Ralf Schumacher

Name: Ralf Schumacher

Nationality: Germany

Date of birth: June 30, 1975 - Huerth, Germany

The younger brother, history relates, is often the faster racer. It had been thus with the Rodriguez brothers, and with the Fittipaldis. It may yet prove the same with the Schumachers.

It's interesting to note that when Ralf Schumacher tested for McLaren late in 1996, however, that people within the team remained lukewarm about the reigning champion's sibling. Ralf, they said, had done nothing special.

Perhaps it was nerves, perhaps he was just being cautious. But when Ralf Schumacher unintentionally turfed Jordan teammate Giancarlo Fisichella off the road in Argentina the following year, he went on to finish third, on the podium, in only his third F1 outing. Without the delay, he might even have challenged for victory.

Schuey Junior had followed his big brother through karting and Formula Ford, and rumor has it that he was already in the big earning category by the time he joined Michael's manager Willi Weber in German F3 in 1994. One win and a string of high placings left him third in the title chase, but despite winning four races in 1995 he was still bested by Argentinean Norberto Fontana. It didn't seem to matter. The Schumacher name, and Weber's guidance, looked set to push Ralf onwards and upwards. They headed for Formula Nippon in 1996, where Ralf added another three wins before going on to that test for McLaren.

At Jordan his teammate was the highly regarded Giancarlo Fisichella, and the pair kept one another on their toes all season. Generally Fisichella had the upper hand after a difficult start, but in 1998 Ralf kept Damon Hill honest, but spoiled an impressive year by complaining bitterly after Eddie Jordan had instructed him not to challenge Hill for the team's first victory, at Spa-Francorchamps. In truth, Ralf's chance there had only arisen because the deployment of the safety car had allowed him to close on his team leader.

Such behavior was seen as brattish by the F1 fraternity, though it was understandable in any racer. But when Ralf transferred to Williams for 1999, and did so much to extract solid performances from a bad car, his stock rose dramatically. Third in the opening race in Australia, he added fourths in Brazil, Canada, France, Hungary and Nurburgring, another third in Britain and second in Italy. But even more impressive was the near-win at Nurburgring, which he was denied following a puncture.

In three short seasons Ralf Schumacher had gone from brat to a driver rated by many as one of the top five best in the world.

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