Red Bull Racing’s Mark Webber is four short races away from his F1 retirement, but the Australian veteran hasn’t lost sight of the task at hand despite his upcoming move to Porsche.
Webber is leaving his role as Sebastian Vettel support man with Red Bull to race with Porsche in the FIA World Endurance Championship, however the 37-year-old remains geared towards helping the German champion to a fourth consecutive title.
The pair have spent the past two F1 seasons publically and privately not on the best of terms, most notably in Malaysia earlier this year when both drivers were told to cruise to finish line only to see the German ungraciously sneak on past and nab the win. Last weekend’s Japanese GP saw the Webber allegedly again forced into allowing Vettel the first-place finish.
Webber finished second, from 12th pole position, at Suzuka last weekend and wouldn’t mind one more final time atop the podium.
“I’m still looking to finish as strong as I can in Formula 1 and that’s what I wanted to do, I wanted to stop when I was still driving well and move on to the next chapter,” Webber said ahead of this weekend’s Indian Grand Prix.
“That [going out with at least one more race win] would be nice obviously, the drive in Singapore, the drive in Korea and the drive in Suzuka for me were at a pretty high level and two of them we didn’t finish through no fault of my own and one we challenged for the win and finished second.
“I’ve been been very, very happy with my form on Sunday afternoons, and on Saturdays for that matter, and as long as I keep doing that, you never know there could be a nice little result around the corner.
“(A podium finish) would be a very special little bonus. I’m still going out there and trying to enjoy the last part as much as I can but still with an eye on the fact I’m looking forward to getting to Brazil as well.”
Webber’s transition from F1 to Porsche needs to be a quick one with his new commitments officially beginning in January. What Webber describes as a new challenge will also have its benefits- the use of “arguably the best sports car brand in the world” being one of them.
Australian F1 fans still have a lot to look forward to, namely another Aussie, Daniel Ricciardo, taking over Webber’s role with RBR in 2014.
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