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Red Bull ace Webber to leave F1

LONDON, England - Red Bull's Mark Webber will retire from Formula 1 at the end of the 2013 season to join Porsche's new Le Mans prototype programme in 2014.

Wheels24 reported news of Webber heading to Porsche early in 2013; now the rumours have been confirmed. Lotus driver Kimi Raikkonen is favourite to replace Webber.

The veteran driver has been with Red Bull since 2007 and raced in more than 200 grands prix. He's won nine times. He said in a statement: "I'm very much looking forward to this new challenge."

LE MANS GLORY

Webber will spearhead Porsche's attempt to revive its glory days at Le Mans, a race it has won 16 times, most recently in 1998. Webber competed at Le Mans with Mercedes in 1998 and 1999. He will also compete in the World Endurance championship. He added on his website: "Porsche has written racing history as a manufacturer and stands for outstanding performance and technology. I'm very much looking forward to this challenge. I can hardly wait to pilot one of the fastest sports cars in the world."

Webber had spells at Minardi, Jaguar and Williams before joining Red Bull in 2007. He had a testy relationship with the team in 2013 as he felt he was not offered the same level of support as team mate Sebastian Vettel, especially at the 2013 Malaysian GP when Vettel ignored team orders not to overtake Webber in order to win the race.

Vettel subsequently apologised but fell short of saying he would not repeat the move.

Porsche's Wolfgang Hatz said: "I'm very pleased to have secured Webber for our LMP1 project - he's one of the best and most successful F1 drivers of our time, without doubt one of the world's best race drivers. He has experience at the Le Mans 24 hour and on top of that he's been a Porsche enthusiast for many years."

Stay with Wheels24 for the 2013 F1 season – fresh reports every day.
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