"Summer champions": Is Piastri doing better than manager Mark Webber?

(Motorsport-Total.com) - Oscar Piastri will lead the 2025 Formula 1 season at the summer break . This is a good omen, because since the "shutdown," the mandatory closure of factories during the summer, was officially introduced in 2009, the majority of drivers who have led the World Championship at this point in the season have also won the title at the end of the year.

Especially in recent years, the title of "Summer Champion" has always been synonymous with the World Championship triumph at the end of the year. The last driver to miss out on the title after leading at the summer break was Lewis Hamilton in the 2021 season.

One driver who experienced the same thing 15 years ago was, of all people, Mark Webber. The then Red Bull driver, who is now Piastri's manager , was leading the Drivers' Championship in the 2010 season after the Hungarian Grand Prix, the last before the shutdown.

The Australian led the world championship at the time with 161 points, ahead of Hamilton (157 points), who was still driving for McLaren at the time, and eventual world champion Sebastian Vettel (151). Interestingly, Vettel was Webber's teammate at the time. A similar situation to that of Piastri and Lando Norris this year.

2009: Jenson Button / BrawnGP Photo Gallery

Another parallel: While Webber was ten points ahead of his teammate back then, the two McLaren drivers are currently separated by just nine points. A crucial difference, however, is that back then, several drivers were battling for the title until the season finale.

In Abu Dhabi, four drivers—Webber, Vettel, Hamilton, and Fernando Alonso—still had a mathematical chance of winning the title. This year, however, it appears to be a pure duel between the two McLaren drivers.

For Webber, the 2010 season, which he ultimately finished third behind Vettel and Alonso, remained his only real chance at the world championship title in the premier class. The Australian retired from Formula 1 at the end of 2013.

The now 48-year-old can console himself with the fact that other prominent drivers have also lost a lead during the summer break. Vettel himself suffered the same fate in 2017 with Ferrari, Alonso in 2012, and Hamilton has even suffered it twice, in 2016 and 2021.

You can find the complete list of all Formula 1 “summer champions” in our photo gallery .