Mark Webber tells McLaren what they could have done better during Oscar Piastri’s Baku win

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McLaren star Oscar Piastri has one of the best advisors a Formula 1 driver could ask for in the form of former Red Bull star Mark Webber.

Oscar Piastri drove a perfect race during the Azerbaijan Grand Prix to secure his second victory of the season and help McLaren take the lead in the Constructors’ Championship.

He pulled off a fantastic pass on Charles Leclerc who, for the fourth successive year, couldn’t convert a pole position into victory in Baku.

McLaren also watched on as Lando Norris recovered from a disappointing qualifying session to finish ahead of Max Verstappen and put a small dent in his lead in the Drivers’ Championship.

READ MORE: Everything you need to know about McLaren F1 Team from team principal to engine

Mark Webber was watching on in Baku – unlike Piastri’s first win in Hungary when he wasn’t present – and shared with Channel 4 his thoughts on the result.

Andrea Stella’s team executed a nearly perfect team strategy, with Norris holding up Sergio Perez just enough as he went long on his first stint to give Piastri a gap to pit into as he tried to minimise the damage from Leclerc’s undercut.

However, Webber has suggested that McLaren made life difficult for themselves by leaving Piastri out for as long as they did.

Ferrari tried to con McLaren later in the race with their radio calls, but the British team didn’t take the bait.

While the racing on the track was fantastic, it was also a strategic battle on the pit wall that the papaya outfit ultimately came out on top of.

Mark Webber suggests McLaren didn’t execute perfect Oscar Piastri strategy in Baku

Speaking about Norris helping Piastri by holding up Perez, Webber said: “Yeah, I think they’ll look into that as well, I think there was probably a lap before where maybe they could have looked at [pitting Piastri].

“I think that was something that they probably put a little bit more heat on themselves than necessary.

“But ultimately, it still worked. They managed the sliding doors moment, there was the strategy, and then you can’t have a virtual safety car, there were lots of things in play.

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

“Ultimately, just execution and that took place around a street circuit, high speed, the defence when you’re off-line, and Charles was trying to move him around, that’s very interesting.

“When you’ve got someone of Charles experience going, ‘Oscar, I want you over here, I’m trying to manipulate your entry into these corners’, and Osc said, ‘Yeah, I’ve got that covered, I’m going to get out of here’.

“It can go wrong, today he got it right, it was extraordinary, he’s still so early in his career to be doing these things, I think everyone is impressed.”

Oscar Piastri ignored McLaren radio call that won him the race

Piastri potentially took too much out of his tyres on the first stint to try and keep up with Leclerc but was within DRS range of the Monegasque driver as soon as he put on the hards.

George Russell has complained about the Pirelli tyres despite finishing on the podium, with his Mercedes varying massively between stints.

McLaren were worried about Piastri’s tyres in the second stint, knowing how long he had to run on the hard tyres.

However, Piastri ignored McLaren’s call not to attack Leclerc, and it paid off in the end, although he admitted in the cooldown room that he only gave himself a 50% chance of making the corner.

The young Australian will be being briefed that he shouldn’t settle for being a number two driver, considering the role Webber had to play alongside Sebastian Vettel at Red Bull.

Given the 23-year-old’s ability, it’s hard to believe he’ll be second fiddle to Lando Norris for long at this rate.