Lewis Hamilton options shrink as Red Bull retain Mark Webber

 

Suggested Topics

The door to a possible Red Bull drive for Lewis Hamilton slammed firmly shut yesterday when the Milton Keynes team confirmed that they had re-signed last Sunday's British Grand Prix winner, Mark Webber, for the 2013 season.

There had been speculation, albeit not as much as in 2011, that Hamilton might consider switching from McLaren when his contract runs out at the end of the season.

Webber, who switched from Williams in 2007 and has scored all of his nine grand prix wins with Red Bull, said: "I'm high on confidence at the moment and firing on all cylinders. I know the team well and I'm very comfortable here. We have grown together over the years and it feels like absolutely the right thing to stay for another season.

"They are constantly working hard to improve in all areas and we've shown that together we can win races. It's great to be able to make this announcement off the back of the win in Silverstone at the weekend and I'm looking forward to competing on the edge and pushing myself in every race again next season."

The Red Bull team manager, Christian Horner, said: "Mark has driven very well in the first nine races of this season and his performance has been impressive. Much of his Formula One success has been during his time with Red Bull and together we have achieved 10 poles, nine wins and 31 podiums. As there was a strong desire from both sides to continue the partnership, it was a logical decision to extend our relationship."

Webber said staying with the team with whom he nearly won the 2010 world championship, and for whom his team-mate Sebastian Vettel has won it for the past two seasons, had "in the end" been an easy decision.

"It's been an interesting few months, but overall the continuity and desire for me to continue at Red Bull Racing was very strong." said the Australian. "My main focus is on this year's championship, which is very important. In addition it's an amazing bunch of guys and girls at Red Bull Racing and I really, really like working with them.

"We've gone through plenty together and really changed when we started to get successful, in terms of getting the balance right between being extremely professional on all fronts to keeping that laidback and approachable attitude that the team still has. It's just one big family now. I fit well here. I virtually know everyone's shoe size! I know everyone's names, how everyone ticks and all the departments, which is very, very important."

Webber admitted, however, that he had looked elsewhere: "There were discussions with Ferrari, but my decision was to stay here." That may be good news for Felipe Massa, whose job Webber was slated to take for 2013.

Hamilton's options now appear to be to stay with McLaren or to go to Mercedes if Michael Schumacher is not retained. Though there has been a rapprochement between Hamilton and Fernando Alonso – they each gave the other a helmet at Silverstone, at the British driver's suggestion – Ferrari are not thought to be an genuine option.

After McLaren's disappointment at the weekend, when Hamilton was restricted to eighth place, their team chief, Martin Whitmarsh, said he did not think that performance would have an impact upon Hamilton's decision-making process.

Whitmarsh said: "I think he's smarter than that. My pitch is he's got to want to be in this team, which I believe he does. He knows that racing is highs and lows and this hasn't been one of the high weekends."

Independent Comment
blog comments powered by Disqus
Caption competition
Caption competition
News in pictures
World news in pictures
Sport blogs

iBet: Look To The Lady In The Prince Of Wales

The Prince of Wales Stakes today is regarded by many as the No1 race of the Royal Ascot meeting and ...

by Gareth Purnell

iBet: Favourites have a good record in the Coventry stakes

Today’s St James Palace looks a cracker and there has been sustained money for Dawn Approach since t...

by Gareth Purnell

Newcastle don’t need a football director – they need a new medical team after finishing bottom of the injury league

Newcastle United have shocked their fans by appointing Joe Kinnear as director of football but new f...

by Alex Miller

       
 
Career Services

Day In a Page

'To farm I have to rape the countryside. It’s got to be wrong': The true effect of the badger cull

The true effect of the badger cull

'To farm I have to rape the countryside. It’s got to be wrong'
Theatre review: Daniel Radcliffe gives an admirably honest performance in Michael Grandage's The Cripple of Inishmaan

First night: The Cripple of Inishmaan

Daniel Radcliffe gives an admirably honest performance in Michael Grandage's comedy
Girls Guides drop religious reference but pledge to self and the Queen

Guides drop religious reference but pledge to self and the Queen

After 103 years, organisation changes oath to welcome 'all girls, of all faiths, and none'
Steve Tongue: Joe Kinnear was one of the boys and a breath of fresh air... 21 years ago

Steve Tongue

Joe Kinnear was one of the boys and a breath of fresh air... 21 years ago
Chris Froome: Free from 'pain in neck' after Bradley Wiggins' exit

Chris Froome: Free from 'pain in neck' after Wiggins' exit

Sky's lead rider says he is in fantastic form for the Tour and happy pecking order debate is over
Hannah England: I've got the right times – now to focus on the chess

Hannah England: Keeping Track

I've got the right times – now to focus on the chess
Beards, brawn and body art

Beards, brawn and body art

Meet London’s new batch of male models
Scandi-geeks descend on Nordicana for fan-convention

Scandi-geeks descend on Nordicana for fan-convention

British love of shows such as The Bridge, Borgen and The Killing shows no sign of fading
Behind the rhetoric what is really being done to combat desertification?

The Great Green Wall of Africa,

Behind the rhetoric what is really being done to combat desertification?
Laughter Inc: the cheering growth of the chuckle industry

Laughter Inc

The cheering growth of the chuckle industry
The bad science scandal: how fact-fabrication is damaging UK's global name for research

The bad science scandal

How fact-fabrication is damaging UK's global name for research
To the manor born: The female aristocrats battling to inherit the title

Female aristocrats battle to inherit the title

A passionate protest is gathering pace among the women of Britain's aristocracy, who believe that men should no longer automatically inherit the family pile and title.
Love struck: Photographs of JFK's visit to Berlin 50 years ago reveal a nation instantly smitten

In pictures: JFK's visit to Berlin in 1963

Photographer Ulrich Mack accompanied Kennedy on the entire trip. The results are an astonishing record of a watershed moment.
Eat shoots and leaves: Mark Hix gets creative with fresh peas, mangetouts and sugar snaps

Mark Hix gets creative with English peas

English peas and their offsprings, such as mangetouts and sugar snaps, are great tossed into a salad, says our chef.
Ceviche with a smile: Chef Martin Morales has turned South America's elegant cuisine into one of London's hottest food trends

Chef Martin Morales: Ceviche with a smile

Morales has turned South America's elegant cuisine into one of London's hottest food trends