---
title: "Mark Webber Is Retiring from Racing"
description: "Who will take his place on Porsche's Le Mans team?"
date: "2016-10-13"
modified: "2016-10-13"
authors:
  - name: "Devin Altieri"
    link: "https://www.thedrive.com/authors/devin-altieri"
url: "https://www.thedrive.com/news/5547/mark-webber-is-retiring-from-racing"
categories:
  - "News"
tags:
  - "Accelerator"
  - "Le Mans"
  - "Mark Webber"
  - "racing"
---

# Mark Webber Is Retiring from Racing

![](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/images-by-url-td/content/archive-images/mark_webber_retires_hero.jpg>)
*\<em\>www.thedrive.com</em>*

It's the end of an era. World-renowned driver [Mark Webber has announced he will walk away from racing](<https://www.foxsports.com/motor/story/mark-webber-announces-retirement-from-racing-101316>) at the end of the 2016 FIA World Endurance Championship season.

The 40-year-old Aussie joined the Porsche factory LMP1 program in 2014, after 11 years in Formula One racing. Webber, along with co-drivers Brendon Hartley and Timo Bernhard, won the drivers' championship in 2015, where the trio dominated with four wins and two podiums in just eight races.

["I will miss the sheer speed, downforce and competition, but I want to leave on a high and I’m very much looking forward to my new tasks," Webber said of his decision.](<https://presse.porsche.de/prod/presse_pag/PressResources.nsf/Content?ReadForm&languageversionid=678020&hl=motorsport-news>)

But the Australian won't be disappearing from the automotive world. Webber will go on to be a "Special Representative" for Porsche, alongside two-time World Rally Champion and general badass Walter Röhrl.

[Sportscar365](<https://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/tandy-bamber-linked-in-possible-porsche-lmp1-driver-shakeup/>) suggested in September that Porsche GT drivers (and 2015 Le Mans winners) Nick Tandy or Earl Bamber could move up to the LMP1 ranks for 2017; Webber’s retirement gives Porsche an opening to bring one of them up to the prototype class. But their path to the majors isn't guaranteed; former F1 driver and two-time Indy 500 winner Juan Pablo Montoya tested the 919 Hybrid Porsche LMP1 car at the end of 2015, and is currently without a full-time ride.

Webber spent a majority of his F1 career at Red Bull Racing, where he won nine Grands Prix and finished third in the championship three times. He also stirred up a fair bit of controversy in his time at Red Bull, often questioning the team’s blatant favoritism of his teammate, four-time F1 champion Sebastian Vettel.

### Author social links  
[Twitter](<https://twitter.com/devinaltieri>)