F1 pundit Johnny Herbert has urged Oscar Piastri to copy what Mark Webber ‘had to do’ at Red Bull for McLaren to back him over Lando Norris.

The comparisons between the treatment of Oscar Piastri and Mark Webber during their respective stints in F1 first came to light upon the emergence of McLaren’s notorious ‘papaya rules’.

Webber was on the receiving end of them during his tenure alongside Sebastian Vettel at Red Bull Racing, with the Australian often having to concede to his four-time world championship-winning teammate.

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However, the nine-time Grand Prix winner didn’t go down without a fight, and Johnny Herbert has urged Piastri to do the same amid Lando Norris’ dominance at the team.

Johnny Herbert tells Oscar Piastri he needs to ‘control his own destiny’ like Mark Webber at Red Bull

With 17 rounds down in the 2026 F1 season, Piastri remains on the back foot to his teammate. Even though McLaren decided to run a shorter wheelbase than their rivals this year, Piastri continues to struggle on low-grip circuits.

As such, Herbert believes it is now necessary for the Australian to try and steer the development of the Woking-based outfit’s 2027 challenger more in his own favour, or risk being left even further behind in next year’s campaign.

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“Sometimes, yes, Oscar [Piastri] has to [stand up for himself],” Herbert told Vision4Sport, who offer luxury superyacht hospitality packages.

“You’ve got to be verbal and push your mentality that you want to be the team leader. McLaren is very good at being fair.

“Some people say they favour Lando [Norris], but I don’t think that’s the reality within McLaren. I think there is a definite desire to distribute all the development work on both drivers.

“Oscar has to steer the direction of that development, so he benefits from it. He’s got to work very hard with the engineers and Zak Brown to make them believe that is the right thing to do.

“He’s in a good place, but he has to dig deep and control his own destiny, just like Mark Webber had to do.”

There were reports of a rift between Webber and his protege, Piastri, following the latter’s loss in the 2025 title fight, with it understood that the former F1 driver was looking to get his driver out of McLaren.

Rumours linked the Australian with a move to Milton Keynes amid Max Verstappen’s restlessness at Red Bull, which didn’t end up coming to fruition after the four-time world champion signed a new long-term deal ahead of his home Grand Prix.

That means Piastri will continue to race in McLaren’s famous papaya overalls, and if he wants to fulfil his dream of becoming an F1 world champion, listening to Herbert’s advice may be a good starting point.