Ralf Schumacher has strongly criticized McLaren following a strategic blunder in Qatar. By failing to intervene during an early safety car, the British racing team squandered a near-certain victory for Oscar Piastri. Moreover, title rival Max Verstappen – who won the race – further extended his lead in the fight for the world championship. Schumacher is harsh on the strategists of the papayas.
With the decisive final race in Abu Dhabi looming, Max Verstappen has positioned himself at the heart of a three-way battle. McLaren handed the victory in Qatar to Verstappen due to a strategic blunder; Oscar Piastri was predominantly faster than Verstappen, but was left disappointed as he stayed on the track during the first safety car. The rest of the field did make a ‘free’ pit stop. Team boss Andrea Stella admitted immediately after the race that McLaren had made a miscalculation. After the safety car, both drivers had to stop twice more due to Pirelli’s special tire rules.
According to Ralf Schumacher, however, the mistake was so basic that he can hardly comprehend how something like this could go wrong. “I think Stella essentially said: ‘No, that was my decision, I made a mistake'”, the German began on Sky Sports. “I don’t quite understand that, because in principle the leader – in this case Piastri – should simply be given priority and absolutely be called in. That way you keep both options open. It’s a no-brainer in motorsport; you really don’t need a PhD for that. That’s why I really don’t understand this choice.”
No hierarchy within McLaren?
According to the former Formula 1 driver, not only did the strategy falter, but the decision-making within McLaren was particularly problematic. “The race engineer must take responsibility and make decisions for his driver based on the margins. You can’t have discussions where people are talking over each other on the radio. By the time clarity emerges from that, they’ve already driven past the pit lane,” Schumacher even speaks of a deeper underlying problem. “I think something went wrong in the hierarchy,” he suggested. “There needs to be one person who bears the responsibility.”
He believes this lack of clear leadership directly contributed to missing the decisive opportunity. “In such a situation, you must have confidence in the person who has to make the decision. If you start doubting yourself, you’ve already missed your chance. It all happened too quickly. They really need to address this. Lando Norris should have absolutely come in; it would have been an easy victory. And maybe Norris would have finished third, which would have been a great result. But now he’s even worse off.” According to Schumacher, McLaren has a second – potentially larger – priority: “They now need to convince Piastri that the title is out of his reach, because Max (Verstappen) is hot on their heels. That will be the biggest challenge.”
