Oscar Piastri is on an \u201cincredible journey\u201d in F1 2025, and one which Mark Webber described as \u201cunprecedented\u201d, as Piastri bids to rescue his Drivers\u2019 Championship challenge.<\/p>\n
Webber compared Piastri\u2019s situation to that of Lewis Hamilton, who challenged for the title in his rookie season back in 2007, before bouncing back from the disappointment to become world champion in 2008. Webber discussed how he will look to get Piastri<\/a> back on track after a rough run, while Webber\u2019s former title rival and teammate Sebastian Vettel also weighed in.<\/p>\n Mark Webber guiding \u2018unprecedented\u2019 Oscar Piastri title challenge<\/p>\n We are on the eve of a triple-header which will determine the F1 2025 Drivers\u2019 Champion. Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri and Max Verstappen are the combatants, and momentum is on the side of Norris ahead of the Las Vegas Grand Prix.<\/p>\n Of the trio, Piastri has the least experience as a Formula 1 driver, while Verstappen is the only one to have won the title, having done so four times consecutively as he bids to make that five.<\/p>\n Piastri is in his third season of Formula 1 with McLaren, and Webber\u00a0 \u2013 a winner of nine grands prix and Piastri\u2019s manager \u2013 therefore compared Piastri with the now seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton in terms of how early both drivers featured in a title battle.<\/p>\n Explaining on Channel 4 how he is approaching this critical period with Piastri, Webber said: \u201cIt\u2019s a journey for him, obviously an incredible journey, so early in his career.<\/p>\n \u201cTo fight for a world title year three is pretty unprecedented. I think it was Lewis. There hasn\u2019t been many people that have done this so early in his career.<\/p>\n \u201cSo naturally, that\u2019s in the equation, of course, to understand the boundaries of how that can look for him, without putting too much pressure on the situation.\u201d<\/p>\n Webber said that when he got his shot at the title in 2010, he was an \u201cold dog\u201d in his F1 career, while Piastri is \u201cearly in his career, so there\u2019s different nuances there.<\/p>\n \u201cSo a bit of everything, arm around him, a bit of encouragement here and there, opportunities. You can see his pecker is up. He\u2019s still working hard, and it\u2019s early in his career.\u201d<\/p>\n Webber\u2019s championship challenge saw him go up against Red Bull teammate Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari\u2019s Fernando Alonso, plus Hamilton and Jenson Button in the McLarens.<\/p>\n Now, he finds himself back in that scenario, but as a manager.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it was, believe it or not, nearly easier when I was in the car,\u201d said Webber. \u201cBecause obviously, you\u2019re across everything. You\u2019ve got more control over what can happen.<\/p>\n \u201cNow, from a distance with Oscar, but still, obviously, heavily involved. He\u2019s so young in his career, as Seb was. I was a bit older in my career, so it was a different part of our trajectory and journey, if you like.<\/p>\n \u201cBut to see him so young, year three, fighting for a world title quite quickly, it\u2019s pretty surreal and bizarre. But nice to be involved in, because a lot of drivers don\u2019t fight for a title once in their career.<\/p>\n \u201cSo it\u2019s sort of like you\u2019ve got to try and find the positives, but also you want to, of course, win. That\u2019s the other side.\u201d<\/p>\n Webber was speaking at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix alongside Vettel, who gave his thoughts on the current title fight, opened up on his approach, and discussed the nerves which came with it.<\/p>\n Vettel won his four world championships in consecutive seasons between 2010-13.<\/p>\n \u201cI remember 2009 here, where I lost the championship to Jensen,\u201d Vettel began. \u201cAnd if you have that belief, which I think all three of them do have\u2026 I think Max is bit more chill, because obviously he has won championships, but I think Lando and Oscar in particular, they do believe.<\/p>\n \u201cSo 2009 for me was a big moment when I realised I can\u2019t win it anymore. And then exactly that. Do I ever get in that position again? What\u2019s going to happen?<\/p>\n \u201cAnd then I also remember, obviously 2010 was very intense. A lot of drivers into that final race. 2012 again here. So since we\u2019re at Sao Paulo, I remember the moment I came into the track. I was so nervous fighting with Fernando for the title, the weather was doing whatsoever. We had a really chaotic race, so it\u2019s impossible not to think about it.<\/p>\n \u201cBut then what helped me is constantly reminding myself, \u2018Okay, this is a great position to be in\u2019, because it\u2019s a bit like, I wish it was over, and I wish I could just drive without having to think what might be the best for the championship, but then reminding myself that this is the position I want to be in.<\/p>\n \u201cNow I\u2019m leading the championship, or I\u2019m still very much in grasp and control. This is a great place to be in and what I always dreamt of, so that gave me then some peace and so that I could calm down before getting in the car again.\u201d<\/p>\n Piastri is very much in need of a reset after a wretched run of five grands prix without a podium. That has seen his lead of 34 points morph into a deficit of 24 versus Norris with three rounds to go. Verstappen is 49 points off top spot<\/a>.<\/p>\n More on the F1 2025 title fight from PlanetF1.com<\/p>\n \ud83d\udc49 How Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris have avoided bad blood in F1 2025 title rivalry<\/a><\/p>\n