While McLaren are “the better team” in the opinion of ex-F1 driver and steward Johnny Herbert, Red Bull are still “the best” F1 team at strategy.

Herbert made that declaration following the Spanish Grand Prix, a race in which Red Bull planned to deploy the three-stop strategy with Max Verstappen versus the McLaren duo of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris, with a late Safety Car period scuppering the execution.

Red Bull: The ‘best’ at F1 strategy?

Talk of the new Technical Directive aimed at front wing flexing influencing the pecking order failed to materialise, with McLaren remaining the team to beat in Barcelona.

Piastri took pole with Norris joining his McLaren team-mate on the front row, leaving Red Bull to get the creative juices flowing and figure out a way to challenge McLaren with Verstappen launching from P3.

A three-stopper was the idea they came up with, though when Kimi Antonelli retired his Mercedes in the Turn 10 gravel, that brought out the Safety Car as Piastri and Norris both dived in for a third stop, and Verstappen a fourth. Adding to Verstappen’s frustration was the fact that the hard tyre was the only option, while the drivers around him were all now on softs.

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc overtook Verstappen into Turn 1 upon the restart while George Russell also got his Mercedes down the inside, a banging of wheels forcing Verstappen off as he returned P4 ahead of Russell. A Red Bull call to let Russell through, contact born out of Verstappen’s frustration, and a 10-second penalty which dropped him to P10, compounded Verstappen’s woes.

Reflecting on the race, Herbert told RoobetAlternatives: “I know that Red Bull said the fresh hards were their only choice, and they knew Charles Leclerc was on the faster tyre, so he was obviously going to have more pace.

“The fresh set of hards compared to an old set of soft or mediums could be a better option, but the hards didn’t seem like the right call, they were always going to be hard work for Max Verstappen with zero grip. Verstappen showed his skill when he kept the car on the track when it snapped on the straight.

“Can you blame the Red Bull team for what happened in the end? I don’t think so, they just ran out of options. But, the hards were definitely the first trigger in Verstappen’s head, he would have been annoyed about his situation. The next trigger was when he was asked to let Russell overtake him, these triggers built up which led to the collision.

“Red Bull are not as strong as they were, but that’s because McLaren have done a better job. Red Bull have had a very good run and won those four championships with Verstappen, it’s very very rare to continue to dominate the sport longer than that. Other teams have technology that makes them capable of catching up to the leading team.

“McLaren are the better team, but Red Bull are still in the mix. It didn’t work in Barcelona, but it worked out for them in Imola.”

And Herbert pinpointed Red Bull’s strategical work as an area where they still stand out as top dog.

F1 2025 head-to-head standings

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“I still think Red Bull are the best in terms of strategy,” claimed Herbert, “they put a different strategy into play that put them in with chance of fighting it out with the two McLaren’s race in Spain, but it was never enough.

“On sheer performance, they clearly haven’t dominated like they used to do, because McLaren are working as a team and is clear to see.”

Spanish GP winner Piastri admitted in the post-race press conference that Verstappen’s three-stop attempt was definitely not on his bingo card.

“It felt mostly under control,” said Piastri of his winning drive.

“I wasn’t really expecting Max to try a three-stop race, and I wasn’t really expecting it to work… Well, almost work as well as it did either.

“So there was a bit going on at that point definitely, and just with all the traffic and the blue flags as well, that made the race a bit more interesting than I wanted.

“But, apart from a few laps trying to get through the blue flags, I felt pretty much in control and could increase my pace when I needed to.

“So, yeah, it was a really strong race and a strong weekend.

“We did a really good job of managing everything in that race: sticking to our plan on strategy, not getting distracted by the three-stop, really good pit stops. Yeah, I think we just did a good job all around.”

Piastri leads the Drivers’ standings by 10 points over Norris, while Verstappen is 49 points off Piastri and top spot.

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