Mark Webber shares what he privately told Oscar Piastri after he won the Bahrain Grand Prix

McLaren star Oscar Piastri has established himself as one of the favourites to win the 2025 Formula 1 world championship after an incredible performance at the Bahrain Grand Prix.

With 20 race weekends to go, there’s still so much that can change, but McLaren have made an almost flawless start to the campaign.

Lando Norris won the Australian Grand Prix, while Oscar Piastri tasted victory in China and now in Bahrain.

However, there have been signs of weakness, like when Piastri slipped off the road in Melbourne, or both drivers missing out on pole position in Japan to Max Verstappen, who highlighted what can go wrong if McLaren make a single error this season.

Even in Bahrain, Norris was frustrated by George Russell in the closing laps, despite his Mercedes failing around him, leaving Martin Brundle to hail Russell’s drive as one of the finest of his career.

Mark Webber knows all too well from his Formula 1 career what it’s like to be in a championship battle with your teammate.

He lost out to Sebastian Vettel during his time at Red Bull, and has no plans for his protege to suffer the same fate at McLaren this year.

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Mark Webber shares what he told Oscar Piastri after winning the Bahrain Grand Prix

Webber was interviewed on the F1 Nation Podcast after the race in Bahrain in the McLaren hospitality unit.

Asked about his fellow Australian, he said: “I think, four wins now, 13 podiums. It’s so early in his career, it’s, of course, a really huge feather in his cap.

“As we know, you can have the machinery, but it’s often not easy to convert those opportunities.

“He’s converted the two poles straight away, so I think that what we are seeing quite early in his career obviously is a job well done so far.

“I just said to him, ‘I said, look, that is what happens. All the wins when you are lucky enough to win a few, like he has already, they can be a bit different.’

“That one was, as you say, probably the most comfortable one he has had, but there will be more stressful ones in the future.

“Tonight, this whole weekend went very smoothly for him, and it’s a track which again was one that needed work, like Shanghai, and he’s won on both of them. So that is another positive.”

READ MORE: Mark Webber said something about Max Verstappen’s Red Bull future that was absolutely spot on at the Japanese Grand Prix

Mark Webber explains the qualifying progress Oscar Piastri has made this season

Piastri knew he had to improve his qualifying performances this year, as it was an area where he lagged compared to Norris in 2024.

He’s made that step forward already, and currently has the best average qualifying position out of any driver on the grid.

Webber was asked if he feels Piastri has stepped up in qualifying this year, and he said: “Yeah, I think that’s, as a Formula 1 driver, a big component of your profession.

“So it’s not lost on him that over your journey, when you are up against Max, Charles, Lando, Lewis, like these guys in the first few years, like there is some serious artillery there over one lap.

“And to put it all together, as we know how sensitive it is to execute these cars and these tyres on Saturday.

“So, because of the intelligence of the boy and understanding what he needs to improve, as I say to him, you have the most experience [on] the day you retire. So keep learning.”

Webber has extremely high hopes for Piastri and is talking about him like a potential future champion.

There’s a long way to go, but he hasn’t shown any signs of cracking yet and has built a strong team around him to achieve those goals.