Mark Webber decides to leave F1 at the end of 2013 – Formula 1 news
Red Bull Racing driver Mark Webber has said that he is going to leave Formula 1 at the end of the 2013 season and has planned to race in Le Mans with Porsche.
Webber has been surrounded by many speculations that he may leave Red Bull at the end of this season after the Malaysian Grand Prix incident with his teammate, Sebastian Vettel. Furthermore, his future was still unclear at the Milton Keynes-based squad even after they recently extended their contract with the German driver for one more year.
Nevertheless, he has silenced all the rumours and has publicly announced that he will retire from the sport at the conclusion of this season and will join Porsche to race in Le Mans LMP1 class from the next year.
The Aussie said that he is positively looking forward to a new challenge in his autosport career and is happy with his decision.
“Porsche has written racing history as a manufacturer and stands for outstanding performance and technology at the highest level,” Webber said. “I'm very much looking forward to this new challenge after my time in Formula One. I can hardly wait to pilot one of the fastest sports cars in the world.”
Meanwhile, Red Bull team principal, Christian Horner expressed that Kimi Raikkonen of Lotus is the best option to replace the Australian driver, but they are currently evaluating many drivers for the vacancy for the next season.
“Kimi would have to be an option, if he were to be available. We're in the fortunate position that there are an awful lot of people who would like to drive a Red Bull racing car,” Horner said.
The 36-year-old is considered as one of the most hardworking drivers in the sport. Although he has not been able to claim any title in his career so far, yet he has a lot of love, respect and support from his fans.
At present, he is standing at fifth place in the drivers’ championship with 69 points. Besides, he is ahead of Nico Rosberg of Mercedes and behind Lewis Hamilton.
Let’s see how he performs at the Silverstone circuit this weekend where he scored an impressive victory in the last season.
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