Oscar Piastri on How His Relationship with Manager Mark Webber Has Evolved

Oscar Piastri has opened up about his changing dynamic with manager Mark Webber, confirming that the former F1 driver has stepped back from a trackside role ahead of the 2026 season to focus on commercial matters. New additions to Piastri's personal team include his former F2 race engineer Pedro Matos and Australian mental coach Emma Murray.

Why it matters:

The evolution of Piastri's support structure reflects his growing maturity in Formula 1. As a driver in his fourth season, he now relies less on Webber's day-to-day racing guidance and more on specialized expertise, signaling a natural transition from rookie to seasoned competitor.

The details:

• Piastri discussed the shift on the High Performance podcast, explaining that Webber was instrumental in his early F1 years, asking questions and offering ideas that hadn't occurred to him.
• "When I first got into F1, Mark was coming up with questions and ideas that literally hadn't even entered my brain," Piastri recalled.
• With experience, Piastri now either has the answers or knows the right questions to ask, reducing Webber's hands-on involvement on the racing side.
• The Australian credited Webber with sparing him from "tougher lessons" and managing unseen problems behind the scenes.
• "There's probably always going to be situations… that I'm never going to know about because Mark managed them for me," Piastri added.

What's next:

Piastri enters 2026 with a refined support network, balancing Webber's strategic oversight with hands-on trackside help from Matos and Murray. This setup could prove crucial as McLaren aims to build on recent years' momentum in a tightly contested field.