Mark Webber has urged Oscar Piastri to 'find deep motivation' in an F1 championship battle with McLaren team-mate Lando Norris that he finds is "surreal and bizarre".
From a position of strength following his victory in the Dutch Grand Prix in September, Piastri has seen a 34-point lead over Norris turned into a 24-point deficit six grands prix later, following a poor run of performances and incidents.
Piastri's manager Webber endured his own rollercoaster title fight in 2010, alongside not only his Red Bull team-mate Sebastian Vettel, but also Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso, then with McLaren and Ferrari respectively.
With three races remaining, Webber held a 12-point lead over Alonso and Vettel going into the final three grands prix, only to fall short as Vettel stole in at the death to capture the first of his four titles after failing to lead the way in the standings at any stage beforehand.
In that context, Webber can perfectly understand what Piastri is going through at present after watching Norris surge past him to take on the mantle of title favourite.
Following a difficult weekend for Piastri in Brazil, asked what he would do with Piastri to aid his cause, speaking to Channel 4, Webber said: "Well, get him turned around! I don't think he's low on motivation, put it that way."
Outlining what he felt was required from Piastri, he added: "He's had a tough run, but this is about character, about finding those deep motivations that you need at this point to come back.
"This is his third year in F1, so he's got to find that character to come back."
Viewed by others:
Webber draws contrast
Webber is still proud of what Piastri has achieved this season, even if the last of his fellow Australian's seven victories was in September, and he is on a five-race run without a podium.
Webber has claimed the situation he is facing with Piastri was "nearly easier" when he was driving, as he was "across everything" and he had "more control over what can happen".
Reflecting on his 2010 bid, in contrast, and standing alongside Vettel as he spoke, he added: "Obviously, it was a tremendous fight, also with Lewis and Fernando, the four of us went to Abu Dhabi. Long season, of course, draining for all of us. That's elite sport. That's what it's about.
"When you're competing against the best people with the best people, week in, week out, obviously, it takes its toll.
"But ultimately, now from a distance, with Oscar, but still heavily involved, he's so young in his career, as Seb was. I was a bit older in my career, so it was a different part of our trajectory and journey, if you like.
"But to see him so young, year three, fighting for a world title quite quickly, it's pretty surreal and bizarre, but nice to be involved.
"Because a lot of drivers don't fight for a title once in their career, so you've got to try and find the positives, but also you want to win. That's the other side."
Most read
In this article
Join the conversation!