Webber impressed by Piastri’s racecraft
In the round-up: Mark Webber says that he is impressed with how Oscar Piastri is handling himself racing at the front
In brief
Webber impressed by Piastri’s racecraft
Former F1 driver and multiple grand prix winner Mark Webber says McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, who he helps to manage, races “hard and clean” against his rivals at the front of the F1 field.
“Oscar, through his junior categories, has been exceptional,” Webber told the Formula For Success podcast.
“His entry into F1 with a 15-month break, he didn’t bloody race for a long time, which was tough for any racing driver and that’s what you’ve got to be doing whether you’re an orthopaedic surgeon, whether you’re a racing driver with your age, you’ve got to continue to practice your trade. And Oscar had that gap. So I think last year, entering Formula 1 for him, of course it was a big step. We know that from the junior categories.
“But time and time again, he’s shown that he’s ready to race at the front against the big guys. And he’s fine for that: Respectful, hard, clean. And we saw again that at the weekend with turn four at Monza – to get through there and be absolutely brilliant on the brakes and get the move done as well as he did was another feather in his cap.”
Wolff expects early development switch to 2026
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff says that he expects most teams to switch their development focus over to 2026 very early on next season.
“The rules permit to develop the ‘26 car only from January onwards, which I think is a good thing that we decided back in the day because it’s going to be the same starting point for everyone,” Wolff said.
“So I guess that most of the teams are going to choose a pretty early point of transitioning most of the resource into the new 2026 car. But we’re talking about a couple of months up and down. I think everything is going to fall into place in the first few races and I’m not sure we’re going to see lots of upgrades after the summer.”
Dixon happy with oval finale
Scott Dixon says he sees it as a good thing for IndyCar that the championship is ending with an oval race at the Nashville Superspeedway this weekend.
“I think all of us want this to go extremely well, whether it’s just a couple years or whether it’s going to become the primary situation,” Dixon said. “Everybody loves the Nashville downtown street race. The race itself was interesting, I thought. It would have been a great spot for a last championship race just because of the unknowns and the atmosphere is what we need for the sport.
“Nashville, finishing on an oval, I think is always good. I think the highs and lows as we saw today can come pretty quick and pretty heavy. I just hope it’s well-attended and we can keep building on it. I’m looking forward to Nashville.”
| Become a RaceFans supporter and
Links
Alonso’s diet had him ‘feeling sick’ before F1 veteran cut out problematic foods (Mirror)
”I don’t eat much in general. Pedro de la Rosa eats like three people. Eight or nine months ago I started to stop eating meat and fish. I felt sick or I felt too heavy in general, digestion took a little longer. Let’s say that without being too strict I think I have a vegetarian diet.”
Hyper Hybrids (Ferrari)
‘As with so often at Ferrari, the KERS hybrid system was an F1 innovation, adapted for the road. Ferrari was one of the first F1 teams to use it, and the first to win a GP benefiting from KERS: Kimi Räikkönen won the 2009 Belgian GP in the F60 Formula 1 racing car at the famously fast Spa circuit. By 2011, it was widespread in F1. KERS – or Kinetic Energy Recovery System – harnesses the car’s kinetic energy when braking and stores it to power an electric motor to boost performance. A more sophisticated version – now normally known as ERS, or Energy Recovery System – is still used in F1 and in top-level sports car racing too, including on Ferrari’s twice Le Mans winning 499P.’
Marsh’s defensive masterclass denies Mercedes juniors in CotF finale (Formula Scout)
‘Salim Hanna Hernandez and Scott Lindblom each claimed two heats, and McLaren junior Dries Van Langendonck won one on his senior karting debut. Van Langendonck impressively claimed the OK Junior crown despite not racing.’
Race 2 – Round 7: Imola F1 Circuit (FREC via YouTube)
A dramatic second race of the weekend at Imola where championship leaders Rafael Camara and Tuukka Taponen collide at the first corner.
We always endeavour to credit original sources. Got a tip for a link relating to single-seater motorsport? Please send it to us via the contact form.
| Become a RaceFans supporter and
Happy birthday!
Happy birthday to Mark Hitchcock and Prashanth Bhat!
On this day in motorsport
- On this day in 1979 Jody Scheckter won the world championshi and scored his final grand prix win after Ferrari team mate Gilles Villeneueve dutifully followed him home at Monza
