Oscar Piastri highlights Mark Webber’s crucial role in his journey to F1, emphasizing the invaluable mentorship and guidance.
For Oscar Piastri, the experience of Mark Webber in F1 is ‘invaluable’. Australia is indeed well represented in F1. The country boasts two representatives in 2024, Daniel Ricciardo and Oscar Piastri, and has also been home to talented drivers like Mark Webber, and world champions Alan Jones and Sir Jack Brabham.
There’s solidarity among Australians in F1: proof of this is Oscar Piastri’s manager, who helped him enter F1, none other than Webber, the former Red Bull driver.
It was in 2020, at the start of his F3 season, that Piastri began working with Webber. A real turning point in his career, leading him to F2 and then to F1, under the circumstances we know and with Webber’s sage advice (as an Alpine test driver, Piastri had accepted a primary seat at McLaren for 2023, in the absence of a contract offer from Alpine).
Just listening to Piastri talk about Webber reveals how much one owes to the other.
“We started working together at the beginning of my F3 season and a lot of our behind-the-scenes work has been extremely helpful.”
“Mark was racing at Red Bull when I was following the sport, and understanding it better and better. And so, I followed Mark because he was finishing first or second most of the time, and also because he was Australian.”
“He’s who I supported, and now that I’m here, driving alongside Lewis [Hamilton] and Fernando [Alonso], talking to these people and racing against them… that’s also very, very special.”
“Knowing that these guys have succeeded gives you confidence.”
Australians Shine on F1’s Global Stage
Confidence that Webber, or even Daniel Ricciardo, could provide, proving that one can come from the other side of the world and still make it in F1!
“It seems to me that whenever there’s an Australian on the grid, we’re not doing too badly,” Piastri smiles.
Australia indeed has two world champions: Sir Jack Brabham (three titles in 1959, 1960, and 1966) and Alan Jones (1980).
But now that Piastri has made his way to F1, is the contribution of Mark Webber still as indispensable? The McLaren driver answers in the affirmative…
“Especially now that I’m in F1, Mark’s F1 experience is invaluable! His experiences and tips are very useful to me. And in a way, the bad things that happened in his career are just as useful as the good ones, because he can tell me what not to do.”
“In terms of management, he knows what to do and what not to do, which greatly simplifies my life without me having to worry about it. But also in helping me to drive, to execute a weekend, to manage a season, all these things, it’s very nice to have someone who has already done it.”
Future manager advice?
Would Piastri see himself as a manager after his F1 career ends? We’re obviously far from there, but the McLaren driver already has some advice for young Australian aspirants…
“The first piece of advice I always give is to have fun and remember that we’re here because we love it.”
“I think the second thing to remember… is to always try to improve.”
“Especially at the beginning of a sport, many people can rely on their natural talent and others can’t. I don’t remember the exact saying, but I think talent is nothing without work. Of course, you need to have a bit of talent, but it also takes a lot of work to get there.”
“In motorsport too, given the money involved, the pressure, the hard work, it’s much harder to make it than in other sports – for different reasons. Hard work can really make a difference.”
Piastri Webber F1 Mentorship. Piastri Webber F1 Mentorship
- ReadMore>Sainz Commits to Team Game Amid Ferrari’s Future
- Following us on Facebook and Twitter.
