Webber continues to be amazed by talent: 'He just keeps on performing'

Oscar Piastri narrowly missed out on a seat in Formula 1 for 2022, but his mentor and manager, Mark Webber, is confident the young Australian will make the move to Formula 1 in the future.

It's still surreal that Piastri was Formula 3 champion as a rookie last year and is on course for a title in F2 this year, but can't count on a seat in Formula 1. As part of the Alpine Academy, he can only count on a role as Alpine's F1 reserve driver in 2022, but he's grabbing that opportunity with both hands.

No place in F1

''Oscar can't do much more. Next year he can make more metres in Formula 1 than he has ever been able to do and that's great (F1 teams are obliged to offer two FP1s to a young talent in 2022). The market needs to shift a bit and then we need an opportunity somewhere. Some older guys will have to leave as well, but that will happen,'' said Webber at The New Daily.

''We keep throwing Oscar into deeper water, but he continues to perform. What excites me most is how he deals with the ever-growing teams. He gobbles up that extra information. Other talents are sometimes very good in the junior categories but then succumb to the pressure in the higher classes. That is certainly not the case with him," concludes the nine-time race winner.