Schumacher links Piastri changes to Webber tensions

Feb.18 (GMM) Ralf Schumacher believes Oscar Piastri’s evolving management structure may reflect tensions behind the scenes at McLaren last season.

Speaking on Sky Deutschland, Schumacher suggested it had been important for McLaren that Piastri made key changes ahead of resumption of racing in 2026.

“I have heard that it was very important for McLaren that Piastri has another manager to create more peace,” Schumacher said.

Rumours have circulated that Mark Webber’s relationship with McLaren CEO Zak Brown cooled amid suggestions the Australian was overly sensitive to signs of ‘number two’ treatment – echoing his own experience alongside Sebastian Vettel at Red Bull.

Schumacher thinks that may have played a role.

“I believe in any case that this is a result of the fact that Mark Webber may have gone a little too far over the past year,” he said. “Perhaps he thought too much about his own situation at Red Bull and saw things that were not there – namely that McLaren would favour one of his drivers.

“McLaren wanted to go for the title with both drivers and that of course brings some unrest.”

Schumacher stressed that the team had given Piastri a genuine opportunity.

“McLaren has given Oscar Piastri a great opportunity. The team has taken a risk with a young driver. It would be harder if the problem were with the driver. We can only speculate about it.”

Piastri himself struck a diplomatic tone in an interview with Australia’s 7 News, hinting at adjustments for 2026 beyond the widely discussed “papaya rules” of last year. Over the winter, he reunited with former Prema engineer Pedro Matos as part of a strengthened personal support structure, while also increasing the presence of mental performance coach Emma Murray trackside.

“I’m still figuring that out,” he said. “Some of the lessons from last year weren’t necessarily about driving itself – they were broader, about how I approach weekends and the season.

“From a driving perspective, testing is critical this year because the cars are so different. It’s about learning what the car likes, what the power unit likes, and experimenting more. So it’s about developing tools both on and off track.”

Asked directly whether McLaren had been biased against him in the 2025 title fight, Piastri dismissed the idea.

“There were certainly no bad intentions last year,” he said. “At no point were there any bad intentions or sabotage, despite what some people suggested.

“We’ve worked very hard in the off-season to tidy up what we didn’t get right, and I’m confident we can do a better job in 2026 overall.”

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