Mark Webber wishes to remain at Red Bull Racing in 2012 and team principal Christian Horner says the two will sit down to discuss a new contract soon.
The Australian is on a year-by-year rolling contract, thus his current extension on 2010 is set to expire at the end of the season.
Horner marked late-summer as the most likely time for talks as the team look to assess his competitiveness which has waned compared to 2010, partly because of his difficulties with the new tyres.
“When we decide to sit down and talk about it we will do so,” Horner said about contract negotiations.
“We have only completed six grands prix out of probably 19, so probably some time a little bit later in the summer we will sit down and discuss next year.
“Mark has made it clear that he wants to drive next year, and conversations with Mark tend to be quite straightforward,” he added.
When asked why the team hadn’t approached Webber for an extension already, Horner said they were waiting to see if his desire to race still remains, as he has previously mentioned retirement.
“There are obviously several factors. But at the end of the day it is down to the team and Mark to decide if they want to continue that relationship, and we just wanted to see whether he has still got the motivation and desire that he clearly has.
“He has had these issues with the tyres that he is working hard to get on top of, but we are very happy with him in the team.”
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