Mark Webber retires from Formula One, joins Porsche Le Mans program New challenges: Mark Webber will retire from Formula One at the end of the season. Mark Webber has called time on his formula one career and will return to the race that almost claimed his life. The 36-year-old Australian has announced he will retire from grand prix racing at the end of this season with confirmation he will spearhead Porsche's return to Le Mans-type sports-car racing next year. Webber used sports-car competition as a springboard into F1 when he was part of the factory Mercedes-Benz team in 1998 and 1999. After a series of terrifying accidents during practice for the 1999 Le Mans 24-hour race, where his car twice became airborne at over 300km/h and flipped through the air, Webber vowed never to return to the endurance race. But, following a fractious relationship with his Red Bull Racing teammate, three-time world champion Sebastian Vettel, Webber has decided to quit F1 and join Porsche's ambitious Le Mans program, which is under development. "It's an honour for me to join Porsche at its return to the top category in Le Mans and in the sports-car World Endurance Championship and be part of the team," he said. Porsche has written racing history as a manufacturer and stands for outstanding technology and performance at the highest level. I'm very much looking forward to this new challenge after my time in formula one. Porsche will undoubtedly set itself very high goals. I can hardly wait to pilot one of the fastest sports cars in the world. Webber, who has scored 36 podium finishes, including nine grand prix victories, and 11 pole positions during his 12-year career is the oldest driver on the formula one grid. He sits fifth on the world championship standings, 63 points behind his German teammate, and his last victory was last year's British Grand Prix at Silverstone. This year's British Grand Prix takes place this weekend, and Webber is confident of scoring back-to-back wins. "I love racing at Silverstone," he said. I've had a fair bit of success there over the years and my win last year was particularly satisfying. Porsche is the most successful team at Le Mans with 16 outright wins. However, it has not competed in the top-tier category of sports-car racing for over a decade. The German car maker recently revealed the hybrid-powered LMP1 prototype machine had begun testing at its private track in Germany. Webber is expected to join the team this year, and Porsche's top management believe the Australian's experience will lead them to victory. "I'm very pleased to have secured Mark Webber for our LMP1 project as one of the best and most successful formula one pilots of our time," said Wolfgang Hatz, board member for research and development at Porsche. Mark is without doubt one of the world's best race drivers. He has experience at the Le Mans 24-hour race and on top of that he's been a Porsche enthusiast for many years. His comments were echoed by Fritz Enzinger, head of LMP1. He is one of the best pilots I could imagine for our team. I'm absolutely delighted," he said.