Ralf Schumacher

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Ralf Schumacher
Ralf Schumacher at an autograph session at the 2005 United States Grand Prix
Nationality	German
Car #	11
Current team	Toyota F1
World Championship career
Races	166 (164 starts)
World Championships	0
Wins	6
Podium finishes	27
Pole positions	6
Fastest laps	7
First race	1997 Australian Grand Prix
First win	2001 San Marino Grand Prix
Latest win	2003 French Grand Prix
Latest race	2007 Australian Grand Prix
2006 Championship position	10th (20 pts)

Ralf Schumacher (born June 30, 1975 in Hürth-Hermülheim near Cologne) 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 6 F1 races during his career, which has spanned from 1997 to the present.

1 Early career
2 Formula 1 Career
3 Personal Life
4 Complete Formula One results
5 External links

[edit] Early career

He started racing at age three on his parents' go-kart track in their hometown of Kerpen. After finishing runner-up in the national karting series, Ralf 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 that 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.

[edit] Formula 1 Career

[edit] Jordan

Schumacher spins at the start of the 1998 Canadian Grand Prix.

Ralf Schumacher made his Formula One debut in 1997 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.

[edit] 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.

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. This caused him to be sidelined for the majority of the season.

[edit] Toyota

Schumacher driving for Toyota at the 2005 Canadian Grand Prix, a race in which he finished 6th

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 3 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 6th position in the Drivers Championship for Schumacher, 2 points ahead of Trulli.

Schumacher remained with Toyota for 2006, however the team was off the pace in early races, although he did finish 8th in Malaysia. At the third race of the season in Australia he finished a strong 3rd. 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 7th 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 in the 2007 Australian Grand Prix by finishing in 8th place, one ahead of Jarno Trulli.

[edit] Personal Life

In October of 2001 Ralf married Cora-Caroline Brinkmann. On October 23, 2001, their son David was born.

[edit] Complete Formula One results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	Team	WDC	Points
1997	Jordan	AUS Ret	BRA Ret	ARG 3	SMR Ret	MON Ret	ESP Ret	CAN Ret	FRA 6	GBR 5	GER 5	HUN 5	BEL Ret	ITA Ret	AUT 5	LUX Ret	JPN 9	EUR Ret			Jordan	11th	13
1998	Jordan	AUS Ret	BRA Ret	ARG Ret	SMR 7	ESP 11	MON Ret	CAN Ret	FRA 16	GBR 6	AUT 5	GER 6	HUN 9	BEL 2	ITA 3	LUX Ret	JPN Ret				Jordan	10th	14
1999	Williams	AUS 3	BRA 4	SMR Ret	MON Ret	ESP 5	CAN 4	FRA 4	GBR 3	AUT Ret	GER 4	HUN 9	BEL 5	ITA 2	EUR 4	MAL Ret	JPN 5				Williams	6th	35
2000	Williams	AUS 3	BRA 5	SMR Ret	GBR 4	ESP 4	EUR Ret	MON Ret	CAN 14	FRA 5	AUT 14	GER 7	HUN 5	BEL 3	ITA 3	USA Ret	JPN Ret	MAL Ret			Williams	5th	24
2001	Williams	AUS Ret	MAL 5	BRA Ret	SMR 1	ESP Ret	AUT Ret	MON Ret	CAN 1	EUR 4	FRA 2	GBR Ret	GER 1	HUN 4	BEL 7	ITA 3	USA Ret	JPN 6			Williams	4th	49
2002	Williams	AUS Ret	MAL 1	BRA 2	SMR 3	ESP 11	AUT 4	MON 3	CAN 7	EUR 4	GBR 8	FRA 5	GER 3	HUN 3	BEL 5	ITA Ret	USA 16	JPN 11			Williams	4th	42
2003	Williams	AUS 8	MAL 4	BRA 7	SMR 4	ESP 5	AUT 6	MON 4	CAN 2	EUR 1	FRA 1	GBR 9	GER Ret	HUN 4	ITA Inj	USA Ret	JPN 12				Williams	5th	58
2004	Williams	AUS 4	MAL Ret	BHR 7	SMR 7	ESP 6	MON 10	EUR Ret	CAN DSQ	USA Ret	FRA Inj	GBR Inj	GER Inj	HUN Inj	BEL Inj	ITA Inj	CHN Ret	JPN 2	BRA 5		Williams	9th	24
2005	Toyota	AUS 12	MAL 5	BHR 4	SMR 9	ESP 4	MON 6	EUR Ret	CAN 6	USA DNS	FRA 7	GBR 8	GER 6	HUN 3	TUR 12	ITA 6	BEL 7	BRA 8	JPN 8	CHN 3	Toyota	6th	45
2006	Toyota	BHR 14	MAL 8	AUS 3	SMR 9	EUR Ret	ESP Ret	MON 8	GBR Ret	CAN Ret	USA Ret	FRA 4	GER 9	HUN 6	TUR 7	ITA 15	CHN Ret	JPN 7	BRA Ret		Toyota	10th	20
2007	Toyota	AUS 8	MAL	BHR	ESP	MON	CAN	USA	FRA	GBR	GER	HUN	TUR	ITA	BEL	JPN	CHN	BRA			Toyota	8th	1

[edit] External links

The official site for Ralf Schumacher

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Ralf Schumacher

Ralf Schumacher Formula 1 profile

Preceded by Sascha Maassen	Macau GP winner 1995	Succeeded by Ralph Firman

Constructors and drivers competing in the 2007 Formula One championship
McLaren	Renault	Ferrari	Honda	BMW	Toyota	Red Bull	Williams	Toro Rosso	Spyker	Super Aguri
1 Alonso 2 Hamilton	3 Fisichella 4 Kovalainen	5 Massa 6 Räikkönen	7 Button 8 Barrichello	9 Heidfeld 10 Kubica	11 Schumacher 12 Trulli	14 Coulthard 15 Webber	16 Rosberg 17 Wurz	18 Liuzzi 19 Speed	20 Sutil 21 Albers	22 Sato 23 Davidson