Schumacher: 'Verstappen on front row of grid had also left on mediums'

Ralf Schumacher thinks it makes sense that Sergio Perez did not start on the hard compound in the Miami Grand Prix. According to the former Formula 1 driver, Red Bull Racing only chose a different strategy for Max Verstappen due to the fact that he had to start from midfield. Furthermore, Schumacher cracks down on Ferrari.

On Red Bull's decision to put Verstappen on the white-cheeked tyre instead of mediums, he said: "That was down to Max's position. It is completely normal to try to stay on track longer with the harder compound and make up places from that position. If they had been on the front row, the tyre choice would have been identical."

That the two-time World Champion ran away with the victory did not come completely out of the blue either, according to the German analyst. In the second and third free practice sessions and also in qualifying, Verstappen had already shown that he was faster than teammate Perez. "The decisive factor for Max to win this time was that he was simply the faster man all weekend. That was skill and also a bit of luck."

Ferrari not in Miami

At the same time, Schumacher does not have a good word to say about Ferrari's performance. "The drivers' mistakes are piling up, they just need to be more patient. With Carlos Sainz's experience, there's no way he can afford another five-second penalty." However, that is not the most worrying thing. "For me that is the pace of the car in the race, again very bad. The trend [we see] is not good."