Webber beats Vettel in Top Gear challenge, can't match Hamilton

Red Bull Racing's Mark Webber has beaten his team-mate, Sebastian Vettel in Top Gear's reasonably-priced car challenge.

The Aussie completed the lap in 1 minute 43.1 seconds, almost a second up on Vettel, although it wasn't enough to topple Lewis Hamilton, who remains in P1 thanks to a 1m 42.9s effort.

"You are not faster than Lewis, but you don't have an earring - and that's got to be worth three tenths!" joked Jeremy Clarkson after informing the 36-year-old of his time.

Webber will retire from F1 at the end of this season and during the BBC show he reiterated he felt the time was right to leave.

"The timing is right for me mate, it will be a bit of break from what I have been doing for the last 14 years. I am going to race [as announced in June] with Porsche [in the World Endurance Championship]. And I know you love Porsche's don't you?" Webber stated.

"It [F1] is very different from how it use to be [in terms of the tyres and how they wear]. But that is the way it is - we have got to learn and get on with it and we are suppose to be at the top of our game. However you have got to be able to push, in F1 it is about us boys being absolutely on the limit all the time - or should be. There is a big regulation change next year [too]..."

"Am I going to miss Seb?" Webber pondered. "Probably not a huge amount, no. I think in a competitive environment there is always going to be a bit of needle. And there is a lot of history between us in terms of what has gone before..."

So has he ever been tempted to flatten the German, especially after what happened in Malaysia this year, when the 26-year-old ignored team orders and overtook Webber for the win? "My dad always says you shouldn't hit boys," Webber replied cheekily.