Johnny Herbert has a theory about why Oscar Piastri doesn’t need Mark Webber at races anymore

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McLaren driver Oscar Piastri’s situation with manager Mark Webber has been compared to Lewis Hamilton’s professional relationship with his father by former F1 driver Johnny Herbert.

Oscar Piastri is entering the fourth season of his Formula 1 career and will once again be starting the campaign in front of a home crowd at the Australian Grand Prix.

However, it’s yet to be seen whether Piastri will be joined by Mark Webber in the paddock in Melbourne.

Piastri confirmed Webber’s role in his team is changing this year, meaning that he’s going to be travelling to fewer races.

Johnny Herbert was discussing the young Australian’s chances ahead of the 2026 season starting, and as well as reflecting on whether Webber’s changing role is a good thing, also examined his upcoming battle against McLaren teammate Lando Norris.

READ MORE: McLaren driver Oscar Piastri’s life outside F1 from height to girlfriend

Johnny Herbert thinks Oscar Piastri is in a ‘very similar situation’ to Lewis Hamilton after changing Mark Webber’s role

Speaking to Damon Hill on the Stay on Track Podcast, the pair were talking about Webber and his relationship with Piastri.

The 1996 F1 world champion said: “Lando, happy boy, world champion. Oscar didn’t win the championship, and he’s been quite quiet.

“There was some story about Mark, his manager, not coming to as many races next year. I don’t know what’s going on there.”

Herbert replied: “I think sometimes you grow as drivers and sometimes you need that manager there, or a father there, I remember that with Lewis with Anthony, but then he grew up and wanted to have his time where he can do what he needed to do.

“I think Oscar is in a very similar situation.”

What do you expect from Oscar Piastri in the 2026 F1 season?

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Hill explained: “Is it more difficult for him if they are contenders to think in terms of beating Lando? I think with Lando, when he’s confident, I think he’s got the edge on Oscar.”

Herbert concluded: “There was the proof last year in his consistency. There were those little dips; they both had those little dips, but Lando had a smaller dip than Oscar.”

“He didn’t get too down about it, Lando,” Hill remarked, to which Herbert replied: “He bounced back, he was very strong, I thought,” with both drivers agreeing that was ‘very impressive’.

READ MORE: McLaren driver Lando Norris’ life outside F1 from parents to celebration

McLaren put ‘pressure’ on Oscar Piastri to change his management set-up

McLaren go into the 2026 F1 season as one of the favourites once again, but they’re playing down their chances heading into the opening race in Australia.

Whenever Formula 1’s regulations change, the works team should have an immediate advantage as they should know how the power unit and other aspects of the cars work better than the customer teams.

Mercedes will be desperate to beat McLaren after losing to a customer team in the last two seasons, but Zak Brown and Andrea Stella know they have to manage any internal conflict before thinking about the rest of the grid.

There have been reports that McLaren put ‘pressure’ on Piastri to change his management, with Webber reportedly unhappy with some of their decision-making last season.

In particular, it’s believed Piastri’s camp was unhappy with how the Italian Grand Prix played out, when the Australian driver had to give up a position to Norris after a slow pit stop.

Norris and Piastri were battling for the win in Australia last year before the 24-year-old spun off in treacherous conditions.

Stella and Brown will be hoping that their two drivers are in that same position again on Sunday to start the season perfectly.