Mark Webber reacts after Oscar Piastri equals F1 milestone

Oscar Piastri perhaps took a giant step closer to the Drivers’ Championship with his victory at the Dutch Grand Prix, where Lando Norris failed to finish.

With that result, Piastri extended his lead over McLaren team-mate Norris to 34 points. It was a result which saw Piastri equal the F1 victory tally of his manager Mark Webber, who confirmed that there was plenty of banter between the pair. But, he is delighted for the younger Australian’s achievement.

Mark Webber full of praise for fellow nine-time winner Oscar Piastri

The first race back after the F1 2025 summer break at Zandvoort was a dramatic affair, but it looked like the end result was going to be a familiar McLaren one-two.

That was until Norris’ McLaren MCL39 gave up on him in the closing stages. A puff of smoke coming from an F1 car is never a good sign, and indeed, it signalled Norris’ impending retirement, leaving Piastri in the clear to take a ninth grand prix win, and his seventh of the season.

Piastri has grown into an F1 title contender – and perhaps World Champion to be – under the guidance of former Red Bull racer Mark Webber.

By hitting nine F1 race wins, Piastri has already matched Webber’s F1 career victory tally.

“Magnificent. He drove so well today,” Webber said of Piastri when speaking with Sky F1.

Beyond a personal triumph, Webber says Piastri is doing their home nation of Australia proud.

“I don’t do many interviews about him, but I think today, big day for Australian motorsport,” Webber continued. “We’ve had Daniel [Ricciardo] win plenty, obviously Jack [Brabham] and AJ [Alan Jones].

“Oscar now, having this success so early in his career, is a real credit to him. He’s put a huge amount of work in, executed beautifully, and the team have done such a good job as well.

“I’m happy. We’ve had a lot of banter between the two of us. We have had a lot of banter. But’s he’s on me now, and I’m very, very, very happy.

“I think he’s going to, hopefully, keep going.”

Key stats following the 2025 Dutch Grand Prix

👉 Best F1 drivers: Which F1 driver has the most race wins?

👉 F1 2025: Head-to-head race statistics between team-mates

34 points up the road with nine rounds to go, momentum has swung drastically in the favour of Piastri after the Dutch Grand Prix.

But, Webber is far from ready to celebrate a title win for his rapid client.

“Long way to go,” he cautioned. “I mean, we’ve got races like Brazil, where it rains. We’ve got Singapore, Azerbaijan, which are street circuits where anything can happen.

“So of course, like we say in cricket mate, we’d rather have the runs on the board than not.

“But, it’s a great day for him. He deserved the win.

“You’ve got to jag the points when you can. He’s had a few misses this year, out of his control.”

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