Webber has been instrumental in Piastri’s rise through the junior ranks into Formula 1, famously guiding him out of Alpine and into a McLaren seat, while serving as mentor and manager.
But their working arrangement shifted ahead of 2026, with Webber stepping back from trackside duties as part of a management reshuffle to focus more heavily on commercial responsibilities.
Former F2 race engineer Pedro Matos and performance coach Emma Murray were brought into Piastri’s immediate trackside team to support his race weekend preparation.
Speaking on the High Performance Podcast, Piastri acknowledged how significant Webber’s input was during his early years in the sport, particularly in areas he was not yet experienced enough to even consider.
“I think when I first got into F1, Mark was coming up with questions and ideas that literally hadn’t even entered my brain,” he said.
“And I would hear him say it and go, ‘how the hell did he think of that?’ Or, ‘how am I ever going to think of that?’”
Now in his fourth season, Piastri said experience has reduced that dependency, with his own understanding of the sport catching up to the demands of the role.
“I think just with experience, we’re always learning every day, but I think now, starting my fourth year, I have either the answers to a lot of those kind of questions that I wouldn’t have had in the first couple of years, or I know the questions to keep asking. Which just comes with experience,” he added.
Piastri made it clear that Webber’s influence in shaping his early career remained significant, particularly in helping him avoid pitfalls common to young drivers.
“I think there’s naturally less and less for Mark to do on a racing side of things the more experienced I become,” he said.
“But I think, especially in the first couple of years, there’s some lessons you have to learn the hard way and there’s no other way of doing it.
“But I’m sure there could have been plenty of other slightly annoying or tough lessons to learn that I was probably spared because of Mark’s experience and Mark’s guidance.”
He also suggested that some of Webber’s impact may never be fully visible from the outside, having dealt with issues before they ever reached the driver.
“There’s probably always going to be situations or things that have gone smoothly, or almost problems that weren’t problems that I’m never going to know about because Mark managed them for me,” he said
Piastri added that Webber continued to be his number one support when it came to dealing with challenging moments during his F1 career, while also noting it is difficult to form close relationships with fellow F1 drivers given the respectful but inherently competitive environment within the Formula 1 grid.
“I think especially now in F1 there’s a massive level of respect between all the drivers. But having respect for one another and being friends with one another are two very different things,” he explained.
“And I think for me, it’s always hard to be genuine friends with somebody that 24 times a year you’ve got to go on track and prove that you’re better than them basically. Or compete against them.
“And I think that’s why probably a lot of the closest friendships in racing are between racing drivers that are in two different series.
“Or that have been teammates, whether it be in the junior ranks, or ex-teammates in F1 that are now no longer either in the same team racing as each other or kind of at different ends of the grid.
“I get on with a lot of the drivers, and there’s definitely some I’m more friendly with than others. But again, some ex-teammates that I’ve had in the junior ranks because we’re not racing against each other anymore, we can relate to each other a lot because we’re both racing drivers.
“So there’s a lot to talk about and now there’s not that awkwardness of going, ‘oh, well, I really want to talk to you about this, but if I talk to you about it is it going to give you ideas on how you can beat me next time’ and all of those kind of things.
“So it’s a tricky old business.”
Piastri enters the Miami Grand Prix this weekend sitting sixth in the drivers’ championship.
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