225 replies to this topic

[Rene]

Check out
http://www.pitpass.c...cfm?newsid=2324

What was Ralf thinking? He must really hate england is all I can say...especially if you take this article as the truth

http://www.itv-f1.co...ews_story/11800

[BRG]

What a sad case poor little Ralf is. I feel sorry for him, really. He has to go through life always in his brother's shadow and knowing that he doesn't have a quarter of his skill or talent. And now he knows that his team-mate is better than him as well and that (even before this bit of prima-donna behaviour) the team love Montoya more. He is an embittered man.

[KinetiK]

Ahh, someone didn't get his glossy event brochure signed by Ralfie and now they have an axe to grind.

[Scudetto]

Ralf perplexes me. His famous gaffs to the press about his team and teammate have certainly done him no favors. Now this silly run-in with the team and team boss(!). For what? Sour grapes on Ralf's part, but for the life of me I can't understand why.

Willie Webber needs to get a handle on this boy.

[Ross Stonefeld]

Assuming it all actually happened.

There's some heavy spin in that pitpass article. The British drivers stay all weekend at a British event. a Non-British driver shows up for one day and then leaves to go somewhere else. Maybe he had a PR campaign, maybe he wanted to be home. Whatever, but they made it sound like he's the devil and the British drivers allready have a reservation in heaven

[miniman]

Let's not take everything the Brithish Press writes as God's Gospel truth, some "news" organizations are more interested in creating news than reporting on the news.

[jaisli]

Originally posted by Rene
Check out
http://www.pitpass.c...cfm?newsid=2324

What was Ralf thinking? He must really hate england is all I can say...especially if you take this article as the truth

http://www.itv-f1.co...ews_story/11800

Well, after reading article one with an open mind, it's little wonder for Ralf's comments in article two. I'd be curious to know the real situation behind the insurance waiver but it's clear the author of the said article shows personal disdain for Schu2.

jaisli

[Garagiste]

JPM isn't exactly enamoured with the FOS either, to be fair. I agree it does smack of mountain engineering from mole based facts, but OTOH, it's also the sort of petulant strop that's easily believable from Ralf. He's far too quick to go into a sulk when it's not all going his way, IMO.

[maclaren]

The article shows only the frustation of the writer. Typical anti-Micheal fan and while he cannot bash M$ due to his records, he is blaming Ralf. I have seen plenty of theses in forums

[annica]

I can't open either of the sites. Copy & Paste?

EDIT: Oh good. Planet-f1 also unavialable. ISP sucks etc.

[FlatFoot]

Article #1
source: http://www.pitpass.c...cfm?newsid=2324

Ralf causes problems at Goodwood
15-07-2002


Ralf Schumacher has reportedly angered his team and engine supplier BMW by his actions during last weekend’s Goodwood Festival of Speed.
Ralf was appearing at the Festival for the first time, and had made it clear that he was not looking forward to his appearnace as he did not enjoy coming to England.

The German’s attitude did not improve on arrival at the event, and he caused his team some embarrassment by refusing to sign on for insurance purposes before he headed out on track in the FW23.

WilliamsF1 officials were understandably concerned by Schumacher’s refusal to sign, and even team boss Sir Frank Williams got involved telling his driver that he must co-operate in the same way as every other driver who was appearing over the course of the weekend.

A number of heated discussions followed as Ralf continued to refuse, and an inside source has revealed to pitpass that the situation was only resolved when BMW agreed to sign on his behalf.

The 27-year-old’s behaviour is unlikely to be forgotten easily, particularly since he has taken no part in his team’s recent test schedule, and has been quick to air his grievances after poor races this season.

Unlike rivals Allan McNish and Jenson Button who were happy to spend the entire weekend at Goodwood taking time to talk to fans during all three days of the event, Schumacher opted only to appear on Saturday - and then with noticeable reluctance - and his attitude will have done little for his team’s reputation.

Although Ralf has a contract with WilliamsF1 for the foreseeable future the annual F1 silly season is a dangerous time to be annoying those that pay your wages - something the German would do well to remember…

Article #2
source: http://www.itv-f1.co...ews_story/11800

RALF SLAMS ANTI-SCHU PRESS
2002-07-15 15:13:00
Ralf Schumacher has launched a scathing attack on the British press, accusing them of having a vendetta against he and his brother Michael.

The Williams man believes the British press is rabidly anti-Schumacher and always hypes his team-mates far more than him.

He told the latest edition of F1 Racing magazine: "You, they, the British press are very anti-Schumacher - anti-Michael and anti-me. Okay, maybe not all of you - but most.

Whatever team-mate I've had in my career - Giancarlo [Fisichella], Damon [Hill], Alex [Zanardi], Jenson [Button], Juan [Montoya] - you always say he's the one, better than me."

Schumacher said Britain’s lack of a truly world class driver was the reason for the widespread antipathy towards him and Michael.

He said: "Maybe you're all frustrated that you haven't got a real champion to get excited about."

But Ralf insisted that he was not bothered what the English press thought of him.

He said: "Look I don't want it to sound arrogant but I'm German. And German journalists will always be more important to me than any other journalists."

[The Rock]

looks like the presure is getting to Ralf...

[KinetiK]

Originally posted by The Rock
looks like the presure is getting to Ralf...

I'm not one to defend Ralf at all but don't you think you should rtfa before commenting? It's all conjecture on the part of pit-pass. Where are the quotes from the parties involved in the "fracas"? Where is another account of the "falling out" between Williams and Ralf, I don't see one... nor do I expect to.

[ensign14]

Just a quick question...how many people think Ralf would have been in F1 - or at least in a Williams - had his surname not been 'Schumacher'? It certainly gave him a head start!

[Ross Stonefeld]

well he did win in F3 and F3000, his last name only meant teams like Mclaren were interested in him instead of Minardi when it came time for tests

[RiverRunner]

Pretty juvenile to put up a stink abouy signing a standard waiver,and then to have BMW bail him out made it even worse.I have no doubts now why he is with williams and who is paying him.
If I was the owner of the car (was it williams' car?) I would have just told him to get lost if he didn't want to play the game according to the rules.
I'm sure there were plenty of other drivers there that would have taken it out for a putt.

[BuonoBruttoCattivo]

Originally posted by KinetiK




I'm not one to defend Ralf at all but don't you think you should rtfa before commenting? It's all conjecture on the part of pit-pass. Where are the quotes from the parties involved in the "fracas"? Where is another account of the "falling out" between Williams and Ralf, I don't see one... nor do I expect to.

Could not agree more
Thank you for showing some sense and intelligence

[aportinga]

What a brat!

Give Alesi his ride

[nigel red5]

Hmmm......interesting indeed.

Could it just be that my wish for 2003 will actually happen...........Ralfie out and Button back in the Williams for `03.

Not been taking part in testing......i`ve not being paying as much attention to the F1 testing this year as i should have been. Is this true? Has JPM and Marc been doing all the donkey work?

[JVRACER]

I personally have met Ralph and the guys a prick.Williams had autographed session at the innagural USGP and you could tell from the guys face he couldnt stand to be there.I take this article at its word becouse I have personally seen it before.Jenson and his Dad was there the day before and was totally stoked more than the fans were.The article is true true true ,and I think they make a great point that last thing you want to do is piss off your employeer during silly season.Bottom line his brother is a stuck up jerk and his brother is no different or worse.

[Electric Sheep]

Whilst it wouldn't surprise me if this was true, as Bruno and others have said, there's no evidence for it. However, why write it if it's false? Surely Ralf could sue 'em for libel or whatever it is.

Ralf does have a bit of an image problem: he can be fairly brattish and stand-off-ish. His brother has mellowed nicely - especially since his tears at Monza in 2000 - and seems far more approachable and pleasant than wee Ralfie. I agree with his comments re the British press: they do have problems with Germany as a whole .

[KenC]

Originally posted by Ross Stonefeld
well he did win in F3 and F3000, his last name only meant teams like Mclaren were interested in him instead of Minardi when it came time for tests

Okay, maybe my memory is vague, but I thought Ralf lost the German F3 championship to Wurz or someone. And, Ralf's F3000 title was Formula Nippon, where he was less than totally impressive, as he won only two races, and barely beat his teammate, Naoki Hattori, who I think won three races, but had more retirements. In fact, my vague recollection is that Ralf backed into the title as Hattori had a DNF from a championship winning position in the last race.

[Peter Perfect]

Ralf has a point about the British press, it does tend to be over the top in terms of nationalism. However, his quote...

"Whatever team-mate I've had in my career - Giancarlo [Fisichella], Damon [Hill], Alex [Zanardi], Jenson [Button], Juan [Montoya] - you always say he's the one, better than me."

Lets see,

Fisi - no doubt in my mind that Fisi is the better driver.
Hill - He's an ex-WDC
Zanardi - Ex Cart Champ
Button - Rookie from nowhere , beating Ralf by the end of the year.
JPM - Ex Cart Champ and looking like a future WDC

Is it that surprising that his teammates were expected to do better than him?

[KenC]

Originally posted by Rene
Check out
http://www.pitpass.c...cfm?newsid=2324

What was Ralf thinking? He must really hate england is all I can say...especially if you take this article as the truth

http://www.itv-f1.co...ews_story/11800

I take all of these types of articles, no attributable quotes, with a HUGE GRAIN OF SALT. I recommend it to others as well!

Having said that, what is truly sad for Ralf, is that while the story may or may not be true, one can certainly imagine it to be true about Ralf, as he has a reputation for doing something like this. And, yes, the British media is brutal, particularly to the Germans. Aside from Prince Albert Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, has there been any German who got good press from the British media?

[aportinga]

Whilst it wouldn't surprise me if this was true, as Bruno and others have said, there's no evidence for it.

Based on such logic it is quite possible that Jimmy Hoffa is sitting on a beach in the Virgin Islands sipping on Rum and juice.;)

[Electric Sheep]

Originally posted by aportinga


Based on such logic it is quite possible that Jimmy Hoffa is sitting on a beach in the Virgin Islands sipping on Rum and juice.;)

Alongside Elvis and Marilyn Monroe, no doubt

[Option1]

Originally posted by Peter Perfect
Ralf has a point about the British press, it does tend to be over the top in terms of nationalism. However, his quote...



Lets see,

Fisi - no doubt in my mind that Fisi is the better driver.
Hill - He's an ex-WDC
Zanardi - Ex Cart Champ
Button - Rookie from nowhere , beating Ralf by the end of the year.
JPM - Ex Cart Champ and looking like a future WDC

Is it that surprising that his teammates were expected to do better than him?

Wow Peter, are you sure you're not a British journalist??? I mean to say, that's same damn funny spin you're putting up there.

How you can claim Zanardi was the better driver in F1 (and that's effectively what you're trying so hard to do) than Ralf is beyond me. Makes the whole of your point look about as intelligent as a page 3 girl.

Neil

[MarkWRX]

Last year, post 9/11, the brothers' Schumacher both made noises about not coming to the US GP because they feared for their safety. Of the two, Ralf whined (on whinged) loudest. My thought at the time was 'Good. Let him stay in Germany or Austria. I don't need a sniveling brat like him to enjoy an F1 race.' Doesn't sound like he has matured much in a year.

Mark

[Peter Perfect]

Originally posted by Option1
Wow Peter, are you sure you're not a British journalist??? I mean to say, that's same damn funny spin you're putting up there.

How you can claim Zanardi was the better driver in F1 (and that's effectively what you're trying so hard to do) than Ralf is beyond me. Makes the whole of your point look about as intelligent as a page 3 girl.

Neil

I wasn't claiming that he was the better driver, but when he came to F1 (for the second time) he was IIRC expected to beat Ralf.

In the three years prior to his F1 comeback:-

1998 Fedex ChampCar World Series (Champion).
CART champion with Ganassi.

1997 PPG Indycar World Series (Champion).
CART champion with Ganassi.

1996 CART Rookie of the Year with Ganassi Reynard Honda.
Third overall in PPG Indycar World Series.

[HardRock]

I don't belive what that article say.
I think it is just the British press trying to find a place for their driver Button in the
Williams team. They would do anything to find him a place.

[Julius]

Originally posted by Rene
Check out
http://www.pitpass.c...cfm?newsid=2324

What was Ralf thinking? He must really hate england is all I can say...especially if you take this article as the truth

http://www.itv-f1.co...ews_story/11800

I am not surprised.

[The Rock]

Sorry but its my view that if Ralfie boy would keep his mind on the track and stop whining like a little child then he might achieve something in f1 providing what he said is true,im so sorry if i don't have the same views as some of the Schumacher fanatics here

[Raelene]

I see nothing wrong with his comments about the British press - all in all it's pretty spot on.

His best comment

>Maybe you're all frustrated that you haven't got a real champion to get excited about."

[maclaren]

Originally posted by Peter Perfect
Is it that surprising that his teammates were expected to do better than him?
Let's see how it went

Fisi - no doubt in my mind that Fisi is the better driver
In 1997 Fisi was overall a bit faster qualifier than Ralf. But Ralf was often faster too. And it wasn't Fisi's rookie season

Hill - He's an ex-WDC
Ralf was equal to ex-WDC, not a bad thing in second season

Zanardi - Ex Cart Champ
Apart from Monza, Zanardi was all year nowhere near to Ralf

Button - Rookie from nowhere , beating Ralf by the end of the year.
Beating is notdoing few good qualifying performances

JPM - Ex Cart Champ and looking like a future WDC
It took more than half season from JPM to get near to Ralf in terms of speed which tells RS is not a journeyman. Williams has currently very strong line-up

[ensign14]

Originally posted by Raelene
I see nothing wrong with his comments about the British press - all in all it's pretty spot on.

His best comment

>Maybe you're all frustrated that you haven't got a real champion to get excited about."

The same British press that had a real downer on Mansell?

With Ralf's team mates, it appears he does better when he is not expected to - he showed well against the more experienced Fisichella, against a (partly demotivated) Hill and against 2x CART champion Zanardi (to say the least!). But when the pressure is on, not so good - often outpaced by the 7 year old Button and JPM (OK, I know he was CART champ like Zanardi, but after Zanardi's flop Ralf was expected to show the same dominance over JPM).

[Ross Stonefeld]

Originally posted by maclaren
Originally posted by Peter Perfect

Zanardi - Ex Cart Champ
Apart from Monza, Zanardi was all year nowhere near to Ralf

Button - Rookie from nowhere , beating Ralf by the end of the year.
Beating is notdoing few good qualifying performances

[

They had about the same qualifying average and distance from Ralf over the season. But its a case of perception vs reality

[janusa]

I can understand Ralf's reaction to the itv story. He was just telling it how it is. I mean after the anti Schumi mood from Silverstone.

As for article two if it is true Ralf has some issues. He better sort them out quick. If true.

JanUsa

[Ricardo F1]

Ralf's an arse. Always has been always will be. He's pissed off because no one is talking about him being a future champion. You know why Ralf? Coz you're not. JPM is getting all the attention at Williams because he's got personality, flair, is willing to battle and has scored four poles in the last four races. When Ralf can manage something like that then maybe the press will talk about him positively.

Don't get me wrong Ralf is a good driver but I don't think there's anything in those reports, if true, that allows anyone to berate the British press. If you turn up at an event like Goodwood - which is a celebration of racing - you should at least be presentable and enthusiastic.

[Fizzicist]

Maybe you're all frustrated that you haven't got a real champion to get excited about."

Mike Hawthorn, Jim Clark, Graham Hill, John Surtees, James Hunt, Nigel Mansell, Damon Hill to you matey boy.

Every single one of whom are ten times the driver a whining brat such as Ralf is positioning himself. Regardless of spin - refusing to sign insurance forms in front of your employer is never a terribly smart move. Perhaps Ralf should be looking at his team-mates and learning from them. That's how Button ended up quicker and that's how Montoya tamed his style to suit F1. And look what Montoya is doing now...he's overtaking!!!

[Spunout]

***

I wasn't claiming that he was the better driver, but when he came to F1 (for the second time) he was IIRC expected to beat Ralf.

In the three years prior to his F1 comeback:-

1998 Fedex ChampCar World Series (Champion).
CART champion with Ganassi.

1997 PPG Indycar World Series (Champion).
CART champion with Ganassi.

1996 CART Rookie of the Year with Ganassi Reynard Honda.
Third overall in PPG Indycar World Series.

***

Peter Perfect a CART fan perhaps?

You might have expected Zanardi to beat Ralf because he was a CART champ, but basically the rest of F1 fans, experts, or media had different opinions. Being a CART champ hasn´t been a reason to expect someone to shine in F1 - the question about Zanardi was more like "can he adapt to F1 cars fast enough to be close enough to Ralf?"...or..."Zanardi went to CART series because he wasn´t so succesful in F1, so can he do better now?"...

[TheD2JBug]

Originally posted by JVRACER
I personally have met Ralph and the guys a prick.Williams had autographed session at the innagural USGP and you could tell from the guys face he couldnt stand to be there.I take this article at its word becouse I have personally seen it before.Jenson and his Dad was there the day before and was totally stoked more than the fans were.The article is true true true ,and I think they make a great point that last thing you want to do is piss off your employeer during silly season.Bottom line his brother is a stuck up jerk and his brother is no different or worse.

bitterness from a Jacques Villeneuve fan ?? the shock .

This thread has nothing to do with Michael .. and just because he failed to take JV out at Jerez '97 dosen't mean you have to moan about him all the time

[The Sensational]

Give Ralf a break.. after all, his brother has won.. what.. 60 races?

And he HAS won 4 world championships!

It's his BROTHER for God's sake!

That makes ralf almost GOD-like.

Ralf Schumacher

You don't need to do anything man, your brother can do your PR days.

[Rene]

Originally posted by TheD2JBug


bitterness from a Jacques Villeneuve fan ?? the shock .

This thread has nothing to do with Michael .. and just because he failed to take JV out at Jerez '97 dosen't mean you have to moan about him all the time

No one mentioned JV at all in this thread...until you did....

[hook]

Originally posted by TheD2JBug


bitterness from a Jacques Villeneuve fan ?? the shock .

JVRACER is right. I'm not a Jacques Villeneuve fan at all, but my actual exchange rate goes 1JV=1,000RS.

[Mammoth]

Originally posted by The Sensational
Give Ralf a break.. after all, his brother has won.. what.. 60 races?

And he HAS won 4 world championships!

It's his BROTHER for God's sake!

That makes ralf almost GOD-like.

Ralf Schumacher

You don't need to do anything man, your brother can do your PR days.

[benrapp]

Let's make the experiment of thinking about the facts as we know them:

(by fact I mean only as stated in the article with patent conjecture subtracted. I wasn't there.)

Fact 1: RS refused to sign the Goodwood insurance waiver.
Fact 2: BMW apparently intervened to resolve the situation.

Have you ever read one of these waivers? You are essentially absolving the organisers of responsibility for anything while indemnifying them against the consequences of your actions. Have a look at one next time you do a track day or go testing.

Have you ever been to the F.O.S? 900bhp F1 cars flying up a 3m wide track separated from you by a hay bale. Every time I go I think "Wow! This is exciting!" shortly followed by "**** me, it's all going to end in tears." One of these days a spectator will get killed (as opposed to a marshal or a competitor -- last time I was there a competitor died and a marshal was either killed or seriously injured) and the whole thing will get shut down.

Maybe Ralf didn't feel like taking responsibility for that level of risk. Maybe he thought (rightly or wrongly) that if he was injured his insurance wouldn't pay out (which is what takes the place of his salary if he can't drive). Maybe he wanted to phone his lawyer and get them to check the form out, and the organisers were hassling him, since like any motorsport event everything will have been behind schedule and eversoslightlyrushedohmygodisitthattimealreadywehavetostartthenextraceandthedriversarestillsigningon...(ever tried to sign on for any race meeting at Brands? Stand in line, arrive at table, get told that you need to go to the next table, stand in line for that table, get to the head of the line, official goes off to have 15 minute chat with someone else, comes back, tells you you're in the wrong line, redo from start).

Maybe when he said "can I get my lawyer to have a look at this" (since it would never have occurred to them to fax it to him in advance) the guy (or gal) at the desk said "bloody Germans, so fussy, it's all rules and orders with them, etc..." One heated conversation later, Ralf stomps off. I would too.

Eventually, BMW agree to indemnify Ralf (Williams can't afford to, the potential liability if Ralf kills himself, or worse a dozen spectators, is huge) and off we go.

Things like this will happen until they take all the lawyers out into a field and crush them to death under the bodies of all the people who can read the words "motorsport can be dangerous" but still sue when someone runs over their foot in the carpark or they get food-poisoning from lunch in the Kentagon (I mean, what did they expect?).

[TAB666]

Originally posted by RiverRunner
Pretty juvenile to put up a stink abouy signing a standard waiver,and then to have BMW bail him out made it even worse.I have no doubts now why he is with williams and who is paying him.
If I was the owner of the car (was it williams' car?) I would have just told him to get lost if he didn't want to play the game according to the rules.
I'm sure there were plenty of other drivers there that would have taken it out for a putt.

Well we dont know the reason for RS acction , and how accurate the article is. There must have been something behind this.

[TAB666]

Originally posted by The Rock
Sorry but its my view that if Ralfie boy would keep his mind on the track and stop whining like a little child then he might achieve something in f1 providing what he said is true,im so sorry if i don't have the same views as some of the Schumacher fanatics here

well he do have one win from this year ..... thats more then his superior team mate

[nigel red5]

Hook,
Seeing as you brought up the subject........

Mr. Villeneuve may detest sponsorship days as much as Ralf, but at least Jacques will put a smile on it, force himself through the day, please the fans and get on with it. Not like some other drivers.......

[hook]

nigel red5...right on the money.
(by the way, I have great memories of that red number 5)