![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/speedcafe.b-cdn.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/3-1.webp\")
<\/a><\/p>\n\u201cI think when I first got into F1, Mark was coming up with questions and ideas that literally hadn\u2019t even entered my brain,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I would hear him say it and go, \u2018how the hell did he think of that?\u2019 Or, \u2018how am I ever going to think of that?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think just with experience, we\u2019re 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\u2019t have had in the first couple of years, or I know the questions to keep asking. Which just comes with experience,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Piastri made it clear that Webber\u2019s influence in shaping his early career remained significant, particularly in helping him avoid pitfalls common to young drivers.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think there\u2019s naturally less and less for Mark to do on a racing side of things the more experienced I become,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I think, especially in the first couple of years, there\u2019s some lessons you have to learn the hard way and there\u2019s no other way of doing it.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I\u2019m sure there could have been plenty of other slightly annoying or tough lessons to learn that I was probably spared because of Mark\u2019s experience and Mark\u2019s guidance.\u201d<\/p>\n
He also suggested that some of Webber\u2019s impact may never be fully visible from the outside, having dealt with issues before they ever reached the driver.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s probably always going to be situations or things that have gone smoothly, or almost problems that weren\u2019t problems that I\u2019m never going to know about because Mark managed them for me,\u201d he said<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think especially now in F1 there\u2019s 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,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I think for me, it\u2019s always hard to be genuine friends with somebody that 24 times a year you\u2019ve got to go on track and prove that you\u2019re better than them basically. Or compete against them.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I think that\u2019s why probably a lot of the closest friendships in racing are between racing drivers that are in two different series.<\/p>\n
\u201cOr 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cI get on with a lot of the drivers, and there\u2019s definitely some I\u2019m more friendly with than others. But again, some ex-teammates that I\u2019ve had in the junior ranks because we\u2019re not racing against each other anymore, we can relate to each other a lot because we\u2019re both racing drivers.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo there\u2019s a lot to talk about and now there\u2019s not that awkwardness of going, \u2018oh, 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\u2019 and all of those kind of things.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo it\u2019s a tricky old business.\u201d<\/p>\n
Piastri enters the Miami Grand Prix this weekend sitting sixth in the drivers\u2019 championship.<\/p>\n
![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/250635.jpeg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Oscar Piastri has opened up on his relatinship with Mark Webber. Image: XPB Images Webber has been instrumental…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":401094,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[68086,111,139,69,7214,9335,213],"class_list":["post-401093","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-mark-webber","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-oscar-piastri","tag-slot2","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/401093","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=401093"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/401093\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/401094"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=401093"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=401093"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=401093"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Piastri](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/XPB_1392629_HiRes-1.jpg\")