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Sir Frank Williams praised his driver Ralf Schumacher for a brilliant personal performance at Magny-Cours in the face of recent criticism. "I have always had absolute confidence in him. He has become very consistent" Ralf knows that a title challenge came alive as he closed the deficit to just eleven points to his brother in rural France on Sunday. "I have waited a long time [to be in a position to win the championship] and it might be possible this year" |
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| Ralf: "I still can't believe the last eight days"... Michael Schumacher admitted his Ferrari team have to get their act together before the British Grand Prix at Silverstone in two weeks time although there is only this weeks final test to discover what has gone wrong. The 34-year-old's so-called supercar was never on the pace of the Williams or the McLarens of Raikkonen and David Coulthard, and he spent much of the race in fifth place. Schumacher only got back into third spot after the McLarens hit heavy traffic and Coulthard was delayed at his final stop when he dragged his refuelling man to the ground following a problem with the rig. "We need to be concerned" Michael admitted, whose hopes of a record-breaking sixth title this year are no longer guaranteed. |
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Ralf remained cheerfully self-effacing as he basked in his success yesterday. "How long can we keep this streak going?. That is always the question in formula one. I think if the two of us, including the team, keep working like that we can keep it going. Sure there will be circuits where for sure it's going to be tough again, but certainly we are going in the right direction" The former world champion Niki Lauda has certainly been impressed. "For me the biggest step forward has been the Williams, when you think what a state they were in at the start of the year and how quick they are now. Technically they must have made a big step forward in terms mainly of aerodynamics - possibly as much as 10%. So the biggest surprise to me was the big recovery of Williams. The second biggest surprise was the recovery of Ralf, because at the beginning of the season he really screwed up the one-lap qualifying, perhaps because he was not able to control the ill-handling Williams. But then as the car grew in competitiveness, so Ralf grew in status. This process really started in Monte Carlo, because this year qualifying is the king and he was on pole position. After winning at Nürburgring, I thought nobody could have done it better. Now he has done exactly the same here in France. He is doing the perfect job" So can Ralf Schumacher challenge for the championship. "Sure, but with that surname he will always be fighting the inevitable comparison with his brother. It will be double the challenge than if his name, say, was Müller, not Schumacher. Yet, if he pulls it off, by the same token it will be double the achievement" |
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For the second time in a row, the BMW WilliamsF1 Team today secured their second one-two victory. As at the Nürburgring, Ralf Schumacher crossed the line first, ahead of team mate Juan Pablo Montoya. Ralf’s win in Magny-Cours is his sixth Formula One victory. The BMW WilliamsF1 Team confirms their second place in the FIA Formula One Constructor’s Championship, only three points behind Ferrari. Ralf stays third in the Driver’s rankings. "Finally I did it from pole position! In the first part of the race it all seemed to go very well but after the first pit stop the car did not feel so good and I lost some time. Also I was delayed by several drivers that I had to lap, especially Jarno Trulli, who I could not overtake due to a yellow flag. Regarding the little off I had in the last laps, it was my fault as I braked too late. I hope we can keep this momentum going even though we are now going to circuits that are even tougher on the car. We are definitely getting closer and closer to Ferrari but for the moment I prefer not to think about our World Championship chances as things can change so quickly in F1" Ralf Schumacher achieved his 3rd pole of the season, bringing his career total up to 4. "I’m delighted with my pole especially when I think that I went out fourth when the track had not reached it’s optimum condition. It’s obviously positive to be nearly half a second in front of my brother’s Ferrari and Kimi Raikkonen’s McLaren Mercedes. I hope we will convert this 1-2 into an even better result than we had in Canada, where we finished 2nd and 3rd" [and he did] |
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Although Ralf received criticism following the Canadian GP, when he appeared to shy away from challenging his brother, the German is indeed having a strong season and is the only driver to have finished in the points in all nine races. Furthermore, of the 572 laps run thus far this season, Ralf has completed 570. "It's impossible to describe the feeling, it cannot be topped. In 1999, I almost secured victory here, it's great that it worked out now. It's a great leap forward for the whole team" |
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"After my victory at the Nürburgring I am going to Magny-Cours with much more confidence. In the last few races we have proved that we can compete with the Ferraris and the McLarens and, if you can do well on a circuit like the Nürburgring, you should be able to do well elsewhere. Our expectations are obviously high, but we know we still have work to do to maintain our current competitiveness" "The Magny-Cours circuit should suit our car but it is not one of my favourite tracks to visit, mainly because it is in the middle of nowhere! However, the facilities are very modern and the circuit design always provides good racing. Furthermore, I’m going there with good memories. In 2001 I achieved my first pole position in F1. Winning at the Nürburgring was a great birthday present but I would have no objections to repeating that with a win in France!" Ralf Schumacher joked over criticism he has received in recent weeks that he is not aggressive enough in his racing - especially after he failed to even challenge his elder brother in the Canadian Grand Prix a fortnight ago. Ralf, who celebrates his birthday today, won yesterday's European Grand Prix at the Nurburgring - the closest Grand Prix circuit to his home town of Kerpen. "It’s a great result. It has been a long time. I’ve had a couple of pole positions but I couldn’t turn them into victory. I got a bit of criticism but, you see, even a bad driver can win a race, so… It’s great to win in front of the home crowd, especially here or in Hockenheim, obviously, but even here the crowd was amazing today. The reception for all of us, and then being one and two for Williams again is really good for the Constructors’ championship at the same time. It’s really great what we’ve achieved this year. The car is definitely on the right way. Magny-Cours, last year, wasn’t that bad for us. I think we both like the circuit anyway, so yeah, it’s looking promising for that one as well" A one-two victory for the BMW WilliamsF1 Team at the Nurburgring as Ralf Schumacher won the European Grand Prix ahead of team-mate Juan Pablo Montoya. This is the second one-two for the BMW WilliamsF1 Team, the last was at the 2002 Malaysian GP. For Schumacher it is his fifth win in F1. The team improved its’ position in the Constructors World Championship to second. It was a perfect weekend for the BMW WilliamsF1 team, which announced on Friday the extension of their partnership until the end of 2009. "It is great to win after a long time and especially after I failed to turn two poles into victory in the last two races. I had a very good start and for some reason Michael did not. I took the chance and jumped into second position into the first corner. I think that seen from the outside that manoeuvre looked more spectacular than it actually was. I believe I could have caught Kimi, even if it would have been difficult. We had a perfect car with perfect tyres today and if we consider we were about ten kilos heavier than the others at the start, it was a very good performance" |
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Responding to criticism that he is too easy on his older brother, Ralf Schumacher clipped past the series leader at the start of the European Grand Prix on Sunday and went on to win the race. In contrast to his lethargic performance at the Canadian Grand Prix two weeks ago, when Ralf meekly followed Michael rather than challenge for the victory, the younger Schumacher charged past Michael before the first corner. "I had a very good start and for some reason Michael did not. I took the chance and jumped into second position into the first corner" It was his first victory this season, the fifth of his career and his first at the Nürburgring, where Michael has won three times. It was also at the Nürburgring that the criticism of Ralf began after he knocked his brother off the track at the start of the race in 1997. The incident contributed toward Michael's failure to win the drivers' title that year. Michael told Ralf off and the younger brother has behaved himself since, so much so that after the last race he was chastised not only by the press but by Patrick Head, one of his team directors. Michael reacted well to his brother's move Sunday. "Considering that my lead in the world championship has now increased to seven points, I cannot complain about the result of this race. I am happy for Ralf, keeping it in the family at our home race" |
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Ralf Schumacher told what is becoming a familiar tale to F1 reporters after he failed to challenge his brother for the Canadian Grand Prix victory once Michael had overtaken during the first round of pit stops. "Obviously, it was a bit disappointing because we had a better race pace" said Ralf who seemed content to take eight points for second rather than be concerned about the full complement of ten for victory. "I can’t see where Michael took the gap but anyway, I know he was in a different race but I was always able to follow him and with a clear road, I could have gone quicker, as cars behind us showed on Michelin tyres. I think we had a better tyre today as we had last year. But in 2001, I won it like this. Now it’s his turn so, why not?" Ralf went on to add that he did not change his front tyres at all during the race because he didn't want to experience graining of the tyres again like he had to contend with in the first part of the race. However, despite the improved balance Ralf infuriated many by failing to show any real intention of challenging Michael for the victory. "Well, I was never close to even try, that’s why I didn’t [try to pass]" said Ralf who followed his brother by less than a second for most of the race and failed to even challenge in the closing stages when Michael admitted having to ease off slightly to look after his brakes. "Maybe some might think again that I took it too easy but if there is no possibility I won’t try it. There’s eight points for the team and for me and for Juan as well so it was important for us to score points at the same time. As Michael said at the beginning, I went through a bit of a difficult period with my tyres but after that, already towards the end of the first stint and in the second and third, I could have been far stronger and showed our basic potential. But it’s not enough to get by. I had good straight-line speed. We have to go back to the factory and find a few more horse powers to change that again" |
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"I had a really good lap. Furthermore I believe we are on a good race strategy, but just two weeks ago I experienced what can happen and change over a race distance. Of course it is my target to win here having missed out in Monaco, especially as I really like this circuit and Montreal a lot. I am sure we are facing an exciting race" The pole was Schumacher's second consecutive and the third of his F1 career. "That was a surprise today. We came into this weekend knowing that we could be competitive, but after what happened yesterday we had to go out very early and though we still expected to be in the top five, being in the first row was a great result" |
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Ralf claimed the second pole position of his career at Monaco. "It's great for us but we expected him (Michael) to outqualify us" said Ralf, who has long appeared a reluctant racer in Monaco, wary of the dangers lurking in the principality's tight and twisty streets. "I've always complained about the safety risks but driving here is great. It'll be exciting into the first corner, let's hope all of us come round it without stupid accidents" Ralf on finishing 4th: "Obviously it is disappointing to finish fourth when you start on pole especially on a track like Monaco when being on pole means more than anywhere else. The balance of my car was for some reason not ideal after the first pit stop and I could not keep up with the pace of the leaders. Congratulations to Juan Pablo and the whole team for the great result, though" |
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