BRAZIL is the final race of the 2013 F1 season and the final race of my time as a Toro Rosso driver - but what everyone will remember is that it's Mark Webber's final grand prix.

Mark's presence in F1 provided me with a lot of motivation when I was a kid. He proved that you could go to Europe and make it work. Watching his progress showed me that such things were possible for Australians.

It drove me on, making me want to achieve the same thing. He was someone to whom I could relate.

News_Rich_Media: The road to success has been full of twists and turns for Mark Webber, but the F1 champion's career will certainly be one to that lives long in the memory of the Australian sporting public.

I think over the years he's been a good ambassador for F1 and good ambassador for Australia: he's a fighter and he doesn't have much time for bullshit.

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I have a lot of respect for the fact he's not allowed the sport to change him. Having raced in F1 for a couple of years now I recognise that sometimes it isn't an easy thing to do. He's also won grands prix and at times it seemed simple. I haven't done that yet - but I'm sure it isn't as easy as he made it look.

I first met Mark in 2007. It was my first year in Europe, before I joined the Red Bull program, at Monza when I was racing in Formula Renault. He didn't really have time to stop for a chat (on his way to the drivers' briefing - there's a big fine if you're late) but he did anyway, showed a real interesting in what I was doing, asked how I was settling into life in Italy, how my championships were going. As a teenager that made a big impression. Good memories. News_Image_File: Spot the Aussies: Webber and Ricciardo ham it up for a photo shoot.

I bumped into him once or twice over the next few years but our paths didn't cross very often.

One thing that stands out is that he gave me a call the evening before my first test with Red Bull Racing. Obviously I didn't have his number in my phone so it was a bit of a jolt when I answered. We had a good long chat, he gave me some valuable advice about the car and how the crew would be able to help me - he also told me to make sure I really enjoyed it.

Later on I found out he'd been calling around the crew trying to find somebody who had my number.

Because we're both Red Bull drivers and share a passport, there's an assumption on the outside that it's part of Mark's job to mentor me. He's always being asked: "have you helped Daniel?" just like I'm always being asked, "did you get any advice from Mark?" It doesn't work like that. Mark's job was to win races and challenge for titles with Red Bull Racing. He had his own career to think about and that's a full time occupation.

The fact he did things like that when he really didn't need to is something I'm very grateful for. It was a nice touch. News_Image_File: Ricciardo will share a track with Webber for the last time this weekend.

Ultimately I think Mark's presence in F1 is making my career a little easier. I think he changed the sport in Australia because he was our first F1 driver for a few years. Before he had success F1 wasn't that big in the public consciousness. Obviously there were motorsports enthusiasts who loved it - and I was one of them - but little else. Now it's much bigger, pulling in a wider sporting audience and that's down to his presence ramping up the interest. It means I haven't had to take such a big step.

We've spoken about his retirement from F1 and I get the impression he's happy with the timing of his decision and comfortable with what he's going to do next.

I wish him well with Porsche and hope I can fill his shoes at Red Bull Racing.

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