McLaren hired Oscar Piastri as Daniel Ricciardo’s replacement after the honey badger’s sacking at the end of the 2022 season. Piastri comes into the team with a lot of talent and promise, but former Red Bull driver Mark Webber, who is also his mentor, tells Speedcafe that he needs a lot of time before reaching his full potential.
Piastri has been decent in terms of results so far but has failed to match his teammate Lando Norris. Norris is 11th with 12 points to his name so far whereas Piastri is two places behind him with five points. Admittedly, McLaren’s mechanical package hasn’t been good enough for the duo to consistently challenge for the points.
For Piastri in particular, 2023 is expected to a season of learning. However, Webber, who is also his mentor, has his plan in motion for making the young Aussie take the next step in his journey toward F1 greatness.
Oscar Piastri needs more time, says ex-Red Bull star Mark Webber
Webber, who retired from F1 at the end of the 2013 season has been a constant pillar of support for Piastri, who earns $2,000,000 a season at McLaren. Piastri and even Norris suffered heartbreak in Spain after a good qualifying run turned into a disastrous race result. After the Grand Prix weekend, Webber shared his thoughts on Piastri’s bright future.
“We’re in Disneyland to say he’s going to go out there and naturally match one of the top three drivers in the world right now in Lando Norris,” the 46-year-old said. “But it’s what he did in qualifying in Monaco, missing out by two hundredths, and he was close again in Barcelona. So time is going to be the best thing that he’s got, and that’s something we can’t buy obviously.”
Webber went on to say that Piastri is on a “wonderful trajectory”. The fact that he is close to Norris at this stage of the season, and is getting valuable time behind the wheel of an F1 car in all these circuits, points towards a bright future for the Melbourne-born.
McLaren handed a reality check ahead of the Canadian GP
The 2023 Spanish GP started on a very strong note for McLaren. In qualifying, Norris managed to secure P3, just behind Max Verstappen and ex-McLaren teammate Carlos Sainz. Piastri himself qualified in P10, but started in ninth after a penalty for Pierre Gasly.
Unfortunately, a first lap shunt with Lewis Hamilton sent Norris to the back of the grid and he couldn’t recover from there. P18 was the best he could muster, which was extremely disappointing considering where he started from. Piastri didn’t face any issues during the race, other than his car’s poor pace. He couldn’t hold on to a top 10 finish, and crossed the chequered flag in P13.
Looking at McLaren’s overall disastrous weekend, Piastri admitted to Speedcafe that his team was handed a reality check. Saturday’s qualifying performances were just a mixture of luck with other drivers underperforming.
Ahead of the Canadian GP next week, Piastri and Norris will be hoping for a much better performance in Montreal.
