Racing
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Mark Webber says he has “full faith” McLaren will “get the car back up and fight for the world title again” so Oscar Piastri can “go one better,” after the Australian turned a disastrous start to 2026 into back-to-back podiums in Japan and Miami.
Piastri’s season had opened in brutal fashion. He crashed on the reconnaissance lap before his home Australian Grand Prix, then did not even make the start in China when power-unit problems ruled out both McLaren cars. That left him without a single racing lap from the first two events, but second place at Suzuka and third in Miami have lifted him to sixth in the drivers’ standings, 57 points behind leader Kimi Antonelli.
The Miami result mattered beyond the podium itself. McLaren brought its first major upgrade package of the season, and Piastri recovered from seventh on the grid after what he called a messy qualifying session to claim third, taking the final podium spot from Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc late in the race. With Lando Norris finishing second, it also gave McLaren its first double podium of the year.
Piastri said after the race that the weekend had still not been straightforward, but the car had clearly moved on. “It’s not been the most straightforward of weekends, qualifying was a bit messy, but the pace seemed more encouraging today,” the McLaren driver said. He added: “Clearly, we are a step closer in performance, so that is nice to see, and we showed that if we get track position, we can hang on to things.”
That progress is the key reason Webber’s backing carries weight. Speaking exclusively to RacingNews365, Oscar Piastri’s manager Mark Webber linked the current rebound to the lessons from last season’s title near-miss, saying: “When you aim incredibly high, and you just miss, it’s something you have to learn from quickly and rebound.” He said Piastri had done exactly that after a difficult winter of reflection, and called Suzuka “a phenomenal performance from him.”
Webber believes the bigger opportunity now depends on McLaren sustaining its development race. “I’ve got full faith in the team that McLaren is going to get the car back up and fight for the world title again, so he can go one better,” he said.
Piastri struck a similar note in Miami. He said McLaren had already been close in Japan and looked stronger again in Florida, while making clear the team is still chasing the standard it set last year. “We’re certainly not quite back in the position we were last year, but we’re getting there. With more to come, it’s a good place to be,” he told reporters.
That leaves Canada as the next test of whether this is just a recovery or the start of a real championship push. Piastri said he hopes McLaren can “take a step forward again” there, but also warned that Mercedes has its own upgrade package coming, which will show more clearly whether McLaren’s revival is enough to put him back in the title fight.