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EspañolRALF SCHUMACHER
'Ralf Schumacher' (born June 30, 1975 in Hürth-Hermülheim near Cologne[1]) is a German Formula One racing driver for the Toyota team. He is the younger brother of seven-time World Champion Michael Schumacher and has won six F1 races during his career, which has spanned from 1997 to the present day.
| Contents |
| Early career |
| Formula One Career |
| Jordan |
| Williams |
| Crash At Indianapolis |
| Toyota |
| Personal life |
| Complete Formula One results |
| External links |
| References |
Early career
He started racing at age three on his parents' go-kart track in their home town of Kerpen. After finishing runner-up in the national karting series, Schumacher graduated German Formula Three in 1995. Finishing runner up in this series was not the highlight of the year for him though, as he also won the Macau street race, a feat also accomplished by his brother Michael. In the race he beat future F1 team-mate Jarno Trulli, Pedro de la Rosa and Norberto Fontana, the driver he finished runner-up to in German Formula 3.
Ralf then moved on to the Japanese Formula Nippon series in 1996, which he won, earning himself a Formula One drive with Jordan for the following year.
Formula One Career
Jordan
Ralf Schumacher made his Formula One debut in with the Jordan team and finished on the podium in just his third race, at Argentina. However Schumacher retired in more than half his races that season and ended up behind team-mate Giancarlo Fisichella. The following season, Jordan was powered by Honda and proved capable of race wins when Ralf followed team mate Damon Hill to second place in the rain-soaked Belgian Grand Prix.
Williams
In the knowledge that a deal had been done with BMW in 1999 he changed to the Williams team and scored three podium finishes and sixth in the World Drivers Championship with the underpowered, obsolescent Supertec engine. However, Heinz-Harald Frentzen who replaced him at Jordan scored two wins and four podiums that year.
Ralf Schumacher driving for the Williams-BMW F1 team in 2003.
Schumacher's performance in the 2000 season was considered by many to be a disappointment. Running the powerful new BMW engine, he was expected to compete for wins, but despite only four mechanical failures and being the senior driver in the team, he was only able to match the three podium finishes of the previous year. In 2001, however, he broke through with his first three Grand Prix wins at Imola, Montreal and Hockenheim. In 2002, he won the Malaysian Grand Prix but finished the championship behind team mate Juan-Pablo Montoya, and in 2003, he won the European Grand Prix (at the Nürburgring) and the French Grand Prix, helping, along with teammate Juan Pablo Montoya the Williams team finish second in the Constructors Championship in 2002 and 2003.
Crash At Indianapolis
On June 20 2004, Schumacher was seriously injured in an accident at the United States Grand Prix. The acceleration was measured at 78 g (765 m/s²), one of the most severe in all of motor racing history, resulting in a concussion as well as two minor fractures to his spinal column he was taken to a nearby hospital by ground and spent almost four days there and months home in bed. This caused him to be sidelined for the majority of the season. He crashed in almost the same manner in , revealing the tyre troubles that would lead to the fiasco at the 2005 United States Grand Prix.
Toyota
Schumacher driving for Toyota at the 2005 Canadian Grand Prix, a race in which he finished sixth.
Schumacher in his third season with Toyota, at the 2007 British Grand Prix.
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Schumacher leading Jarno Trulli at the 2006 Canadian Grand Prix.
In 2005, Schumacher transferred to the Toyota F1 team after Williams refused his salary demands. In the first 12 races of the season he was out-performed by team mate Jarno Trulli, however in Spa-Francorchamps, he was able to challenge for the lead most of the race and ended up setting the fastest lap. Schumacher earned his first podium with Toyota F1 at the Hungarian Grand Prix, chasing down brother Michael Schumacher for 2nd place. The Toyota team brought the "B" specification of their TF105 car to the last three races of the season which allowed Schumacher to take pole position in Japan and finish the Chinese Grand Prix in third position a week later. This modified version of the car secured sixth position in the Drivers Championship for Schumacher, two points ahead of Trulli.
Schumacher remained with Toyota for , however the team was off the pace in early races, despite him finishing eighth in Malaysia. At the third race of the season in Australia he finished a strong third. He never mounted the podium again that season, although opportunities to do so were lost through mechanical failure. A fourth position in France was his only other significant finish in 2006, while he scored 6th place in Hungary, and earned seventh place in both Turkey and Japan. Overall, he outscored Trulli again, but admitted it was a disappointing season for himself and for the Toyota F1 team, as he finished only 10th in the drivers' championship.
Ralf Schumacher earned Toyota their first point of the season by finishing in eighth place in the Australian Grand Prix, one place ahead of team-mate Jarno Trulli. However, Trulli then finished in seventh place in both of the following two races in Malaysia and Bahrain, scoring 2 points in each. Schumacher, meanwhile, failed to score in either. In the Spanish Grand Prix, he was involved in a collision with Alexander Wurz of Williams, dropping him to the back of the field. He eventually retired with a mechanical problem. Monaco proved to be another struggle for Schumacher, as he qualified 20th and finished the race in 16th, 0.9 seconds behind Trulli. Trulli is contracted to race for the Toyota F1 team until the close of the F1 season, while Ralf's contract expires after the current season. It is rumoured that the Toyota team are unhappy with his performance, which may mean that Schumacher could have to start looking elsewhere for a future F1 seat.[2]
Schumacher scored his next point by finishing 8th in the Canadian Grand Prix, coming up from only 18th on the grid, however, he lost control at the first corner of the next race, removing himself from the race as well as the cars of Rubens Barrichello and David Coulthard. He retired from top 10 positions in both the British Grand Prix and the European Grand Prix. The first was due to mechanical failure and the latter was caused by a collision with the BMW Sauber of Nick Heidfeld.
A change in fortunes seemed to occur at the Hungarian Grand Prix (the scene of his first podium finish for Toyota). Schumacher started 5th on the grid after setting the 6th fastest time (Fernando Alonso was relegated to 6th). He held off Alonso for much of the race until the third sector and went on to finish 6th. This fortune, however, was short lived as at the Turkish Grand Prix Schumacher put in an inexpicably poor qualifying performance to start 16th for the race while Trulli was up in 9th. Ralf finished 12th and ahead of his team mate but only after Trulli was punted off the track at the first corner of the race by Giancarlo Fisichella.
Personal life
In October of 2001 Ralf married Cora-Caroline Brinkmann a former model [3] [4] [5] . On October 23, 2001, their son David was born.
Complete Formula One results
() (Races in 'bold' indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)
''
★ ''Season in progress
External links
★ The official site for Ralf Schumacher
★ Ralf Schumacher Formula 1 profile
References
1. Ralf Schumacher biography and information
2. Replacing Ralf...
3. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4161/is_20040627/ai_n12899341
4. http://people.famouswhy.com/cora_schumacher/
5. http://www.f1db.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-955.html
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