Piastri: It is very useful having Mark around

Webber has managed Piastri’s career from his junior days, inadvertently or not, staying largely in the background while his driver takes the spotlight. Guiding the youngster away from the toxic decline of Renault/Alpine to title-contending McLaren.

In an interview with F1.com, Piastri explained Webber's influence: “It is very useful having Mark around. He's obviously been in a title battle himself like this, so I think there's probably some emotions coming back, I guess.

"The advice is very useful, not just in the championship battle, it's been useful from the moment we've been working together. I think there's a lot of specifics from fighting for a championship that are a bit different when you're not, so the advice has been very useful.

"I've also been able to lean on my own experiences in the junior categories. It's a bit different in Formula 1, but I've been able to lean on that as well. So yeah, Mark's been very helpful," acknowledged the 23-year-old.

Piastri also reflected on his progress this year after McLaren’s strong finish to 2024: “The last six months or so, it's been incredible – there's no other way of putting it. At the back end of last year, we obviously had some more success, had the championship for the Constructors', but this year has been completely different.

“We are going into some weekends knowing that you're most likely only going to be fighting a teammate [for the win], it's a unique position to be in and a pretty cool one when you can pull that off. So yeah, it's been a lot of fun.”

With 14 rounds completed and ten left to run, the McLaren duo are in a straight shootout for the 2025 crown. Piastri leads the standings, but Norris remains close behind, leaving the team guaranteed its first F1 Drivers’ Championship since Lewis Hamilton did the business for them in 2008.