Webber: Piastri post-season McLaren test was 'pivotal'

The seat time enjoyed by F1 rookie Oscar Piastri at the sport's post-season test in Abu Dhabi has been labeled as "pivotal" by the young Aussie's manager Mark Webber.

Last November, Piastri was given a full day of testing at Yas Marina as part of his preparations for 2023 which will see the 21-year-old make his race debut in F1.

Piastri was initially earmarked for several private test sessions in 2022with Alpine , his former employer. But the contractual conflict that erupted between the French outfit and its junior charger eventually deprived the latter of seat time for several months, hence the importance of last November's test.

"It’s pivotal," said Webber, speaking on the KTM Summer Grill podcast.

"Obviously, the working environment is important, particularly for someone like Oscar, who’s so insanely detailed.

"He’s methodical in his approach and McLaren has seen that already, which is great, but you can do as much at the factory as a reserve driver, whatever that is [or] can be, but you need to be racing and preparing for that."

Webber hailed the test as "very good" and as the best possible scenario for the young gun.

"Ultimately, he’s enjoyed those tests and that was a good scenario, very good for us, brilliant scenario for us to be able to do those," added the former Grand Prix driver.

"[It] gives them and Oscar some things to think about obviously over the winter in preparation for Bahrain [this] year, because the mileage is pretty short now."

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Webber noted that the amount of testing enjoyed by young drivers in F1 today is extremely limited compared to the virtually limitless seat time that the sport's previous generation, like Webber, had.

"I’m a fossil now, I’m an old guy, but back in our day we used to do loads of testing but obviously for the youngsters now, it’s pretty thin on the ground," Webber commented.

"Oscar had done eight days in the car up until June and then had, like, a four-month gap, so it’s not like tennis or golf, it’s pretty hard on these youngsters these days."

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