Departing Formula One ace Mark Webber was the guest star of Top Gear season 20’s series finale on Sunday night where he was able to land a parting shot to his Red Bull Racing teammate Sebastian Vettel.
Webber was able to beat Vettel’s lap time in the show’s Star In A Reasonably Priced Car segment, with almost a full second separating their times.
Driving the old Suzuki Liana reserved for the F1 Leaderboard, Webber managed an impressive 1:43.1 at the Dunsfold Aerodrome. The time was second only to Lewis Hamilton’s 1.42.9 and ahead of Vettel’s 1:44.0.
During an interview on the show, Webber was also quite candid about his relationship with Vettel.
When asked by host Jeremy Clarkson about his feelings towards Vettel, Webber replied, “Am I going to miss Seb? Um, probably not a huge amount.”
When pushed on whether he'd ever considered hitting Vettel, Webber joked, "My dad always says you shouldn't hit boys, mate."
Webber also conceded that there will always be rivalry in any competition and that the two have a lot of history, dating back to even before they were teammates.
In 2007, driving for Red Bull feeder team Toro Rosso, Vettel crashed into Webber at the Japanese Grand Prix and ended the Aussie’s chances of gaining his maiden victory at the race. They also famously crashed at the 2010 Turkish Grand Prix, their first season as teammates, when Webber was in the lead and Vettel attempted to overtake.
However, the biggest controversy and the one that may have ultimately led to Webber’s decision to quit F1 and join Porsche for its 2014 World Endurance Championship endeavor, happened at the 2013 Malaysian Grand Prix. With both drivers comfortably in the lead, they were asked to slow down and manage the race. Vettel’s character was fully on show when the German chose to ignore the orders and steal victory from Webber.
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