"In more ways than I could think of" - McLaren driver talks about role played by Mark Webber in his career

McLaren rookie Oscar Piastri feels he owes a lot of his success to Mark Webber. The young Australian is managed by the former Red Bull driver and has been able to progress through the categories under Webber's guidance.

It was Webber who helped orchestrate Piastri's move from Alpine to McLaren. If it wasn't for Webber's long-standing relationship with Andreas Seidl, the move might not have happened.

Talking about the importance of Webber in his career and how big a role has he played, Piastri said on the "Beyond the Grid" podcast:

"In more ways than I could think of, to be honest. I first started working with Mark and Ann (Neal) at the end of 2019 or start of 2020. At that point, it was quite behind the scenes; making sure my contracts at Prema were sorted, just before my F3 season. In 2019, I won the Formula Renault Eurocup championship. F3 was the next step and that was the first time I'd been on an F1 weekend. I was joining an F1 academy at the time."

He added:

"So, it was my dad and I, and someone else called Rob, who was helping us. But really, we needed someone with more experience. Mark helped a lot with that for the first couple of years, but 2020 was difficult with COVID and we were in separate bubbles all the time, so we didn't actually do much together that year."

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Oscar Piastri commends McLaren teammate Lando Norris

Oscar Piastri also had great things to say about McLaren teammate Lando Norris. Talking about Norris, the Australian felt that what stood out for him was the attention to detail that Norris tended to have in his approach to racing. He said:

"I see that when I work with him. I see it the same way he does that we expect the same from the car and also have a similar way of working. It's also good for the team because we give the engineers a clear direction can pretend!"

He added:

"I see how he deals with small details and how he approaches the debriefings. There are always areas where I can improve and having him as a benchmark is really good."

The McLaren driver scored his first points of the season in Australia and will be hoping to build on that in his rookie F1 season.