Former Red Bull man likens Oscar Piastri to Sebastian Vettel and Lando Norris to Mark Webber in an intriguing comparison

The intra-team battle between Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris has brought some memories of Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber's altercations in the early 2010s to Robert Doornbos. The former Red Bull driver shared how drivers like Piastri and Vettel have an edge over their rivals at a race weekend, which makes them world champion material.

Vettel had helped Red Bull claim its first double championship victory in 2010, a trend which continued until 2013. In 2010, Webber had been the championship contender for most of the season as he was in a close battle with Ferrari's Fernando Alonso, but the German's magical touch helped him win the title at the season finale.

A similar case has been at McLaren in 2025 as Piastri and Norris are battling for the world championship. The Briton is the experienced driver in the team, like Webber was at Red Bull, but the young gun Piastri is fighting tooth and nail for the elusive championship victory.

Sharing his thoughts on how the Aussie driver was a world champion driver, much like Sebastian Vettel, Doornbos said on The Pit Talk Podcast:

"That he's not [on] the level of Oscar. I think Oscar really is a world championship driver, with many titles in the near future. Then there's a difference between a very good grand prix driver who can win races, who's up there, but doesn't have this magical touch."

"For example, [David] Coulthard, [Mark] Webber, [Robert] Doornbos," he added with a light-hearted cough. "Great drivers, but then there's Sebastian Vettel, who's always two or three turns faster, and if you add that up during a Grand Prix... And the way he drives, the way he defends, Oscar - it's different [to Norris]."

Piastri has a 22-point lead over Norris in the Drivers' Championship.

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Oscar Piastri doesn't worry about the world championship after just 10 races

Oscar Piastri at the 2025 F1 Grand Prix of Miami - Source: Getty

After a torrid season opener in Australia, where Oscar Piastri finished ninth, the 24-year-old had an eight-race podium streak in the following race. Of these eight podiums, five were race wins, which helped him dethrone his teammate from the lead of the championship standings.

Despite extending his gap to the Briton in the standings after their altercation at the Canadian GP, the Aussie has remained cool-headed. He has aimed to maximize his performance every race weekend without worrying about the championship, as he said, via GPBlog:

"I’m still very early in my career, and obviously it’s a great opportunity, but I’ll just try and win as many races as I can. And hopefully it makes the championship look quite good at the end."

The clash at the Canadian GP helped Oscar Piastri extend his lead in the Drivers' table by 12 points as his nearest rival, Lando Norris, retired from the race.