Oscar Piastri enters this weekend’s Dutch GP with a nine-point advantage over teammate Lando Norris.

The Australian can be credited with a strong recovery after the first round in Melbourne, where a spin relegated him down the order – finishing in a lowly 9th.

At the same time, Piastri has lost some ground to Norris in recent Grand Prix.

Fine margins have denied the 24-year-old victories in Austria, Silverstone and Hungary. In such a close fight, these margins could make the difference.

Despite this, Piastri has shown a cool head in both moments of difficulty and success.

The Australian attributes some of his composure and big-picture thinking to the advice of his manager, Mark Webber.

Mark Webber and Oscar Piastri, McLaren F1 Team, in the garage
Piastri thankful to have Webber in his corner

Whilst drivers are obviously the stars in Formula 1, there are many factors that so often decide victory and failure.

Piastri discovered this even before making his debut, with his manager Mark Webber successfully reaching a deal to join McLaren for the 2023 season.

At the time, of course, the consensus in the paddock was that Ricciardo would continue with the team.

Ricciardo himself denied rumours that he was going to be replaced – only a few weeks before McLaren’s talks with Piastri were made public.

Regardless, Webber’s role in getting Piastri to join McLaren (and subsequently leaving Alpine) have been decisive in the 23-year-old’s career success.

Before this season began, there were very few who described Piastri as a title favourite.

Instead, it was Verstappen and Norris that were at the centre of discussions in pre-season.

With that said, Piastri’s mentality since the beginning of the season has been razor-focused.

The Australian’s mentality has been praised by the likes of Alain Prost, showing no signs of agitation throughout the year.

Speaking in a recent interview, Piastri outlined the important role that Webber plays in his approach:

“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.”

Oscar Piastri, McLaren, 1st position, with Mark Webber
Pressure increases in the title fight

So far this season, neither Piastri or Norris have managed to win three races consecutively.

Although both drivers have enjoyed stronger patches, momentum has often swung from one side of the garage to the other.

With such few points separating the McLaren duo, these fluctuations could make the title race impossible to predict until the final round in Abu Dhabi.

As fewer and fewer rounds remain, a consistent string of races – or one DNF – could be decisive.

Conscious of this, both of Andrea Stella’s drivers will enter the second half of the season under even more pressure.

Any mistake will be difficult to recover from, and could force whoever is trailing in the standings to become more desperate in a bid to recover.

Main photo: via McLaren media gallery