Goodbye and thanks Mr Webber!

[Dave B]

Mark's an exceptionally good driver, but will sadly never be considered one of F1's greats. He's pulled off some phenomenal drives in his career, mind, and has earned a reputation for straight talking and calling a spade a spade. And let's not forget his tireless charity work behind the scenes.

I've been lucky enough to meet him and have a brief chat, and he seemed like a thoroughly down-to-earth bloke. He's made a great contribution to F1, and I shall indeed be rooting for him in Brazil. No chance of Vettel gifting him the win, though, he's got his own record to aim for; and anyway would Mark really want to win in such circumstances. I'd love to see the RBR drivers go wheel-to-wheel with no team orders, and for the Aussie to win on merit.

[steveaki13]

Good Luck Mark.

Have enjoyed his honesty and spirit.

One of my fondest memories of Mark, is that first race in Oz 2002. Those last laps battling Salo in the Toyota were magic.


I look forward to seeing him in a Porsche next year.

[big_sw2000]

I wonder how honest he is going to be once he is out of Red Bull's grip?

He wont be out of Red Bull's grip. He's taking Red Bull sponsorship with him too Porsche

Steve

[webberf1]

He's definitely picked the right time to retire. I'm thankful for many great memories he's given me, and will also laugh off the times he made me pull my hair out (usually because he was so shocking off the start line throughout his entire career, or for simply being a magnet for bad car reliability ) .

Webber deserves to be remembered as a fierce competitor, a fair sportsman, and a genuine talent. You only have to look at some of his early-career stunning qualifying performances, or races like Nurburgring 2009, and Spain, Monaco and Britain 2010 that he genuinely had the ability to totally dominate races and leave everyone else (including Vettel) scratching their heads.

Sadly, the incoming high-degradation Pirelli tyres were the opposite of what suited him, and with declining mojo relative to Vettel (who has totally gone up another level) in the last few years his best racing is far behind him. Nevertheless, I think he'll do great in sportscars and I wish him well.

EDIT: One thing I don't expect is a total bitch-out over Christian Horner and Sebastien Vettel once he leaves F1. Maybe some words will be said here and there when prompted by a reporter looking for those responses. But really, he's already said all that needs to be said. He's not a bitter individual. He's straightforward and honest, and will be thinking of more important things in his new chapter of life.

[henners88]

I also met Mark in Cardiff in 2011 very briefly. He signed a program I was holding and I said 'good luck for the rest of that season', to which he said 'cheers mate' lol. I was also quite drunk after previously drinking 5 Desperado's in bar Cwtch before we went in Very brief but watching him with the fans he comes across as a nice guy.

It would be cool to see Webber slap it down the inside at turn one in Brazil and make Seb lose a few positions, before holding onto his lead and winning his final race. I can't see him out qualify the mighty Seb so a bit of ruthless overtaking would be nice to see.

I think my funniest memory of Webber is Fuji 2007 when Seb ran into the back of him. Seb was well into his crashkid status by then and was trying to prove himself when the accident happened. Louise Goodman asked him what happened and he replied

'Kids isn't it?...... You do a good job and they come along and 'chuff' it all up!...

Funny straight talking blips I miss from the likes of Webber and Coulthard lol. They didn't seem forced like some of the recent slip ups we've seen on the podium recently. Naughty Kimi lol.

[555-04Q2]

I wonder how Webber feels, you know, seeing as a kid has been cleaning him up!

[airshifter]

At earlier points in his career I thought Mark was one of the most dangerous guys on track, defending well beyond the rules and common sense. Thankfully he grew out of that stage and into a really clean racer. I don't see him going down as one of the greats in the sport, but he certainly has shown he can have some really fast days, and at Formula 1 level they are all drivers at the top of the talent list IMO.

As for personality, he comes across as never biting his tongue much and saying what he wants to say. Overall I guess I'll remember him in much the same way as Coulthard, a really good driver who had to team up with a really great driver at the peak of his career. And in much the same sense, a guy easy to like and seemingly down to earth considering the level of these guys.

[Doc Austin]

Matchet said something interesting about Mark leaving the best team in F1 to go to the best team in sportscars. Since Mansell left Williams, I can't remember any other winning F1 driver going on to such a good opportunity.

Webber is still young enough to have a very complete sportscar career, and his odds of winning LeMans have got to be considered pretty good. From there, perhaps he can take a look at Indycars and maybe win the 500 too. Along with his Monoco wins, that would put him in pretty elusive company.

Oh, yeah............. let's hope it pours all weekend and maybe that will shake up the order. I really like Vettel, but the endless dominance is getting pretty old.

[edv]

Enjoyed watching him in F1 these past years.
Oddly enough, my vivid memory of Webber will always be the LeMans Flip in the Mercedes.

[journeyman racer]

Enjoyed watching him in F1 these past years.
Oddly enough, my vivid memory of Webber will always be the LeMans Flip in the Mercedes.

It's odd that it is your strongest memory of him because it wasn't even him!

Unless, you were there and saw it live? Otherwise, Peter Dumbreck will be disappointed to read your post.