Webber’s example of Spanish success for Piastri

Tonight, Oscar Piastri will chase Spanish Grand Prix glory from pole, and his manager, Mark Webber, provided the perfect example 15 years ago.

All eyes will be on Piastri as he starts on pole of the Spanish Grand Prix for the first time as the championship leader, just three points clear of teammate Lando Norris, who also shares the front row.

However, the McLaren driver only needs to turn to his manager if he needs further inspiration.

Back in 2010, Webber produced one of his most dominant drives to win the Spanish Grand Prix at Catalunya from pole position.

The then Red Bull driver led every lap and flew to a crushing 24s win over Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel.

Webber’s only challenge arrived off the line, as at one point there was a possibility of a four-wide battle for the lead going into Turn 1.

Despite Webber getting a strong launch, Vettel pulled out of the slipstream, which forced the Australian to cover.

However, Lewis Hamilton also thought about a deep dive at the opening corner, while Alonso was also doing the same on the outside.

In the end, the McLaren and Ferrari drivers backed out, while Webber kept his more favoured teammate behind.

But from there, Webber was never seen again.

Red Bull Racing Chief Mechanic Kenny Handkammer, second placed Fernando Alonso, race winner Mark Webber and third placed Sebastian Vettel on the podium. (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images

He set a string of fastest laps to build a 4s lead before the only cycle of stops occurred on Lap 17.

That gap grew to 10s as a slow front-right tyre change saw Vettel drop to third behind Hamilton, despite the McLaren having a close call with the lapped Virgin at the opening corner.

The race then settled down as Webber drove into the distance and grew the advantage to 24s.

Vettel appeared to throw away a podium just 12 laps from home, firing off into the gravel at Turn 8.

This forced the German to make an unscheduled stop and fall to fourth behind Alonso.

But it soon became apparent Vettel was fighting with a “critical” brake issue as he had to noticeably nurse his #5 Red Bull Renault to the chequered flag.

However, more drama was to come when Hamilton was robbed of second in heartbreaking style.

The Brit’s front left tyre popped at the end of the high-speed, high-load Turn 3 and the McLaren speared off into the tyre wall and into retirement with just two laps left.

This ensured Vettel still salvaged third, while the biggest cheers were saved for Alonso as he celebrated his first home race with Ferrari in second.

But no one was in the same postcode as Webber, who delivered his most crushing drive of his career to date to kickstart his 2010 title challenge.

“I’m rapped,” said Webber with a beaming smile after his win.

“After qualifying yesterday it was a great position to start the race.

“It was quite tight into turn one and we had a good battle through there, but then I settled into a rhythm after that. We made sure the tyres were in pretty good nick, a clean pit stop, and after that, I had Lewis behind me and controlled the gap. Looking after the car and tyres, so the team have just been incredible this week.

Long hours and working on holidays. Collectively, Red Bull and Renault put in a massive effort and the driver did a little work and it is an awesome result.”

It was a critical success for Webber, who, before Spain had only one top-seven finish from the first four races.

But the victory almost doubled his championship points as he soared from eighth to fourth in the standings.

A follow-up win in the following event at Monaco meant Webber rocketed from eighth to first in the space of just two races.

Tonight, Piastri hopes to grow his three-point championship lead and take a fifth win of 2025 in the Spanish Grand Prix.

No Australian has won at Catalunya since Webber’s 2010 domination, but there has never been a better opportunity.

The race starts at 23.00 AEST on Fox Sports/Kayo.

Images: Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool

2010 Spanish Grand Prix results

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	6	Mark Webber	Red Bull–Renault	66	1:35:44.101	1	25
2	8	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	66	24.065	4	18
3	5	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull–Renault	66	51.338	2	15
4	3	Michael Schumacher	Mercedes	66	+1:02.195	6	12
5	1	Jenson Button	McLaren–Mercedes	66	+1:03.728	5	10
6	7	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	66	+1:05.767	9	8
7	14	Adrian Sutil	Force India–Mercedes	66	+1:12.941	11	6
8	11	Robert Kubica	Renault	66	+1:13.677	7	4
9	9	Rubens Barrichello	Williams–Cosworth	65	+1 Lap	17	2
10	17	Jaime Alguersuari	Toro Rosso–Ferrari	65	+1 Lap	15	1
11	12	Vitaly Petrov	Renault	65	+1 Lap	19
12	23	Kamui Kobayashi	BMW Sauber–Ferrari	65	+1 Lap	10
13	4	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	65	+1 Lap	8
141	2	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren–Mercedes	64	Wheel rim/Accident2	3
151	15	Vitantonio Liuzzi	Force India–Mercedes	64	Engine	16
16	10	Nico Hülkenberg	Williams–Cosworth	64	+2 Laps	13
17	18	Jarno Trulli	Lotus–Cosworth	63	+3 Laps	18
18	24	Timo Glock	Virgin–Cosworth	63	+3 Laps	22
19	25	Lucas di Grassi	Virgin–Cosworth	62	+4 Laps	23
Ret	16	Sébastien Buemi	Toro Rosso–Ferrari	42	Hydraulics	14
Ret	20	Karun Chandhok	HRT–Cosworth	27	Collision damage	24
Ret	22	Pedro de la Rosa	BMW Sauber–Ferrari	20	Collision damage	12
Ret	21	Bruno Senna	HRT–Cosworth	0	Accident	21
DNS	19	Heikki Kovalainen	Lotus–Cosworth	0	Gearbox	20

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