Mark Webber Steps Back from Oscar Piastri's Management, McLaren F1 2026
A significant shift in Oscar Piastri's inner circle has been made ahead of the 2026 F1 season. Mark Webber, who has managed Piastri throughout his career alongside his wife Ann Neal, has stepped back from his hands-on trackside role with the young Australian driver.
However, Piastri won't be without guidance. He has brought in Pedro Matos, his race engineer during his F2 title-winning season in 2021, in a straight swap. This move signals a strategic shift in Piastri's management and technical support.
Webber has been balancing his trackside role with Piastri and semi-regular punditry on Channel 4 in the UK. He also has several other commercial interests within the paddock. According to PlanetF1, Webber will focus solely on Piastri's commercial and contractual matters in 2026, indicating a more specialized role.
Piastri, who won seven grands prix last year and led the championship by 34 points after the Dutch Grand Prix, is hoping Matos' addition will give him a boost as he heads into his fourth full F1 season. Despite a horror dip in form in the final nine races, where he crashed three times and finished on the podium just three times, Piastri finished third in the championship, 13 points behind his victorious teammate.
The F1 circus is currently in Bahrain for pre-season testing. Piastri was at the wheel of his new McLaren on Wednesday night, before handing the car over to teammate Lando Norris for Thursday's session. He will be the solo pilot on board on Friday night.
Piastri expressed his positive experience during the testing, stating, 'It all ran smoothly and I feel like I got a better handle of what the car's doing and what it needs. The conditions are very different here compared to Barcelona, so it was good to get some running in a different environment. We'll go through the data, see what we can pull out from it and how we can improve ahead of getting back on track.'
