Webber wants to end career with Red Bull - Horner

Mark Webber wants a new contract with Red Bull Racing, team boss Christian Horner has revealed.

The Australian’s current deal runs out this season, and several names including Lewis Hamilton, Nico Rosberg and Jaime Alguersuari have been linked with the seat for 2012.

It has also been rumoured that Webber, 34, might make the coveted move to Ferrari, but Horner insisted in Shanghai that Webber does not want to jump ship.

"Mark has made it quite clear he wants to finish his career with Red Bull," he said. "He has no desire to go to another team and while he is delivering we have no desire to change," added Horner.

The Briton said Webber’s pace and motivation needs to be assessed before any talks result in a new contract.

"The driver lineup we have is a very strong one but it is much too early to be talking, there is a lot of racing still to go," said Horner.

He also said the speculation about the seat alongside Sebastian Vettel in 2012 is natural.

"I cannot imagine a driver who wouldn’t want to be in the car," Horner said. "But we are really happy with the two drivers. The dynamics within the team work well with the two of them.

"Driver managers wouldn’t be doing their job if they weren’t knocking on our door," he added.

Webber on Friday told the German news agency SID that it is "absolutely possible" to imagine having the pace and motivation to emulate Michael Schumacher’s feat of still racing at the age of 42.

"I am involved with a GP3 team, a bit in driver management and in the future I would like to do something with young people in sport.

"But I’m not ready for that. Mentally I’m not ready to quit," he said.