Photo: Race Pictures

How Piastri and Webber's agonising title-challenging campaigns compare

20:18, 19 Dec

Updated: 20:31, 19 Dec

byLuke-John Buckle

Oscar Piastri missed out on his first world championship at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix as his teammate Lando Norris took the title.

The McLaren driver isn't the only Australian to miss out on the world title in the final round, as Mark Webber failed to take the championship in 2010.

Let's take a look at the key stats from the Australian drivers in their championship-challenging campaigns, which led to near misses.

Both finished third in the standings

Both drivers finished third in the world championship standings in an ultra-competitive season.

Piastri took third in the standings after leading for much of the campaign, but slumped after tough weekends in Azerbaijan and Las Vegas.

He had a 34-point advantage after the Dutch Grand Prix but ended up 13 points behind teammate Norris.

His current manager Webber never had a lead that significant. He was 14 points ahead of Fernando Alonso with three rounds to go, but didn't win the title.

Piastri took more wins

Photo: Race Pictures

Piastri took more wins of the pair with seven, enjoying a superb run of three consecutive victories from Bahrain-Miami.

Meanwhile, Webber only scored four in 2010, including a superb drive in Monaco.

In 2025, Piastri's McLaren was the fastest for much of the season. By contrast, Webber's Red Bull had to contend with McLaren and Ferrari on a regular basis.

This created a different dynamic to the battle in 2010 when four drivers went into Abu Dhabi in contention.

The 2025 campaign was dominated by McLaren before Max Verstappen closed down the British team with six wins in the last nine races.

The then Red Bull driver did have five fewer races to contend with in Webber's championship-challenging campaign. This may have contributed to his podium tally reaching just 10 while Piastri claimed 16 podiums in 2025.

Piastri scored more pole positions

It can be difficult to overtake in Formula 1, particularly on narrower tracks such as Monaco and Singapore. This puts an extra emphasis on qualifying.

Piastri just had an advantage over Webber on single lap pace, taking six pole compared to his compatriots five.

Webber hit a purple patch in qualifying over the summer. He started at the very front in Monaco, Turkey and Belgium.

His countryman failed to take a pole position after the Dutch Grand Prix as Piastri's from dipped after the summer break.

Both drivers missed out due to fine margins

Both Piastri and Webber produced stunning drives in their championship-challenging campaigns.

They made minimal mistakes but also had difficult days, such as Piastri's crash in Azerbaijan and Webber's non-finish in South Korea.

However, neither driver won the last race of the year, as their teammate claimed the title on both occasions both in 2010 and 2025.

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