Oscar Piastri shares how ‘important’ Mark Webber has been in the background of 2025 F1 title fight

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Oscar Piastri extended his lead in the championship to 34 points after winning the Dutch Grand Prix. McLaren teammate Lando Norris suffered a rare retirement in the closing stages.

The Aussie beat his teammate and title rival for pole position by just 12 thousandths of a second. Piastri was determined to get the second half of the season off to a good start, with Norris nine points behind heading into the race.

The 24-year-old was completely unchallenged at the Dutch Grand Prix, leading every lap on the way to his seventh victory of the season. He looked set to only gain seven points on Norris, but the Brit suffered an engine failure with a handful of laps to go.

Piastri admitted Norris was ‘incredibly unfortunate’ to have a rare reliability issue with his McLaren. His DNF puts his teammate 34 points ahead going into the next round at Monza, which could be costly for Norris’ title chances.

The championship leader claimed the ninth win of his F1 career, which equals his manager Mark Webber’s tally, having achieved that feat over seven seasons at Red Bull. Webber compared Piastri to Daniel Ricciardo after he beat his win record of eight victories at Zandvoort.

Oscar Piastri shares that Mark Webber has been ‘very helpful’ in the background during his title fight with Lando Norris

The McLaren star is reaping the benefits of having a proven race winner in the background of his first title fight in F1. Webber has been using his battles with Lewis Hamilton to help Piastri fight against the likes of Norris and Max Verstappen, which seems to be working wonders thus far.

Speaking after the Dutch GP in the drivers’ press conferences, Piastri was asked about Webber’s influence on him behind the scenes. He expressed how ‘important’ it is to have the nine-time race winner by his side.

“Yeah. He’s been very helpful through my whole career, certainly the last five years,” he said. “I think once I got into Formula 1, that’s where his help has really been a lot greater and more clear.

“Before I got to F1 it was more in the background, helping with making the right decisions and bits of advice here and there. When I got to F1, he knew how it works and thinking of or asking questions that hadn’t even come into my head.

“Helping me set expectations and prepare me for how tough it’s going to be and how big of a step it is. That side of things he has been very helpful with, and that hasn’t changed in the last three years.

“There’s still been progress to make, things to improve, and I’m still gaining experience even now. Still not perfect, always thinking of new things, things I wasn’t thinking of last year or the year before. So, it’s important having him by my side.”

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

Has Oscar Piastri now gained the advantage over Lando Norris in the 2025 title fight?

Piastri said safety car restarts were the ‘hardest part’ of his win at Zandvoort. His advantage was cut down by three stoppages during the race, but he did not let that faze him as he came home to claim victory.

Piastri gained a ‘massive psychological’ advantage over Norris by securing pole by a small margin. The Brit retirement might have done even further damage as he slips further away from his teammate with nine races to go.

Damon Hill thinks Piastri is ‘odds on’ for the title now after his win at Zandvoort. With the Aussie’s current form, Norris will have his work cut out to beat over the next few rounds and close the gap again.

There are still plenty of points up for grabs in 2025. But Norris cannot afford to dwell on his misfortune as F1 jumps straight back into the action at Monza this weekend.