Mark Webber currently finds himself at the center of Formula 1’s crazy transfer season as manager of Oscar Piastri.
While his fellow Australian is linked with a McLaren seat for 2023, rumor has it that he has been in contact for the Red Bull driver program run by Dr Helmut Marko.
As a former Red Bull driver, Webber’s ties to Marko may come into play. He is also closely linked to Red Bull’s likely 2026 engine partner, Porsche.
“No, no, it’s much too far,” replied Webber when asked if he might be involved in the Red Bull-Porsche deal.
Seeing Piastri cut his teeth at AlphaTauri would have been a possibility, instead of Pierre Gasly (who would be released for Alpine F1) or Yuki Tsunoda, still average this year. But all tracks have clearly led to McLaren for several hours.
Will we find out sooner?
“Certainly not,” admits Webber, a sign that a battle of lawyers might be triggered.
Webber refuses to say more regarding what happened at the start of the week between Alpine F1 and Piastri, the split now seeming inevitable, the latest sources reporting a contract between McLaren and Oscar Piastri signed on July 30 and on the point of being recognized as valid by the Contract Recognition Board (CRB). If this were the case, the contract might not be challenged by Alpine F1.