Ralf Schumacher on Max Verstappen’s crash: “That is rather strange”

The eventful Grand Prix at Silverstone was a real treat, with plenty of thrills. Ralf Schumacher, who has competed in 180 Grand Prix races, experienced the action first-hand in England as an F1 expert for our colleagues at Sky. He begins by discussing Ferrari’s resurgence.

The 2001 and 2002 World Championship runner-up observes: “Lewis Hamilton is now working well with the team; everything is heading in the right direction. Ferrari can be in the title race again. And it’s been a long time since that happened.”

As a reminder: Ferrari’s last Drivers’ World Champion was Kimi Räikkönen in 2007, whilst the team’s last Constructors’ Championship was won in 2008.

In the Drivers’ Championship, the Mercedes duo of Kimi Antonelli (179 points) and George Russell (154) lead the way, followed by the two Ferrari drivers, Lewis Hamilton (147) and Charles Leclerc (108). In the Constructors’ Championship, the score between Mercedes and Ferrari stands at 333:255.

Six-time Grand Prix winner Ralf Schumacher added: “At the moment, you have to say – everything that used to be a problem at Ferrari seems to have gone. At Mercedes, it looks more like battery issues than engine problems; perhaps it’s down to vibrations or temperature.”

Another incident at Silverstone: a rear wing failure on Max Verstappen’s car, a crash, zero points. Ralf Schumacher: “A very difficult situation. Max did well in the race despite the problems. But the wing issue is strange; this is now the second time since Austria that something hasn’t been quite right there. Red Bull Racing needs to get a handle on this, because depending on where on the track something like that happens, as a driver you really don’t want to experience it.”