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| Birth Name(s) : Ralf Schumacher |
Date of Birth: N/A |
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Single
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Full Ralf Schumacher Biography
Ralf Schumacher (born June 30, 1975 in Hürth-Hermülheim near Cologne) is a German Formula One racing driver. 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.
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.
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.
On June 20, 2004, Schumacher was seriously injured in an accident at the United States Grand Prix. The deceleration 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 2005, revealing the tyre troubles that would lead to the fiasco at the 2005 United States Grand Prix.
Schumacher remained with Toyota for 2006, 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 2007 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 2009 F1 season, while Ralf's contract expires after the current 2007 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.Schumacher in his third season with Toyota, at the 2007 British Grand Prix.
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. |
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