One man who definitely will not be staying at Red Bull is Australian Mark
Webber, who is quitting Formula One for sports cars after his 215th race on
Sunday. The 37-year-old ended a rain-soaked afternoon practice session third
fastest after a KERS failure.
Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg topped both the day’s sessions, the first from
team-mate Lewis Hamilton, raising hopes that Red Bull might not have it all
their own way this weekend.
Quadruple world champion Sebastian Vettel, who has won every race since the
Hungarian Grand Prix in July, will tie Alberto Ascari’s 60-year-old record
of nine consecutive wins if he triumphs on Sunday.
Hamilton spun his car twice in conditions that rendered the timesheets largely
meaningless and ensured no one was able to test next year’s prototype 2014
tyres or even get in some long-run practice ahead of Sunday’s race.
Intermittent rain is forecast throughout the final grand prix weekend of the
year.
As well as Webber’s swansong, the race will be the last of Felipe Massa’s
Ferrari
career, with the Brazilian moving to Williams next season, the last of the
V8 engine era with the sport moving to greener 1.6-litre V6 turbos in 2014,
and potentially the last of Ross Brawn’s Mercedes career if the Englishman
does indeed step down as team principal.