Oliver White
Yet again Ralf Schumacher has hit the online headlines, with stories of the German drivers future in the sport likely to dominate the news surrounding the two North American races this month. Recently, it was suggested Ralf would be judged on his performances in Montreal and Indianapolis, and they didn’t improve he would likely be replaced with either Toyota test driver Franck Montagny or Williams tester Kazuki Nakajima.
Ralf’s former manager, Willi Weber, spoke out after Monaco stating he was shocked at the performance of his former driver and suggested he wasn’t the Ralf he once knew. Willi still looks after Michael Schumacher, and it was he who negotiated the large salary Ralf is currently enjoying.
Monaco shocked me – that he hung around behind Albers for so long, seeming to not be able to do anything about it. It is not the Ralf that I know. Wili Weber.
Toyota are apparently looking into why Ralf was so uncompetitive in Monaco, and the team are not giving much away. The only comment that merits a mention came from the mouth of the teams Senior General Manager Pascal Vasselon. Referring to Ralf’s drive in Monte Carlo, Vasselon commented that after making improvements in the recent Barcelona test, he could find no “obvious limitation” to the car at Monaco.
The improvements made in Barcelona should transfer better to Circuit Gilles Villeneuve and the Brickyard than they did in Monaco, but unless Ralf can keep up with team mate Jarno Trulli and score a few points, I fear Ralf could be sitting out the remainder of the season.
I don’t think things are looking good for Ralf at all. Although I don’t subscribe to the “two races or out” theory (Toyota don’t give that kind of notice when they sack people), I do worry that he may be be out on his ear further on in the season if he does any more Monacos. Even if he improves, this is probably his last season in F1 unless he pulls a rabbit out of the hat.
Would F1 miss Ralfie? I don’t really think so to be honest, I certainly wouldn’t – and now Germany has a few other drivers to shout on other than the Schumachers, even they might not mourn his passing.
ITV seem to have the answer to why Ralf is so slow this season…
http://www.itv-f1.com/PhilipsFanZoneGravelTrap.aspx?PO_ID=39433