Mark Webber has praised Oscar Piastri for his "extraordinary" emotional regulation as a racing driver. The McLaren driver scored his first points in F1 on home turf at the Australian Grand Prix, in an eventful race that featured three red flags and numerous incidents. Webber – who acts as Piastri's manager – feels that the event was beneficial for the 22-year-old as he looks to gain experience in the sport. "It's nice to see someone go through such a phenomenal experience," Webber said of his role as Piastri's manager on the F1 Nation podcast. "Every day is new for him, every day he's getting gradually better. As any of us guys that have performed at an elite level [know], it's just experience that you can't buy. "Like [at the Australian Grand Prix], all these restarts, and then the qualifying, mixed conditions in practice and stuff at a new circuit he hasn't been [to]. "There's all these things. He's leaving here with a truckload more experience for next year, which is great."
Webber there for 'good and bad' moments with Piastri
Webber admits that, while his role involves supporting Piastri through the highs and the lows, he is confident that Piastri can handle things emotionally. "The rollercoaster is real. Of course, it's real," Webber explained. "But you want to be there for the good and the bad moments for him. I have to be, which is part of it. "But his emotional regulation is quite extraordinary. He can really absorb information really, really well, and he needs to, because this is the toughest test in motorsport for a driver."
The advice Webber offers Piastri
Webber has extensive experience in the sport himself, having raced in F1 between 2002 and 2013, but the 46-year-old has jokingly suggested that he won't talk too much about his career to Piastri. "If I talk to him about my career, he falls asleep," Webber quipped. "He's got big ambitions to try and have a glass of red with me down the line and I suppose destroy my trophy cabinet, [and] I'll be very, very happy if that happens, let me tell you!" The former Red Bull driver does offer occasional words of advice to Piastri, and has revealed that he spoke with him during one of the restarts at the Australian Grand Prix. "There's always margins, it's tight in the field now," Webber added. "There's so many small steps that the drivers have to [take and] decisions you've got to make in key sessions. And you're always a legend after the session. "There's so much beautiful hindsight – 'Oh, man, if I did this, if I did that, I would have been here'. Everyone can do that, but as long as it's going into the hard drive, which it is. "I had a little chat to him on one of the restarts, that's about it. But apart from that [I] was just always giving him encouragement to just continue to do his best and soak it up."
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