Webber signs with Red Bull for 2012

Red Bull has confirmed Mark Webber will stay at the team in 2012, ending months of speculation about his future.

Webber is on rolling year-by-year contract with Red Bull and earlier this year there were rumours he might not continue in 2012 after struggling to match his team-mate Sebastian Vettel early in the season. But both Webber and the team always maintained they were in talks and on his birthday at Spa-Francorchamps on Saturday, Red Bull confirmed it would maintain its current driver line-up for another year.

"I want to continue racing at the top in Formula One so it's a no-brainer to remain at Red Bull Racing for another year," Webber said. "My motivation to achieve the best results possible both for myself and the team is still very high. Over the past five years, we have worked hard and proved that we can design and build a competitive and championship-winning car, and I'm looking forward to putting the car and myself on the limit again each and every race weekend in 2012."

Team principal Christian Horner said the negotiations had been smooth and that Red Bull has every confidence in Webber.

"When we sat down and started talking about 2012, it was immediately obvious that Mark and the team wanted to continue our successful relationship," he said. "This meant agreeing an extension for 2012 was very straightforward. Mark knows the team well, having been with us since 2007, and his motivation, fitness and commitment is as high as it has ever been. The pairing of Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel is a very strong one, they push each other hard and we are extremely happy the pairing will remain unchanged for a fourth season.

ESPNF1