In pics: Mark Webber smashes SMP record

Aussie F1 ace Mark Webber has obliterated the existing lap record at Sydney Motorsport Park, lowering the mark of 1:19.1420 set by Nico Hulkenberg in 2007 by almost four seconds.

Webber best time of 1:15.2180 came on the last of his five scheduled laps around the original Eastern Creek Grand Prix circuit. But while taking four second off the record was impressive, it was a case of ‘what-could-have-been’ with Red Bull confirming to Auto Action that Webber’s Red Bull RB7 had been detuned for the record-breaking run.

“It’s a demo car so we’re not allowed to run the proper Pirelli tyres on it,” said a team spokesperson. “It’s not anywhere near its prime. We have to turn the engine [mapping] down but it’ll still reach a top of around 290km/h.”

Webber completed five flying laps of Sydney Motorsport Park, lowering the existing record with each successive run. The Aussie then thrilled the large crowd at SMP with a spectacular burnout in his Red Bull racer.