Once strongly linked with a move to Ferrari, Mark Webber will enter F1 retirement having faced a parting shot from Luca di Montezemolo.<\/p>\n
Referring to Ferrari’s battle against Red Bull for 2013 honours, Montezemolo told La Gazzetta dello Sport this week: “We should bear in mind that there’s only one Red Bull getting the results.”<\/p>\n
Indeed, while running teammate Sebastian Vettel close for the championship in 2010, and winning races in 2011 and 2012, this year Australian Webber has played a minor role alongside the triple world champion.<\/p>\n
“In the last few years in F1 I knew the desire and passion was starting to wane a little bit and it’s not a sport you should be competing in if you’re not giving it 100 per cent,” the 37-year-old told the Daily Mail.<\/p>\n
Webber, now 37, started his grand prix career more than a decade ago at Minardi, working his way up to the top of the grid via Jaguar and Williams.<\/p>\n
Along the way, he admits he made one crucial mistake — choosing Williams in 2005 instead of becoming Fernando Alonso’s teammate in what turned out to be the title-winning Renault.<\/p>\n
“I turned it down unfortunately, that’s the way it goes,” said Webber.\u00a0 “It wasn’t the best decision in the end.”<\/p>\n
He insists he could have kept going in F1 in 2014 if he wanted to, but thinks moving to Le Mans with Porsche might be a better choice than staying for the radical turbo V6 rules in the new Pirelli-tyred era.<\/p>\n
“There were still F1 teams sniffing around \u2013 and there still are now – but my decision has already been made and I’m happy with it and I look forward to the future,” said Webber.<\/p>\n
“Endurance racing is easily as close to the cars in F1.\u00a0 They are very, very quick if not on par with F1 in certain situations,” he insisted.<\/p>\n
Webber said F1 today doesn’t compare to the era of V10 engines and the tyre war between Bridgestone and Michelin.<\/p>\n
“They’re difficult to drive now \u2013 don’t get me wrong \u2013 but there was a huge amount of power, a huge amount of grip and it was very difficult to handle and control,” he said.<\/p>\n
“Now it’s very much more about controlling the pace during the race and making sure you get the cars and the tyres more importantly to the end of the race.”<\/p>\n
Webber is passing on the torch to his younger countryman Daniel Ricciardo, who will now face the same challenge — matching up to Vettel.<\/p>\n
Webber and Vettel never got along, but after the recent Italian grand prix, the Australian admitted he was uncomfortable with the booing on the podium.<\/p>\n
“It’s the public’s choice, it’s up to them how they view what he (Vettel) is doing,” said Webber.<\/p>\n
“But Usain Bolt and Roger Federer aren’t getting booed much,” he added.<\/p>\n
Some think Red Bull opted for Ricciardo for 2014 because his smiling nature will be easier for Vettel to handle.<\/p>\n
“Ricciardo will be fine,” Webber insists.\u00a0 “He’ll win races and he’ll do very well but he needs to get under Seb’s collar pretty early to make it a good battle.”<\/p>\n
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