Piastri Splits From Webber as Verstappen's Interlagos Charge Reignites Fight for Second

Oscar Piastri and Mark Webber announced on Monday that Webber and Ann Neal will no longer manage the McLaren driver, ending the partnership that has guided his entire Formula 1 career. The joint statement came the day after a Brazilian Grand Prix that Lando Norris won from pole position and in which Max Verstappen recovered from 21st on the grid to finish second. Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s 111-point lead is now more than his rivals can recover in the three rounds that remain. That leaves the fight for second as the season’s sharpest contest, and Interlagos tightened it considerably.

Webber steps away from Piastri’s corner

Webber has been at Piastri’s side since his junior days. Their partnership was at the centre of the 2022 episode in which the Contract Recognition Board ruled that Piastri was free to join McLaren rather than Alpine. Few driver-manager relationships in recent years have had such a direct effect on the shape of a career, which is why this one matters beyond the paddock gossip.

Autosport has examined what lies behind the decision. A joint statement points to a managed parting rather than a rupture. The timing is still striking: three rounds from the end of the season, and on the Monday after a weekend in which Piastri started 10th and finished sixth while his team-mate won.

The numbers explain why this feels like a reset point. Piastri is seventh in the championship on 152 points, without a win in 2026 and 94 points behind Norris. A year ago he led the standings for much of the season. However amicable the split, its timing will be read as part of a broader recalibration.

My view is that it would be a mistake to read this as a prelude to Piastri leaving McLaren. Changing management is a decision about how a driver wants his career run. It is not automatically a statement about where he wants to drive. The harder question for whoever advises him next is a sporting one: how Piastri re-establishes himself against a team-mate who has pulled clear of him on merit this year. That is a problem for the engineering office and the cockpit, not the contract table.

Verstappen’s recovery opens a five-way scrap for runner-up

Verstappen’s drive from 21st to second was the performance of the weekend. In damp conditions, at a circuit that rewards commitment in the wet and offers genuine overtaking opportunities, he worked through almost the entire field. The international press reaction collected by RacingNews365 reflected that, singling out his afternoon as one of the standout stories of the race.

It was a strong day for Red Bull as a whole. Isack Hadjar started fifth and finished third, giving the team a double podium and 33 points. According to GPfans, Hadjar has since apologised for what he described as an “awkward situation” with Verstappen during the race. It did not cost either of them a result, and it should not linger. The haul takes Red Bull to 415 points in the constructors’ standings, 17 clear of McLaren in the fight for third.

The bigger consequence is in the drivers’ table, where the battle behind Antonelli now looks like this:

Position	Driver	Team	Points	Gap to second
2	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	279	–
3	George Russell	Mercedes	262	17
4	Lewis Hamilton	Ferrari	261	18
5	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	249	30
6	Lando Norris	McLaren	246	33

Five drivers from four teams, separated by 33 points, with three Grands Prix left. That is a genuinely open contest.

Mercedes weighs team orders for Russell

Crash.net reports that Mercedes is prepared to help Russell reclaim second place over the final three rounds. With Antonelli’s title secure, the logic is obvious: Mercedes has a free hand to use its champion in support of its other driver.

History suggests caution. At this very circuit in 2022, Verstappen declined a request to hand sixth place to Sergio Pérez, who went on to lose second in the championship to Charles Leclerc by three points. The episode showed that team orders in a runner-up fight are emotive, and that they only pay off if the beneficiary is already in a position to use them.

Russell’s position is mixed. He finished fourth from seventh in Brazil, ahead of Antonelli, which was a solid recovery. RacingNews365 also reports that he walked out of an FIA press conference, which it frames as a sign of a difficult recent spell. Any assistance Mercedes offers will only matter at the margins. Russell needs to be the quicker Mercedes on his own terms in Las Vegas for a swapped position to make a difference.

Why Antonelli’s Mercedes started “steering by itself”

Antonelli started second and looked a contender for victory until his first pit stop. After it, RaceFans reports, he told Mercedes over the radio that “the car is steering by itself” and asked whether the team could see what he was feeling. He dropped out of the fight at the front and finished fifth.

The question itself is revealing. Mercedes can see steering inputs, yaw rates and tyre data in detail, and a driver who asks whether the team can see the problem is usually unsure whether it lies with him or with the car. In mixed conditions there are several possible causes to rule out. A fresh set of tyres may not have come up to temperature, there may have been unseen damage, or a pressure or set-up issue may have changed the car’s balance on a different compound. Mercedes has not said which, if any, applies, and it will be keen to find out before Las Vegas.

The title is settled. Antonelli has nine wins and 390 points, and Mercedes holds a 142-point lead in the constructors’ standings. Even so, an unexplained handling fault is exactly what a team does not want to carry into the final rounds while trying to manoeuvre its other driver into second place. Mercedes needs clean data from both cars for the run-in.

Ferrari investigates after a lapped Hamilton

Ferrari left Interlagos with six points. Leclerc recovered from 14th to eighth and Hamilton from 20th to ninth, although Hamilton finished a lap down. PlanetF1 reports that Hamilton was “devastated” afterwards and that Ferrari will launch an investigation into the SF-26.

The investigation makes sense. Being lapped is a different order of problem from a poor qualifying session. It points to a performance deficit in race trim that a team second in the constructors’ championship should not suffer. Ferrari remains on 510 points, 95 clear of Red Bull, so second place is not under immediate threat. The concern is momentum. Both of its drivers are still in the fight for runner-up, Hamilton only 18 points off Verstappen. A car that cannot run with the leaders in Las Vegas would end those hopes quickly.

Sainz reopens the Leclerc question

Carlos Sainz added another layer to the Ferrari story. GPfans reports that Sainz spoke about his own battles with Leclerc when they were team-mates, and about problems with a “radical” section of Leclerc’s fanbase. His comments came in the wake of Leclerc’s recent on-track skirmishes with Hamilton.

This needs a measured reading. Hard racing between team-mates in competitive cars is normal, and Ferrari has managed strong pairings for decades. Online hostility from fans is a separate matter that the drivers cannot fully control. Ferrari’s real task is narrower. Its two drivers are 12 points apart and chasing the same championship position, so the team must ensure that any contact between them never costs it points. Three races of mutual restraint is a reasonable thing to ask.

Norris wins, then fumbles the celebrations

Norris converted pole into victory in damp conditions. It was a composed drive and his third win of the season, and it lifts him to 246 points, 33 behind Verstappen.

What followed was less polished. RacingNews365 reports that McLaren has responded to problems involving Norris’s champagne and the podium pyrotechnics, and GPfans describes it as another podium routine that backfired. It is harmless entertainment, and nothing about it detracts from a strong afternoon.

The sporting picture at McLaren is more interesting. On the same weekend, the team saw its lead driver win while its other driver finished sixth and changed his management. McLaren’s 33 points matched Red Bull’s haul exactly, so it stays fourth in the constructors’ table, 17 points adrift. If McLaren is to overhaul Red Bull for third, it will need Piastri scoring consistently alongside Norris, and that is one more reason the next three weekends matter for him.

Loose ends before the Strip

• Russell’s karting project: Russell has posted an Instagram video reflecting on his early days in motorsport, captioned “Stay tuned”, ahead of an announcement linked to karting on 12 November.
• Free Las Vegas coverage in the US: Apple TV has confirmed that the entire Las Vegas Grand Prix weekend will be available to stream in the United States without a subscription. It is a notable move for a race designed around the American audience.
• A hard debut for Camara: Rafael Camara started 11th and finished 20th, the last of the classified runners, and has reflected on a tough first weekend, according to PlanetF1. With Oliver Bearman dropping from sixth on the grid to 17th, it was a difficult Sunday for Haas overall.
• Audi closes on Haas: Nico Hülkenberg’s 10th place, from fourth on the grid, earned Audi a point and leaves it three behind Haas in the fight for seventh in the constructors’ championship.
• Lawson’s frustration: Liam Lawson started third but finished seventh. RacingNews365’s international press round-up carried a “hypocrisy” warning aimed at Racing Bulls, a theme the team may need to address before Las Vegas.
• Las Vegas, 22 November: On the long straights and cold surface of the Strip, Verstappen is the favourite to extend his advantage in the fight for second. If Mercedes is serious about lifting Russell above him, this is the round where it will need to show it.