Mark Webber has signed a one-year extension to his contract at Red Bull Racing but admits he did hold talks over a move to Ferrari.

The Australian, currently second in the world drivers' championship, was out of contract with Red Bull at the end of the current season, leading to links with a move elsewhere.

However, Webber has dismissed rumours of a winter switch to the Italian based team by signing a deal for a 2013 season, but admits he did hold talks with Ferrari over a potential switch.

Mark Webber
Webber won the British Grand Prix on Sunday.

"There were discussions with Ferrari, but my decision was to stay here," Webber said.

"It's been an interesting few months, but overall the continuity and desire for me to continue at Red Bull Racing was very strong. My main focus is on this year's Championship, which is very important.

"In addition it's an amazing bunch of guys and girls at Red Bull Racing and I really, really like working with them. That has a huge effect on me and how I perform in the car and it helped me in my decision."

"We have gone through plenty together here. We went from the days when Red Bull had not long owned the team to what it is now.

"The team really changed when we started to get successful, in terms of getting the balance right between being extremely professional on all fronts to still keeping that laid back and approachable attitude that the team still has within reason.

"It is just one nice big family now in many ways and we have grown so much. We've come a long way and I think it's clear that I fit well here and that's what I really like about it."

The 35 year old has endured a tempestuous relationship alongside teammate Sebastian Vettel during their three and a half year career together at Red Bull, with the reigning world champion often being preferred in race situations, and Webber openly referring himself as the No.2 driver.

The pair clashed in Turkey in 2010, their only crash in four seasons; however the incident has led to Red Bull employing a cautious approach when the duo meet in a race situation.

"Obviously with Seb, we've worked very, very close together for a long period of time now," Webber said. "I think no-one would really have envisaged how long we have worked together, so that's probably been a bit of a surprise.

"There are not many team-mates staying together for that long in Formula One, but it's proved to be a successful partnership with both of us working very hard with the key technical members of the team. It's been a potent operation.

"We're still competitive when we hit the track, no question about it, especially in 2010 and this year. Last year there wasn't much racing between Sebastian and I, but in 2009, 2010 and this year, there have been some great battles.

"That's been enjoyable for the team, sometimes stressful too as it's not easy for both of us to be at the front and I can understand that, as both of us are thinking about ourselves sometimes, but ultimately we know that we need to get the cars home and get the best results for us and the team."