Oscar Piastri warned not to let Mark Webber's 'scars' dictate his McLaren future
Updated . First published at
Former McLaren driver Juan Pablo Montoya has warned Oscar Piastri not to let manager Mark Webber's "scars" influence his future, amid speculation the Australian is seeking to exit the team.
Montoya's caution comes as rumours swirl that Piastri might be looking for a way out of McLaren. While Ferrari has long been mooted as a destination, a bombshell link to Red Bull has recently emerged as the talk of the paddock.
After a six-race slump during the final third of the season cost him the championship lead, Piastri ultimately finished third in the overall standings, leapfrogged by teammate Lando Norris and Red Bull rival Max Verstappen.
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Oscar Piastri and manager Mark Webber on the grid at the Yas Marina Circuit ahead of the 2025 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. LAT Images
The 24-year-old closed out his campaign 13 points shy of new world champion Norris, who sealed the title at the season finale in Abu Dhabi.
Despite a sensational season in which Piastri achieved seven grand prix wins, 16 podium appearances and six pole positions, the result remains bittersweet for some of the Melburnian's fans amid mounting rumours of internal friction.
Several times during the 2025 campaign, McLaren's race strategies seemed to favour Norris's results, casting doubt on the team's public commitment to their "papaya rules" principles.
Despite being contracted to the team through 2026 and beyond, the tension within the team has sparked speculation that Piastri may be looking elsewhere.
In an interview with Motorsport Week, Montoya suggested that the relationship between Piastri and McLaren has fractured, and that Piastri's management would already be exploring options at rival teams.
"I guarantee you that Oscar Piastri and Mark Webber are already talking to another F1 team," he said.
Oscar Piastri walks in the paddock with manager Mark Webber. Getty
"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" in question are likely a reference to Webber's Formula 1 career at Red Bull, specifically when he played second fiddle to four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel from 2009 to 2013.
Having lived through the infamous "Multi-21" team orders saga, Webber knows all too well what it is like to be "the other guy" in a championship battle between teammates.
For Montoya, Piastri's late-season resurgence was the result of reaching a breaking point — a moment where he shed the burden of overthinking and began driving on pure instinct.
This raw ambition, forged by the heartbreak of 2025, will only make him a more dangerous threat in the years to come.
Oscar Piastri’s 2025 title hopes ended in a third-place finish Getty
"If you look at Oscar in the last two races, he finally turned things around and won," Montoya 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."
