Top team or nothing for 2013 warns Webber
Feb.28 (GMM) Mark Webber has warned he will quit Formula One if he cannot find a top seat for 2013.
The 35-year-old Australian is the only prominent member of the leading Red Bull team who does not currently have a contract beyond this season.
It is rumoured Dr Helmut Marko wants to replace him for 2013 with either Daniel Ricciardo or Jean-Eric Vergne, triggering rumours Webber could be a potential replacement for Felipe Massa at Ferrari.
"The only possibility is if Massa decides to leave Ferrari, or Ferrari decides to leave Massa. There could maybe be an opening there," 1980 world champion Alan Jones told GMM.
But if Red Bull and Ferrari both pass up Webber, his options for 2013 appear limited.
"I'd need something competitive," Webber told the Australian news agency AAP on Tuesday.
He warned that he would not consider sliding down the grid to a less competitive team.
It's pretty clear that I've earned my stripes
"It's pretty clear that I've earned my stripes on the way through so I won't be doing that on the other side -- going the other way," said Webber.
"Being competitive, being at the front, is certainly a big, big factor of me staying very hungry and motivated."
And so hungry is the 2011 Brazilian Grand Prix winner that, according to F1's official website, the already-lean and tall Webber has lost weight ahead of this season.
"I am no light version -- I've just lost some kilos, that's all," he confirmed.
Share Or Save This Story
The season is still very long - Rosberg
Jules Bianchi's father speaks of family's continued hopes
Sauber under no illusions about constructors' position
Defendant ordered to pay £250,000 legal fees in Felipe Massa F1 title case
Felipe Massa’s F1 2008 lawsuit will proceed to trial
Felipe Massa's £64million legal claim update: Judgement reserved after three-day hearing
Lewis Hamilton jokes his 2025 Hungary GP low point deserves its own documentary
Charles Leclerc: "I don't expect us to have today's gap" in F1 Hungary qualifying
Why Charles Leclerc’s battle of the brakes has left him trailing Lewis Hamilton
The ingenious three-link mechanism behind McLaren's pivoting rear wing
LIVE: F1 Hungarian Grand Prix updates - FP3 coming up
Haas F1 car inconsistency makes it hard to judge Esteban Ocon – Ayao Komatsu
DTM Oschersleben: Pole for Preining, anger for leader Thiim!
When plucky private entrants could afford to go GP racing, and how F1 changed with the rise of commercialisation
What we learned from Friday practice at the 2026 F1 Hungarian GP
Aston Martin's heavily updated AMR26 breaks cover in Hungary pitlane
The Red Bull seat nobody is talking about – and why that's the biggest compliment of all
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments