Why ghosts of Mark Webber loom large over Oscar Piastri in epic Formula One title quest

Oscar Piastri is favourite to claim a maiden F1 championship. But can’t afford to slip up, because he may never get a better chance. He only needs to look at his own manager, Mark Webber, for a reminder of that.

As patient and unflustered as he always appears, Australia’s Oscar Piastri would be wise to get a wriggle on and do everything in his powers to try and secure the Formula One world drivers’ championship right away because the window of opportunity might close just as quickly as it opened.

While he’s just 24 and his career accelerating ahead at lightning speed, the brutal reality of motorsport is that success and failure in F1 are often just milliseconds apart.

If there’s one sobering guarantee, it’s that even the most talented drivers risk missing out if they don’t seize the moment.

Piastri’s own manager Mark Webber can testify to that.

A loveable underdog who fought his way to the top through grit and determination, Webber led the 2010 world championship by 14 points with three rounds to go when luck went against him. He finished third and never got another real crack at the title he so richly deserved.

A decade and a half later, Piastri is leading the drivers’ championship by 16 points after winning four of the first six races in 2025.

Oscar Piastri celebrates his win at the Miami Grand Prix

As cool as you like, he’s performed like a seasoned professional but with 18 rounds to go, it’s a long way from over yet, even though he clearly has a great shot at it and the bookies have declared him the odds-on favourite to go on and finish the job.

But what’s not so clear is how many chances Piastri will get at the title because the pecking order in F1 can change so fast that even the greatest get caught out.

Lewis Hamilton was just a couple of laps away from breaking Michael Schumacher’s record of seven championships in 2021 but still hasn’t got there, though he’s still trying.

McLaren’s Oscar Piastri with manager, and Australian former F1 star, Mark Webber. Picture: Getty

Fernando Alonso won the 2005 and 2006 titles by the age of 25. He’s now 43, still stuck on two championships, and hasn’t won a single race in 12 years.

Sebastian Vettel won his fourth world title at 26 but spent another nine years searching for a fifth before eventually giving up.

The prime reason is that it all comes to being in the right car at the right time and right now, Piastri has one of the two prized seats with McLaren – the fastest and most reliable car on the grid.

They are the team to be with right now.

After a slow start, McLaren won the constructors’ championship in 2024 for the first time in 26 years and are on track to repeat that this year.

The iconic orange livery cars managed just one Grand Prix victory in the first 14 races last year but won five of the last 10 to clinch the team championship.

McLaren has started this season stronger than ever, winning five of the first six races to open up a healthy 105-point lead in the constructors’ race, with Mercedes currently in second.

Unlike Red Bull, whose points come almost entirely from Max Verstappen, both of McLaren’s pilots are making strong contributions, with Piastri leading the drivers’ standings and his teammate Lando Norris in second.

Oscar Piastri's special move to overtake Max Verstappen

Barring a dramatic turnaround, everything points to McLaren running away with the team title this year, and either Piastri or Norris winning the individual crown, because everything is in their favour.

Of the 66 drivers’ champions since the constructors’ championship was first introduced, 54 have been the wheel of a car that also won the team title, but this year presents an unusual dilemma.

Because new regulations are coming into effect in 2026, no-one knows what will happen but it’s possible the grid could be tipped upside down, bearing in mind that positions are already decided by tiny fractions of seconds.

The expectation is McLaren will remain among the frontrunners, but that’s not guaranteed because the British constructor is at a competitive disadvantage.

Because Piastri and Norris are in contention for the 2025 title, both sides of the McLaren garage are having to focus a lot of their efforts on looking for any tiny edges they can get to win right now.

But most of the other teams will soon give up on this year and put all their energy into 2026.

McLaren’s other weakness is that they are a customer team, meaning they buy all their parts from their rivals, including the engine and the chassis, rather than make their own parts.

This gives factory-backed teams, such as Ferrari, Mercedes and Red Bull, an obvious leg-up, particularly in the first year of any new regulations so Piastri can’t take anything for granted.

Originally published as Why ghosts of Mark Webber loom large over Oscar Piastri in epic Formula One title quest