(born
June 30 ,
1975 in
Hürth-Hermulheim 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 been one of the top runners in the sport, especially in his
BMW WilliamsF1 Team days.
He started racing at age three on his parents' go-kart track in their hometown of
Kerpen .
In
1995 , he finished third in the German
Formula 3 championship, and then won the Japanese
Formula Nippon championship (ex Japanese
F3000 ) Championship in
1996 with two race wins.
Ralf made his Formula One debut in
1997 with the
Jordan team and finished on the podium in just his third race, at
Argentina . However Ralf 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
Belgium . 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 Supertec engine. However
Heinz-Harald Frentzen who replaced him at Jordan scored two wins and four podiums that year.
The
2000 season was considered by many a bit of a disappointment for Ralf. 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
Nurburgring ) 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 , Ralf was seriously injured in a severe
Accident at the
United States Grand Prix . The acceleration was measured at 78
G (765 m/s&
2), 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. The accident effectively ended Ralf's career with Williams.
In
2005 , Ralf transferred to the
Toyota team. In the first 12 races of the season he performed worse than team mate
Jarno Trulli , however in Spa he was able to challenge for the lead most of the race and ended up setting the fastest lap. Toyota team brought "b" version of TF105 car to 3 last races of the season which allowed Ralf to take pole position in Japan, and finish China GP in the brilliant third position a week later. This modified version of the car secured 6th position in Drivers Championship for Ralf, 2 points ahead of his team mate Jarno Trulli.
Ralf remains with Toyota for 2006, however the team has been 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, in a race where several drivers made mistakes he managed to keep the car on the road and set solidly fast laps, and a penalty for speeding in the pitlane did not appear to harm his result.
Ralf is married to Cora and they have son David (b.
2001 ).
