Mark Webber was in demand this season
The Australian driver reveals that he was sought after by some teams and assures that Sebastian Vettel can be defeated in 2012.
After signing, last August, the extension of his contract now binding him to the Red Bull team until 2012, Mark Webber returned last week, in an interview with the newspaper El Pais, to the end of this saga which had animated, with its usual share of rumors, the transfer season until August: « I re-signed because I had no choice! » the Australian explained then, in an excess of candor.
However, the Red Bull driver stated today in Sydney’s Daily Telegraph that he was the subject of much interest this season: « What was incredible this year was the number of responses I received from other teams while I was in talks with Red Bull. They were very, very interested in the idea of talking to me, it’s one of those little things that remind me things are going rather well. »
Last May, the Australian had also shown openness, in the columns of La Stampa, to the possibility of a team change by stating that if the team no longer wanted him, he would have to answer a good question: hang up his helmet or change teams?
Finally, the great Mark, who settled in Milton Keynes in 2007, after having already stayed there for two seasons in 2003 and 2004 when the team was named Jaguar, has decided to extend his contract with the now double world champion team for an additional season, giving him time to consider his career’s future after 2012: “To say where I’ll be in 2013 and 2014, we still need six months and see where that takes us,” he explains in the Daily Telegraph.
The native of Queanbeyan has been the subject, for two seasons, of rumors suggesting a move to Maranello, where he could replace a Felipe Massa unofficially placed on an ejection seat and thus reunite with his friend Fernando Alonso. Mark Webber even admitted, in an interview with the magazine F1 Racing, that driving these red cars has always been about romantic attraction.
Still in the Daily Telegraph, Mark Webber assures that he is more motivated than ever and believes that beating Sebastian Vettel remains possible: He is obviously at the peak of his art right now. […] He has done a phenomenal job and has executed the perfect shot every time. He has raised the bar for all of us. […] But next year, he is beatable. I’ve seen enough and, knowing how close it is, it’s still possible.
The Australian driver intends to remind his critics this season by aiming for victory in the last three races, for which he should receive substantial help from Red Bull and his double world champion teammate.
