Ralf Schumacher thinks McLaren must address one thing ‘urgently’ after ‘small mistake’ in Spanish Grand Prix

McLaren extended their lead in the championship after the Spanish Grand Prix by a considerable margin, after a post-race penalty for Max Verstappen.

The Red Bull driver received a 10-second time penalty for a collision with George Russell, which the stewards deemed he caused.

Verstappen was flustered after his team told him to hand fourth place back to Russell, following an earlier skirmish at the first corner. The Dutchman is now on the verge of a one-race ban, as his title hopes start to fade.

McLaren are cruising to another Constructors’ Championship, having now surpassed the 200 points mark from Ferrari, while Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri are battling for their first Drivers’ crown.

The advantage is currently with Piastri, but Ralf Schumacher believes McLaren must ‘urgently’ address one thing after seeing how their race played out in Spain when speaking on the Backstage Boxengasse podcast.

Ralf Schumacher thinks McLaren must address strategy ‘urgently’ after Spanish GP

McLaren elected to go for a conservative strategy in Spain, with both their drivers going on a two-stop strategy until the end.

Schumacher thinks the team should have done something different with each car, considering they were under threat after the Safety Car briefly.

“I would definitely have split,” said Schumacher, “because then I could have pushed a lot more, would have had less risk. They had enough tyres too. Why didn’t we think of that? What did we miss? What can we do better for the future?

“They urgently need to learn that. In my opinion, this is one of many small mistakes we have already seen,” added Schumacher. “And in the end, they have a super dominant package.”

McLaren exploited ‘very clever’ area in front wing design

McLaren were among the teams that many thought would be impacted by the new FIA front wing tests that were introduced in Spain.

However, the team did not list a new specification of front wing when they arrived at the race weekend, with only Red Bull and Ferrari bringing updated components to comply with the new rules.

F1 aero expert Peter Wright believes McLaren has employed a very clever front wing design, which the FIA has no control over in the regulations.

Such an advantage is also present on their rivals’ cars, however, they appear to be one step ahead in this, along with other performance areas on their car.