win the constructors’ title with both of us on the podium,” says Mark. “The team has done a phenomenal job this year, proving once again that it is the benchmark in F1. And well done to Sebastian; he’s done a great job this year and deserves to win the world championship.”

Mark doesn’t have to wait long to get back on-track because it’s the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix next weekend – F1’s only twilight race. With better reliability, he’ll be aiming to get back onto the podium.