Red Bull driver Mark Webber looking to extend his contract beyond 2012 – Formula 1 news
Red Bull driver Mark Webber is not thinking about retirement just yet.
The Aussie on paper did not have such a good 2011 season as he was only able to win one Grand Prix, that too in the final race of the season at Brazil. While his teammate Sebastian Vettel recorded 11 wins during the season. It overshadowed the fact that Webber had been able to place himself third in the drivers’ championship and helped his team win the constructors’ title for the second time in a row.
Webber is on a year-by-year contract with Red Bull and there have been hints from Red Bull consultant Helmut Marko that after Webber’s retirement one of the brands junior drivers will be given the opportunity to replace his seat. The 35-year-old though has asserted that he has no intentions what so ever of retiring beyond 2012, and will be looking to keep on extending his contract.
Recently, Webber had made a statement that he wanted to be much more competitive in 2012, in a bid to beat his teammate Sebastian Vettel and others to try and go for the championship. The statement was indicative of a man who is definitely looking to grow his career over the coming years instead of thinking of retirement.
“Yeah, absolutely I can see myself going a bit longer,” he told the Daily Mail. “Helmut's been quite keen to do one-year contracts, and in a way it hasn't been too bad for me as well. That's been his starting point for the last three or four years. That's the way it's been, and as always it gets to the middle of the year, we sit down and have a chat about things.”
It will be interesting to see how Webber takes situation as, and how hard he will go to beat Vettel in 2012 to prove his mettle. It would not be farfetched to see Webber going the distance if he tries hard enough as he was able to do during the 2010 season, where he almost missed from becoming the drivers’ championship, with Vettel stealing it from him at the end of the season.
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