Webber’s announcement last week that he was retiring from Formula One hit the paddock like a thunderclap. It was not the end of a world champion’s career, but it was the end of something equally as great: A driver who on a human level has few equals in modern Formula One was leaving the series.

“I’m very proud of where I’ve come from; I don’t forget the street that I grew up on in Australia,” Webber said at the British Grand Prix last weekend after his announcement. “Formula One is seen as the pinnacle, and as any sportsman or woman will know, you’re not 25 forever, so you’ve got to get the decision right and the timing right and stop when you’re still performing well.”

He went on to finish that race in second place, just .7 seconds behind the winner, Nico Rosberg.

The winner of nine Grands Prix, 36 podiums, 11 fastest laps, and a career high of finishing third in the series in 2010 — when he lost the title in the last race, after having lead the series for much of the season — Webber is one of the greatest drivers of his generation.

Although he rose steadily up through the lower categories, he did not win any series, having finished second and third several times, including second in British Formula Ford in 1996, and third and second in Formula 3000 in 2000 and 2001, respectively. So when he arrived in Formula One at the small Minardi team, few could have predicted the long, successful career at the top that lay ahead. Any doubt as to his place in the elite series was erased during that first race in Australia, and it set the tone for his subsequent popularity within the sport.

That popularity was founded on an engaging, intelligent, affable character, in a driver who showed great racing talent year after year, consistently beating his teammates. In his first eight seasons, he outscored them all except in 2007, when he joined Red Bull. That year, his teammate, David Coulthard, scored 4 points more.