Mark Webber announces his retirement from Formula 1!
Australian Mark Webber has officially announced that he is to retire from Formula 1 at the end of the season after 11 years of service. Webber will move his attentions to Porsche sportscar racing and Le Mans from 2014 onwards. Webber had options in F1 but felt it was time for a new direction!
Despite the denials from Mark that Sebastian Vettel is the reason for leaving Red Bull and Formula 1, you have to believe this was a big factor in his decision. There hasn’t been a good working relationship between Vettel and Webber ever since the infamous incident in Turkey 2010 through turn 12 when Vettel squeezed Webber with the Aussie refusing to concede, ending Vettel’s race.
Then we come to Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko’s constant snipes at Webber in the press while always backing Vettel even when the German driver was clearly at fault, I’m surprised that Mark didn’t punch Marko in the face. To add to this; Mark has openly expressed his dislike for Vettel’s protected status within the Red Bull team on the podium after the Malaysian Grand Prix where Vettel ignored the ‘multi21’ team order and overtook Webber during the final third of the race.
On a personal note, thank you Mark Webber for the last 11 years of entertainment on and off the track, I love your never say die driving style and your no-nonsense attitude off the track. Best of luck for the future in Porsche sportscars and Le Mans, you will be missed in F1 circles.