At the 6 Hours of Bahrain, the final round of the 2016 World Endurance Championship 2016, Webber was doused in bubbly for the last time by codrivers Brendon Hartley and Timo Bernhard and Audi drivers Lucas di Grassi, Loïc Duval, Oliver Jarvis (winners), Marcel Fässler, André Lotterer and Benoît Tréluyer (second). What better way to end a career?

After 215 Grands Prix, 9 victories (he won Monaco twice) and 13 pole positions, Webber ended his Formula One career in 2013 and joined the Porsche World Endurance Championship team. At Le Mans, he had some unfinished business. You could say he had left things up in the air at the French 24-hour marathon since 1999 when his Mercedes CLR took off on the Mulsanne straight.

Webber never managed to realise his dream of winning Le Mans, although he led the race in 2014 and was second in 2015. That year, he become world endurance champion, a title that had eluded him in Formula One. Webber, Hartley and Bernhard are the second most successful LM P1 crew in the championship, with eight wins to Fässler, Lotterer and Tréluyer’s ten.

With four wins and two third places to his name, Webber leaves with an excellent record. A Porsche enthusiast and owner, he will remain a member of the German team’s racing arm.

Photo: In 2017, Brendon Hartley (left) and Timo Bernhard (right) will be sharing a car with New-Zealander Earl Bamber, winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans 2015, who will take Mark Webber’s seat (centre).