Oscar Piastri and Mark Webber have mutually agreed to end their management partnership.

It was Webber who was the architect of his fellow-Australian's controversial split with Alpine, which subsequently opened the door for the back-to-back F3 and F2 champion to join McLaren.

However, this year Webber has taken a step back, certainly in terms of trackside support of his driver, with Piastri's former F2 engineer appearing to fill the void, along with Emma Murray, as his psychology coach.

Speaking on the High Performance podcast in May, Piastri played down the significance of Webber's absence.

"When I first got into F1, Mark was coming up with questions and ideas that literally hadn't even entered my brain," he said. "I would hear him say it and go like, 'how the hell did he think of that?' or like, 'how am I ever going to think of that?'

"But now, starting my fourth year, I have either the answers to a lot of those kinds of questions that I wouldn't have had in the first couple of years, or I know the questions to keep asking, which just comes with experience.

"There's naturally less and less for Mark to do on the racing side of things the more experienced I become. But especially in the first couple of years, there are some lessons you have to learn the hard way, and there's no other way of doing it, but I'm sure there could have been plenty of other slightly annoying, tougher lessons to learn that I was probably spared because of Mark's experience and Mark's guidance."

Maybe it is coincidence, but this year, for whatever reason, be it the new regulations, Webber's absence or whatever, Piastri has appeared a shadow of the driver we saw in 2025, when he took the title fight down to the wire.

This morning Webber confirmed the end of their partnership.

"We are proud to have played a pivotal role in the formative years of Oscar's career and to have placed him in F1 so that he could compete at the front so early on," said the Australian in a statement.

"Following our reduced trackside involvement this season, we have collectively agreed that now is an appropriate time to bring our management agreement to a close. This will allow Oscar to build on his achievements under a new management structure, and for us to embark on our new ventures. We wish Oscar all the very best for a long and successful career."

"I'd like to thank Mark and Ann for all their support and advice over the years," added Piastri. "Their guidance has been invaluable, particularly in navigating the beginning of my F1 career. I wish them all the best going forward."

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by kenji, 7 hours ago

"I am extremely sceptical when I read the explanation that Oscar has provided. It may be that I'm way off the mark and it is all very very simple as the article states. My gut feel, and it's nothing more than that, tells me that there are far deeper issues at play. Some time back I read that Mark Webber had been labelled 'persona nom grata' by the hierarchy at McLaren which extended to being barred from the MTC!. Reason being that he was not happy at the way McLaren were manipulating the planned strategies/results in favour of Norris. This has been demonstrated on numerous occasions in the glare of public scrutiny...and persists to this day in many areas. IMO something is wrong and it is glaringly obvious in the way Oscar goes racing these days! Oscar's demeanour seems to have been blunted and he has lost the shine that was there previously. It's almost as though he's realised that as long as he's there he'll get 'the rough end of the pineapple.' His alternatives for a new drive are nil ATM. Maybe I'm seeing shadows that aren't really there but as a dedicated fan of Piastri I am concerned that all is far from well and the chances of Oscar getting a fair run are negligible."

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Piastri parts company with Webber

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