David Coulthard says Mark Webber stepping back from Oscar Piastri role was ‘inevitable’

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David Coulthard was not surprised to learn that Mark Webber has taken on a reduced role in Oscar Piastri’s set-up this season. It emerged during the winter that Webber and his wife Ann Neal would only handle commercial matters in 2026.

Piastri brought in Pedro Matos, his former F2 engineer, to assist him during race weekends. Speaking in pre-season, the McLaren driver played down the change.

“Mark is still very much involved and I’ve been in contact with him a lot over the last few weeks,” he said. “He just won’t be trackside as much anymore. So that’s really the extent of it. But yeah, there was nothing specific that triggered it.”

David Coulthard says new role for Mark Webber is ‘natural’

Coulthard was asked about the reshuffle on the latest episode of the Up to Speed podcast. He believes it was ‘inevitable’ that Webber would step back.

Webber helped Piastri find a way out of Alpine’s driver programme for a more desirable McLaren seat in 2023. While the first two years of his career were relatively smooth, he fought for the world championship in 2025.

This was a new level of pressure for Piastri, compounded by the controversy over McLaren’s approach. They were accused of favouring Norris by external observers.

Webber, who retired from F1 in 2013, may be more comfortable in his new role now that Piastri has established himself as an elite driver. He naturally requires less guidance than he did as a newcomer.

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“Mark and his wife, Ann, went all-in to not only get Oscar on the Formula 1 grid, but not with Alpine,” Coulthard said.

“They got him into McLaren, helped him through the initial phase of becoming a Grand Prix driver and then got him in the ring with him through what was a pretty public conversation as to whether McLaren’s approach was the right approach to allow us to see racing.

“Having, to use a Mark Webber expression, been in the trenches with Oscar through what was his first crack at a world title, there’s an inevitable wanting to step back and let him get on with it.

“At the end of the day, no manager can be in the car with the driver. I don’t think Mark retired from frontline racing to suddenly be going to 24 Grands Prix guiding Oscar through the good and the bad.

“I think it’s just a natural development into this new set-up that he has.”

David Coulthard thinks Oscar Piastri management change was ‘driven’ by Mark Webber

A report at the time suggested that McLaren had instigated Piastri’s management change because they were unhappy with Webber’s behind-the-scenes agitating.

However, Coulthard, who was Webber’s teammate at Red Bull and has worked with him more recently for UK broadcaster Channel 4, sees it differently.

“He’s got a wonderful life down under as well, so taking a bit more time, investing in family and friends is probably at the forefront of that,” he said. “I’m going to guess that it was more driven by Mark.”

• READ MORE: Oscar Piastri mocks the media’s ‘World War 3’ portrayal of Lando Norris rivalry at McLaren

Still, Coulthard believes that Webber, relegated to de facto number two status at Red Bull during his partnership with Red Bull, was ‘perfectly placed’ to guide Piastri through recent team orders controversies.

“My feeling is that Mark wasn’t too close,” he said. “He was perfectly placed to know what it’s like. I think it was Budapest, I was going to write to my local MP and complain about how the drivers were being managed out on track.”