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Piastri warned not to be misled by Webber's F1 "scars"
SEN • December 19th, 2025 11:48 am
Former McLaren driver Juan Pablo Montoya has warned Oscar Piastri not to be led astray by Mark Webber’s “career scars” amid speculation the Australian is looking to leave McLaren.
The 24-year-old, who finished third in the drivers’ race in 2025 after a six-race slump saw his championship lead eroded and eventually overtaken by Lando Norris and Max Verstappen.
Norris was crowned world champion in the season finale at Abu Dhabi, but the victory was bittersweet for McLaren and Piastri fans amid rumours of internal rifts and preferential treatment which counted against the Australian.
Numerous times through the 2025 season, despite claims of honouring “papaya rules”, Mclaren made strategic and race decisions that eventuated with improved results for Norris.
It has led to speculation that Piastri, who is contracted with the team for 2026, will be looking elsewhere.
“I guarantee you that Oscar Piastri and Mark Webber (manager and former F1 driver) are already talking to another F1 team,” Montoya said.
“I don’t think Mark Webber was satisfied with Oscar’s development at McLaren. Mark isn’t very happy with McLaren. But the question is whether Oscar is very unhappy with McLaren.
“I think they need to be careful and make sure that Webber’s scars from his time as a race car driver have nothing to do with Oscar’s career.”
The scars he refers to are from Webber’s time at Red Bull when he played second fiddle to Sebastian Vettel.
A “multi-21” team orders saga famously cause enormous rifts within the team, with Webber knowing all too well what it is like to be “the other guy”.
Piastri led the drivers’ championship by 34 points at the start of September, but disaster in Baku together with the controversial position swap at Monza contributed to the form slump that ultimately cost him the championship.
Montoya insists Piastri’s raw race ambition is there and that the disappointment of 2025 will only serve to make him a bigger threat in years to come.
“If you look at Oscar in the last two races, he finally turned things around and won,” the Colombian said.
“His frustration was so great that he thought: I have nothing to lose. And as soon as he thought that, the speed came back.
“This (losing out on the title) must be tough for him. It’s really frustrating, but you have to react faster.
"I think it’s a good lesson for him, that what he’s doing isn’t good enough, that what the team around him is doing isn’t good enough, and that he needs to figure out how to get the team to work better and faster around him.”
