Mark Webber has won the WEC drivers' title in only his second season.

Fifth place in the six-hour race in Bahrain was enough to win the world championship along with teammates Timo Bernhard and Brendon Hartley.

The race was won by Romain Dumas, Neel Jani and Marc Lieb in the sister Porsche 919 Hybrid, which whilst ensuring the title for Webber also denied Audi the chances of taking the title.

"Today clearly shows the qualities of the team," said Webber who quit F1 at the end of 2013. "We have had some very smooth days this year, but we executed the victories with clinical precision.

"Today was about fighting as hard as possible. You saw the spirit of the mechanics; you saw the spirit of the drivers. I cannot thank the mechanics enough. The pit stops we had in the garage were extremely stressful. It's amazing that we were able to win the world championship under pressure like this.

"I am so proud to be world champion with Timo and Brendon and with Porsche," he added. "It was 1986 when Derek Bell managed this the last time. It was a massive day for the team!"

Ironically, on the day the Australian secured his title, former teammate (and nemesis) Sebastian Vettel was being crowned 'Champion of Champions' at the Olympic Park in London as the Race of Champions came to a close.

In the final, Vettel saw off nine-time Le Mans winner Tom Kristensen to become 'Champion of Champions' for the first time.

Vettel had never been in the Race Of Champions Grand Final before, despite his six ROC Nations Cup wins in partnership with Michael Schumacher for Team Germany. Kristensen, by contrast, has been in the Grand Final no less than four times without yet coming out on top.

"Of course I'm very happy and honoured to win, but that took a while!" said Vettel. "A lot of world class racing drivers have won this trophy. I've tried to win this many times and failed many times but finally I've succeeded.

"What the Race Of Champions gives us is a lot of joy. When we were kids starting to race, we did it for pure joy and this sort of event is a good reminder of that. When you close the visor, ultimately victory is still what drives you. But I've tried to win this so many times, today was more like a surprise. We all know this format is very difficult because no one gets much time in the cars so you need to find your rhythm quickly. Today I had the feeling I found it straightaway. It was very cold but it was a great atmosphere so thank you very much to everyone for coming to watch."