THE name Schumacher rings a massive bell in motorsport – but seven-time champion Michael isn’t the only one in the family to have don an Formula One overall.
While Michael Schumacher dominated F1 for a decade and a half, his brother Ralf was also a factor on the grid at the time.
Ralf may have been the inferior driver throughout the pair’s time, but he still managed to have a very good career in the sport.
Although they were never team-mates, the siblings are the most successful family pairing in F1 as the only siblings to have both won races in the sport’s history.
Career on the tracks
Born and raised in North Rhine-Westphalia, West Germany, Ralf is the second son of Rolf Schumacher, a bricklayer, and his wife Elisabeth.
He started karting in his formative years and was a prodigious racer in junior karting.
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He won the NRW Cup, the Gold Cup and German Junior Kart Championship across two years before moving up to senior level, where he finished runner-up.
Ralf later finished third in the 1994 German Formula 3 Championship which catapulted him into the Formula Nippon Series, driving for the Team Le Mans.
He was the first driver to clinch the championship in his rookie season.
A spot in F1 was inevitable and after testing with McLaren in the autumn of 1996, Schumacher signed a three-year contract to drive for Eddie Jordan’s team, Jordan.
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The following season he would secure the first podium of his career in Argentina with a third-place finish.
The arrival of Damon Hill in the 1998 season would complicate Schumacher’s relationship with Jordan as a team orders scenario denied him his first race win.
Older brother Michael then bought him out of his £2million contract, with Mick then joining Williams.
He finished the 1999 season sixth and was rewarded with a three-year deal worth £31m – despite a campaign littered with race retirements.
His six-year association with the Oxfordshire-based team saw five wins, two fourth-place finishes and two fifth-place finishes.
Ralf’s final season with the team, 2004, saw him race just 12 times and finish only ninth in the standings.
He next signed a three-year deal with Japanese manufacturer Toyota, finishing sixth in his first season but then slipping down to 10th and 16th.
Attempts to return back to the sport, notably with Red Bull sister team Toro Rosso, and Force India never materialised.
A stint in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (DTM) series – return back to sports car racing – would merely signal official retirement from competitive racing, which came in 2012.
Post-racing ventures
Following his retirement from active motorsport in March 2013, Schumacher remained within the industry.
He took up a management role at auto racing Mucke Motorsport which sees him assists in the mentoring of young drivers signed with Mercedes-Benz.
In 2019, Schumacher became a pundit and co-commentator at Formula One races for Sky Sports Germany.
Personal life
Schumacher was married to German model and media personalty Cora-Caroline Brinkman.
The pair giving birth to their son David a couple weeks after marriage in October 2001.
David now also competes in motorsport with Haupt Racing Team.
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However, the two would divorce after an acrimonious period of separation in 2015.
Nine years on, Schumacher announced on social media that he has been in a same-sex relationship with his partner of two years, 34-year-old Etienne Bousquet-Cassagne.
Source: Motorsport - thesun.co.uk
