Webber questions FIA decision: 'It wasn’t a good result'

Former Formula 1 driver Mark Webber fully understands the frustrations of drivers during the Australian Grand Prix. Race control decided to stop the race on three occasions and carry out two standing restarts, the last of which caused huge chaos.

Webber understands frustration F1 drivers

The chaos at the late restart earned local hero Oscar Piastri his first points in F1, but the McLaren driver's manager nevertheless called the FIA's action frustrating. "It was a frustrating finish, even though we cashed in well on it," he told the F1 Nation podcast.

Here he refers mainly to the timing, rather than the concept of a standing restart. "From a sporting perspective, it’s nice to see a standing start, you know, it’s exciting," the former Red Bull Racing driver continued. As temperatures of both the asphalt and tyres had dropped considerably by late afternoon, Webber is not so sure it was a wise decision to perform a standing restart so late in the race.

"I don’t like rolling the jeopardy card too much because these are the best guys in the world, and I think for them to go down there, we saw the result on cold tyres," the nine-time GP winner continued. "It wasn’t a good result, and I think the drivers were probably a bit frustrated with how that was handled."