58 replies to this topic

[Wiggy]

Ralf has announced he's joining mike in the retirement home with immediate effect. A huge loss to the racing world, he'll be missed. Always a great F1 driver, arguably one of Jordan's best drivers. Should have been WDC.

His wife looked like a nice girl too, he sure showed the rumour mongers.

Enjoy the werthers Ralf!

[LB]

Ralf??? WDC???? pmsl!!!

[Longtimefan]

A huge loss?

Really?

[ApexMouse]

Wiggy Thread.

[kartinhero]

Who cares?

[Sin]

Jordans best Driver was Heinz Harald Frentzen... but yeah... maybe Ralf will start commentating F1 on RTL or somewhere, would be fun

[billm99uk]

Personally I think Ralf had the basic talent but didn't have the mental toughness or sheer drive of Schumacher senior. A frustrating career or underachievement really. Mark card with "Could have done better"

[Jejking]

He's joining the sidelines at only 37 years of age. That's bad, I think.

[Absulute]

Amazing career.

Between them the Schumacher's have SEVEN WDCs

[Jackmancer]

Jordans best Driver was Heinz Harald Frentzen... but yeah... maybe Ralf will start commentating F1 on RTL or somewhere, would be fun

Euhh, Jordan's best driver is not Ralf Schumacher or Heinz Harald Frentzen, it's Michael Schumacher...

[Nahnever]

Ralf has announced he's joining mike in the retirement home with immediate effect. A huge loss to the racing world, he'll be missed. Always a great F1 driver, arguably one of Jordan's best drivers. Should have been WDC.

His wife looked like a nice girl too, he sure showed the rumour mongers.

Enjoy the werthers Ralf!

What's this about his wife; and what rumours?

[wingwalker]

Always a great F1 driver

Certainly not in the later stages of his F1 career.

[JeanClaude]

Ralf has announced he's joining mike in the retirement home with immediate effect. A huge loss to the racing world, he'll be missed. Always a great F1 driver, arguably one of Jordan's best drivers. Should have been WDC.

His wife looked like a nice girl too, he sure showed the rumour mongers.

Enjoy the werthers Ralf!

Haha nice thread

It's a good thing Ralf retires imo, he never amounted to much in DTM and his Schumacher name only goes so far
I liked Ralf, nice guy and it sure must have been difficult to race with such a successful brother although the fact that his brother was so successful probably helped him get to F1.

Memories of Ralf?

* the crash in Indianapolis that looked very scary
* the team orders at Jordan he should never have let Hill win that one
* the Williams years, kept JPM honest or better said showed how mediocre JPM was
* sucking so much money out of Toyota lol what were they thinking
* Cora* with the big boobies

6 wins, 27 podiums, lots of money and has had fun in DTM
Not too shabby, enjoy life Ralf bye

JC

* edited with apologies to Corinna

Edited by JeanClaude, 16 March 2013 - 15:15.

[Richard T]

Ralf and Coras son started Karting a couple of years ago, so the Schumacher legacy continues

[Sin]

* Corinna with the big boobies

Corinna is Michaels wife, and ex girlfriend of Heinz Harald Frentzen...

Ralfs wife is called Cora

[Scudetto]

I've missed Cora from F1 far more than I've missed Ralf.

[JeanClaude]

Corinna is Michaels wife, and ex girlfriend of Heinz Harald Frentzen...

Ralfs wife is called Cora

Oops sorry of course it's Cora
I guess I never came around to hearing her name properly whenever she was on TV, distracted and all

JC

[George Costanza]

Ralf's only WDC shot came in 2003. That's it. And he was hurt for two races, I recall. But he was not going to beat his brother at Ferrari.

[Massa_f1]

Ralf may not of been a likely champion, but some of his victories are quite dominant. Had he found that on a more consistent bases then a few races a season he could of been up there,

[TheNewStig]

Is it two of them?

[Disgrace]

Sure, he became a joke once he started raking in huge cash for nothing but Ralf had his moments. Between mid-1998 and mid-2001, he was a serious contender.

Magny-Cours '03 and Canada '01 were two of his best victories. He should have won that race at the Nurburgring in 1999, and could have won that Spa 1998 race too.

Remember, he also reached the podium on his third race appearance (after taking out Fisi).

Edited by Disgrace, 16 March 2013 - 15:47.

[teejay]

Amazing career.

Between them the Schumacher's have SEVEN WDCs

[Wingcommander]

I still think Ralf's 1999 season was brilliant. He should have won at nurburgring. But tbh i dont think anyone is going to miss his "charming" personality.

edit. ah, seems i'm not the only one who remembers the '99 nurburgring race.

Edited by Wingcommander, 16 March 2013 - 15:59.

[pUs]

Ralf was way better than most people gave him credit for. He was awesome in 1999. Too bad he didn't spend a few more seasons in DTM though, he didn't look too bad last year I think. A bit too early to leave..

[Phoenixx]

His problem is that he always was compared with Michael.
If you compare him to the most other F1 drivers his career was outstanding.

Enjoy life, Ralf

Edited by Phoenixx, 16 March 2013 - 16:31.

[Sakae]

When Ms. Schumacher (mother) passed away, both brothers stood side-by-side, and attended their duties with their teams. For me this kind of work-ethics is forever etched in my mind, because as in in their example, and under circumstances I have found myself just a few years later, inadvertently I ended up with similar solution, forever convinced, that my mum would have not only approve, but insist on it.

I wish both brothers well.

Edited by Sakae, 16 March 2013 - 17:32.

[Alfisti]

27 podiums? Really that's not bad at all.

[g1n]

Interesting, I only thought about what happened to this guy earlier today (after years and years of not thinking about him)...

Edited by g1n, 16 March 2013 - 17:59.

[MP422]

When Ms. Schumacher (mother) passed away, both brothers stood side-by-side, and attended their duties with their teams. For me this kind of work-ethics is forever etched in my mind, because as in in their example, and under circumstances I have found myself just a few years later, inadvertently I ended up with similar solution, forever convinced, that my mum would have not only approve, but insist on it.

I wish both brothers well.

It's not like they had to pump cesspools ! lol.

[mkoscevic]

He was a very good F1 driver who faded away in the last couple of years with Toyota.

Certainly not a member of the elite-WDC class.

I especially remember his Canada 2001 win. That was great.

It was also nice to see brothers fighting for wins.

Good luck Ralf.

[BRG]

He would never have reached F1 on his own merit. Only his name got him there.

[Phoenixx]

He would never have reached F1 on his own merit. Only his name got him there.

Vice-German F3 Champion (in front of Wurz and Trulli who later became F1 drivers too), GP Macao Winner, Formula Nippon Champion ?
He was 11 (!) years in F1, no driver would be there so long only because of his name (-> for example Bruno Senna, Nelson Piquet jr. etc)

Edited by Phoenixx, 16 March 2013 - 19:49.

[UPRC]

His problem is that he always was compared with Michael.
If you compare him to the most other F1 drivers his career was outstanding.

Enjoy life, Ralf

Exactly! He accomplished more than many drivers could ever hope to. Sure he was no Michael, but Ralf was good in his own right. Drove the hell out of the Williams on several occasions.

[KWSN - DSM]

Ralf Schumacher was a very good F1 driver, he never had the talent his older brother did, and he was always held to a higher standard as a driver due to that older brother. In his best years he was as good as any of the drivers behind the 'great' drivers on the grid.

He exposed both Zanardi and Montoya as not being all they were hyped to be, and from 1999 through 20003 did all and more that could be expected by a F1 driver of his talent. The Toyota years never panned out, but they never panned out for any driver since most ills with that effort were on the Toyota side. Through his career he average a podium every 6th race, not enough to become drivers champion but being good for 2 - 3 podiums every season does indicate some level of talent.

Can not say I will miss him, since DTM to me is completely uninteresting. So for me he have been gone since 2007.

[BigCHrome]

Was a much better driver than Mark Webber.

[DanardiF1]

He would never have reached F1 on his own merit. Only his name got him there.

Did pretty well when he got there though. I think it's easy to mock Ralf in light of his older brother's achievements, but drivers like Michael don't come along very often, and Ralf did as well as he could've done given his own talent.

Was really exciting in his first season with Jordan, struggled a bit more with the 98 car's issues, where Damon Hill's experience helped give him an advantage.

He was fantastic in 1999 at Williams, and would've fully deserved winning at the Nurburgring in that manic race. Was pushed by Button in 2000 and probably should've asserted himself more, but with Montoya coming in Jenson's place he probably rested on his laurels a bit. The BMW Williams years were good for Ralf too, he was a true frontrunner alongside his brother and won his 6 GP's (probably could've won more too). I think he peaked in this period, and when he went to Toyota he perhaps had an overly self-inflated view of his worth, and seeing as Toyota were paying big bucks, he took the seat. I think realistically his career was on it's way down as soon as he signed with Toyota.

[Mclaren4ever]

quite underrated driver me thinks.
never had the same passion or talent as his brother but he was still impressive between 99-03.

[PapaD]

He was a good driver in the Williams BMW with Montoya. Never looked like he could challenge for the championship although not many people did round that time.

I think his main problem was the absence of any personality or likeable feature. Even though he wasn't his voice always sounded like he was whining.

[scheivlak]

He would never have reached F1 on his own merit. Only his name got him there.

He showed that he deserved a top drive so selecting by name alone is perhaps the best way

[Claudius]

Haha nice thread

It's a good thing Ralf retires imo, he never amounted to much in DTM and his Schumacher name only goes so far
I liked Ralf, nice guy and it sure must have been difficult to race with such a successful brother although the fact that his brother was so successful probably helped him get to F1.

Memories of Ralf?

* the crash in Indianapolis that looked very scary
* the team orders at Jordan he should never have let Hill win that one
* the Williams years, kept JPM honest or better said showed how mediocre JPM was
* sucking so much money out of Toyota lol what were they thinking
* Cora* with the big boobies

6 wins, 27 podiums, lots of money and has had fun in DTM
Not too shabby, enjoy life Ralf bye

JC

* edited with apologies to Corinna

Can't agree with you there. I think what that proved is that Ralf was up there with the best during 01-03.
I don't think he showed JPM to be a mediocre driver, I think he showed himself to be a very good driver.

I agree with you about letting Hill win in Spa. He should have taken that opportunity and get a win.
He was leaving Jordan anyway...

[midgrid]

He still outscored Trulli at Toyota in 2005 and 2006 as well.

[Wiggy]

He still outscored Trulli at Toyota in 2005 and 2006 as well.

No mean feat that, either.

[sopa]

He still outscored Trulli at Toyota in 2005 and 2006 as well.

People say Ralf peaked in 99-03, but I'd say 2006 was one of his best seasons in F1. Much like DC had one of his best seasons in 2005 - after already having left top teams.

[Dolph]

Sure, he became a joke once he started raking in huge cash for nothing...

He only became a joke to some dim forumers.

[Mauseri]

He only became a joke to some dim forumers.

I remember jokes being made, also of his pissed looking face. How mature.

Edited by Mauseri, 16 March 2013 - 23:25.

[Dolph]

He was a very good F1 driver who faded away in the last couple of years with Toyota.

True, but everybody who ever drove for Toyota for more than a few races got their career faded away.

[Sin]

what I remember about Ralf Schumacher is him being called Pornoralle and his wife Hardcora, by some german comedian, after they invested in Beate Uhse and shirts being sold with those nicknames written on it...

[baddog]

Ralf was, unquestionably, the most under-rated F1 driver of the era. Almost no-one gives him credit for his actually amazing speed, and the 'old british farts' cadre around here just abused him constantly for no reason whatsoever.

[JeanClaude]

Can't agree with you there. I think what that proved is that Ralf was up there with the best during 01-03.
I don't think he showed JPM to be a mediocre driver, I think he showed himself to be a very good driver.

I agree with you about letting Hill win in Spa. He should have taken that opportunity and get a win.
He was leaving Jordan anyway...

Fair enough Claudius
It's a bit of a glass half full or half empty thing and my dislike of JPM probably got the better of me

JC

[LuckyStrike1]

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