Mark Webber leaves Formula 1 for Le Mans

Mark Webber announced today that  he will be leaving Formula 1 at the end of this season to return to sportscars with Porsche in the highest class of LMP1 to take on the World Endurance Championship and Le Mans 24 hours. 

He last competed at Le Mans in 1999 driving for Mercedes when the cars literally took off. The decision doesn't come as too much of a surprise, rumours of his impending departure have circulated for months now.

Webber is one of the most astute drivers on the grid and I think he knew there was nothing more to be gained in Formula 1. If he stayed at Red Bull he's still got the Sebastian Vettel problem, especially now he definitely knows Vettel will never help him after the Malaysian team orders fiasco, which will certainly have influenced his decision.

Potentially joining Ferrari? Fernando Alonso is good friend of Webber's but racing against each other in the same team? He'd be on a  hiding to nowhere. Anywhere else right now would be a step back so why not take on a new challenge.

I for one will be sad to see him go. As most of the F1 media have pointed out, he is an honest sort, and will speak from the heart and say what needs to be said. If there is injustice in the sport of Formula 1 then Mark Webber will give a good quote.

But more than that, some of his drives have just been epic. Especially if you've made him angry before hand he will seek to put the record straight out on the track, where it should be done.

Webber has had a decent career in Formula 1, finishing fifth at his home race in Australia on his debut for Minardi in 2002, stints at Jaguar and Williams followed before joining Red Bull alongside David Coulthard in 2007.

He had a few podiums in this time, but it was 2009 before he grabbed his first win in Germany that year, no one as going to stop him that day. He started from pole position but suffered a drive through penalty and yet still fought back to win he was untouchable.

2010 saw lead the championship for most of the year and was still the lead Red Bull driver when they got to the final race. A poor strategy left him down the points and his shot at the title was done. It was his most consistent and impressive season but Vettel snatched the title from him and since then he's dominated the team, with only glimpses of what Webber can do. He may not have won the championship but he's shown he has been more the capable of racing with the best drivers in the world and has more than deserved to be up there.

So now Webber seeks a new challenge and I have no doubt he will be a Le Mans winner in the next few years. He and the team will have to go some to beat Audi and the ever quicker Toyota's in the LMP1 category, but if any manufacturer is going to become the team to beat in sports cars, it's Porsche.

Of course the next question has to be who will replace him? It hasn't been often that a top seat has become available over the last few years and this is one of the best to come on offer. Initial rumours go that Kimi Raikkonen will be joining Red Bull next season, with the Toro Rosso pair in contention too. We'll see how this develops over the coming months, I certainly don't expect a rushed decision.

But for now he still has over half the current F1 season left, and where better to kick off his swansong than at Silverstone, a track where he's scored two of his most impressive wins including the 'not bad for a number 2 driver' moment. I will not be surprised to see him take a third this weekend. 

all photo's taken from autosport.com