Only Zhou Guanyu was a rookie driver in the season 2022. However, now entering the new season, fans can see a lot of fresh faces truly shine behind the wheel of an F1 car. Arguably, the most popular among them is Oscar Piastri, an Australian driver, who became a widely-known name last summer. But finding the brilliant Australian wasn’t an easy feat for the Mclaren team. According to Mark Webber, the 2021 Formula 2 champion kept his cool and didn’t lose it during the contract negotiations.

McLaren and Alpine made significant contributions to the drama-filled F1 season. The Woking-based squad had sacked Daniel Ricciardo after two poor seasons, so they began looking for a suitable replacement. Their quest led them to Piastri, who was an Alpine driver. The two teams vying for Oscar Piastri’s services for the upcoming season generated a lot of discussion in the middle of the previous campaign. In the end, McLaren prevailed in the legal dispute and hired the 21-year-old to work with Lando Norris.

The manager of Oscar Piastri and former Red Bull driver Mark Webber was quite flattered about the way the Australian driver handled the negotiation process and maintained his composure. Backing him, Webber told Speedcafe “He was actually quite calm. Ironically, he showed a lot of loyalty in these circumstances.”

“All the sponsors and people who had been there since he was eight had a lot less patience. Oscar wanted to be as loyal as possible. It was uncertain what his future would look like. But McLaren wanted to change something anyway, whether with Oscar or with someone was different, Oscar was available, so we had to respond quickly.” [Translated via Google]

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Given his own respectable career, Mark Webber is aware of the significant risk the Woking-based team is taking by signing the former Prema Racing driver. The deal, though, has him upbeat, and, he thinks it might be quite profitable.

Mark Webber expresses his views on McLaren’s decision to hire Oscar Piastri

Mark Webber had a respectable Formula 1 career. During his tenure, he won nine Grand Prix, earned 42 podium finishes, and finished third in the Driver’s Championship in 2010, 2011, and 2013. He also assisted the Red Bull team in winning four Constructor’s Championships. After several years behind the wheel, the Australian driver is now Oscar Piastri’s manager and a mentor to fellow countrymen.

While many expressed their opinions regarding Piastri choosing McLaren over Alpine, Webber, who did not express any preference for any team, stated that the Woking-based team is known to take risks and that by signing an inexperienced driver, they may have done so.

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However, Webber is confident that the risk will pay off, as it did in the case of Lando Norris. “They did the same with Lando [Norris], just like with Carlos [Sainz], although of course, he was already driving at Toro Rosso. Under Ron Dennis, McLaren also took a risk with Lewis Hamilton. This is just a really good opportunity for Oscar to get in. Of course, he was aware that he was going to replace Daniel. But he knows that if it wasn’t him, it would have been someone else.”

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Many fresh faces will be seen on the Grid in the upcoming season. It’ll be fascinating to see how the young guns do in the top category of motorsport with 23 races on the schedule this year.