Webber salutes Piastri on ‘big day for Aussie racing’

Mark Webber was beaming with pride after watching Oscar Piastri match his career tally after a brilliant Dutch Grand Prix drive.

A Grand Slam in Zandvoort pushed Piastri to a ninth career win in just his third season and 60th start.

Watching on from the garage was manager Webber, who took 215 races and 12 seasons across a gritty career to hit the landmark.

After the Brighton Boy took just over a quarter of the time it took for Webber, the former Red Bull star was delighted.

Webber hailed Piastri’s achievement as a “big day for Australian motorsport” with only champions Sir Jack Brabham and Alan Jones ahead of him.

“This is magnificent, and he drove so well today,” Webber told Sky F1 before watching his boy on the podium.

“This is a big day for Australian motorsport. I am very happy.

“We have had a lot of banter between the two of us and piss taking.

“He is on me now and I am very, very happy. Hopefully, he can keep going.”

Webber’s ninth and final win was a classy performance at Silverstone, where he snatched the 2012 British Grand Prix win from Fernando Alonso in the closing stages.

Piastri hit the mark in smashing style, nailing his first career Grand Slam amid all the chaos during a dramatic Dutch Grand Prix.

Despite teammate Lando Norris starting strong, Piastri quietly built up to his best throughout the weekend and rose when it mattered.

He nailed the start, held off early challenges from Max Verstappen and Norris, before perfectly managing the restarts to secure an impressive 1s win.

“We saw Daniel (Ricciardo) win plenty and obviously Jack and AJ and now Oscar,” Webber continued.

“Having this amount of success so early in his career is a credit to him.

“He has put in a huge amount of work in and executed beautifully with the team doing such a great job.”

Piastri was also full of praise for the guidance from Webber, who has been with him on the journey from F3 to F1.

“He’s been very helpful through my whole career, certainly the last five years,” Piastri 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. 

“It’s important having him by my side.”

The win could be the Malaysia 2016 moment of the thrilling 2025 title race between the McLaren teammates.

Norris sat second until his Mercedes engine expired eight laps from home, and this exploded Piastri’s championship lead to a convincing 34 points.

Despite the chances of a first Australian champion since 1980 as good as ever, Webber knows things can change.

He himself was leading the 2010 championship ahead of the Abu Dhabi finale, but fell heartbreakingly short.

“There is a long way to go,” Webber said.

“We have races like Brazil where it rains and street circuits like Azerbaijan and Singapore where anything can happen.

“Like we say in cricket we would rather have the runs on the board than not.

“You just need to keep collecting the points.

“He has had a few misses this year that were out of his control, but he deserved the win and it was great that he doubled down today.”

Next is Monza this weekend where Piastri made a massive statement by passing Norris around the outside last year.

Image: Getty