Mark Webber and Oscar Piastri disagreed about whether he should leave McLaren after 2025

Follow us on Google Discover

Mark Webber believes Oscar Piastri suffered the same fate he did in 2010 while he was teammates with Sebastian Vettel.

Ahead of the 2026 season, Webber stopped accompanying Piastri to races, suggesting there was a bit of a rift in their relationship.

Webber has been Piastri’s manager since before he entered Formula 1. It was suggested that Piastri distanced himself from Webber due to McLaren and their strained relationship with him.

Which McLaren driver will leave the team first?

Let us know your reasoning in the comments!

Comment

Like or Comment

Have your say Sign-in now for free

Even if Webber’s reduced role as Piastri’s manager was inevitable, the stark contrast between how the two interacted last year and now is startling.

And apparently, the issues between Mark Webber and Oscar Piastri come down to McLaren’s handling of the title battle between him and Lando Norris.

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

Mark Webber believes Oscar Piastri experienced the same struggle he did against Sebastian Vettel

During an appearance on UOL Esporte, F1 reporter Julianne Cerasoli revealed that the rift between Mark Webber and Oscar Piastri boils down to issues with McLaren.

Webber wants Piastri to leave McLaren, as he feels that they prioritised Lando Norris over him in the title race, a situation he experienced during the 2010 season while he and Sebastian Vettel fought for the title as Red Bull teammates.

“The situation with Mark Webber was a bit strange, because Piastri doesn’t travel with him much anymore. But (Webber) says everything is fine. However, what he really wanted was for Piastri to be removed from McLaren.

“That’s not what Piastri said, but that’s what I heard. If we look back at Mark’s career, he saw himself losing ground.

During the 2010 championship, he was ahead of Sebastian Vettel. Then he started seeing the whole team working for Vettel.

“He lost that championship, and Vettel won it. So he saw that scenario in his career, and the impression we get is that he believes the same scenario happened last year.”

READ MORE: McLaren clarify Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri contract details amid Max Verstappen rumours

GP is joining McLaren! What does this mean for Verstappen and Red Bull?

The news comes from Erik van Haren of De Telegraaf

Comment

Like or Comment

Have your say Sign-in now for free

Oscar Piastri doesn’t believe McLaren intentionally snubbed him in title race

Speaking further, Cerasoli revealed that Oscar Piastri doesn’t agree with Mark Webber, and that him losing the title came down to McLaren noticing his slump while Lando Norris was doing well.

“But Piastri isn’t fully convinced that’s what happened with McLaren last year. He thinks it had to do with his drop in performance.

“So naturally, the team went in another direction. Mark Webber doesn’t seem to agree. And he’s certainly keeping an eye on the market.”

Webber seems to want to get Piastri away from the team that, in his mind, cost him the title. Despite his issues with them in the past, Webber and Red Bull could work together to bring Piastri to the team.

Webber could emulate Helmut Marko at Red Bull, taking on more responsibility beyond just being Piastri’s manager. But with the current state of their relationship, that route seems unlikely.