Webber urges Button to follow him into the Endurance Championship.

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  • Good friendship: Webber and Button.

    Former Red Bull driver Mark Webber has urged Jenson Button to follow him into the World Endurance Championship.

    There had been talk earlier this year that the 2009 Formula One World Champion would turn his back on the sport after a turbulent 2015 with McLaren-Honda.

    However, the 35-year-old will continue to race for the team in 2016. Webber, though – an ambassador for the Yas Marina Circuit the host of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix – has backed Button to be a success in endurance racing should he make the switch one day.

    “Jenson has had a tremendous career and still is,” the Australian told Sport 360. “Personally, I want to see McLaren and Honda get everything together because we need them at the front. But you will never hear anyone say a bad word against Jenson because he is just an exceptional guy for the sport.

    “From a selfish perspective, I would love to have him racing with us and hopefully that will come soon. I think he’d be perfect for it (World Endurance Championship) in the future and I think he’d be all over it as well. But he’s still got some business to do with McLaren.

    “We talk regularly but I don’t want to see him at the back of the grid for much longer because I’d like to see him near the front.”

    Webber, who left F1 after the 2013 season to join Porsche’s sportscar programme, is on the brink of securing his first championship after guiding the team to a manufacturers’ title with victory in the Shanghai Six Hours alongside Brendon Hartley and Timo Bernhard.

    Porsche only returned to the top level of prototype sports car racing last year but can add a drivers’ title to their constructors crown on top of their Le Mans 24 Hours victory in June at the final round in Bahrain on November 21.

    Webber hailed the marquee’s “beautiful surprise” having tasted success in such short time.

    “We were pretty flaky at the end of last season, we weren’t that consistent and the pace was quite overwhelming,” the 39-year-old added. “The first two races this year were difficult again because Audi were really strong. But we took some great upgrades for Le Mans and since then we’ve won every race. That’s been a really big surprise but a beautiful surprise of course.”

    For Webber, the potential triumph could wipe the painful memory of seeing the F1 title slip from his grasp during 2010’s final race in Abu Dhabi.

    “I’ve had so much satisfaction racing with this team, so it will be great to put the icing on the cake in Bahrain,” he added. “Myself, Brendon and Timo have gone through so much this year, so it leaves me pretty divided because I’m proud of my achievements in F1 too.”

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