Ralf Schumacher wants 2010 F1 return

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Ralf Schumacher wants to emulate brother Michael’s F1 return, telling a German news agency:

I would seriously consider an interesting and attractive offer to drive in a competitive Formula One team.
Ralf Schumacher

Sibling rivalry, eh? Whatever one of them gets, the other has to have one too. But there doesn’t seem to be much chance of a double-Schumacher comeback happening.

All of last year’s race-winning teams have filled their berths for 2010. And his definition of ‘competitive’ probably won’t include Renault, who finished eighth in last year’s world championship, or the born-again Sauber outfit.

Since quietly leaving F1 at the end of 2007 the younger Schumacher has had a distinctly disappointing two seasons in the DTM, finishing 14th and 11th.

Is Ralf Schumacher an under-appreciated talent who left F1 too soon with much yet to accomplish? I doubt it.

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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25 comments on “Ralf Schumacher wants 2010 F1 return”

  1. I suspect the chances of this happening are zero, and I’m not too bothered if we don’t see Ralf in an F1 car again. His only chance is if Eddie Jordan buys a team, as he’s the only guy who seems to think he’s any good.

    Now watch him turn up at Campos or USF1…

  2. I think it would nice to see Ralf again. A lot of people think he is rubbish after 2007, but wasn’t that far behind Trulli. But lets see what happens.

    1. If i recall, statistically, over their three years together as teammates, Ralf beats Trulli in points, equals him in poles (and Ralf actually got to start from his!) and i think, but i am not 100% sure, outdoes Trulli in podiums also. Its just Ralf had an amazing inability to qualify wel – the polar opposite of Trulli. 2007 i beleive was the only year of their pairing that Trulli beat Ralf in the standings.

      1. Off the top my head (trust me, I’ve got quite a good memory!), Ralf and Trulli both scored 3 podiums each at Toyota in their 3 seasons as team mates, and Ralf’s all came after Trulli’s. However, Ralf’s were all 3rd- Trulli had two 2nd’s. Also, Ralf did indeed beat Trulli in the drivers championship 2 out of 3 times.

        Then again, you could argue that there are lies, damned lies and statistics. Ralf scored points, but I think most people would agree Trulli had the beating of him over the 3 seasons

  3. Joe Saward wrote an article not long ago about Ralf having an offer from USF1, I never thought much to the younger Schumacher he always seemed to disappoint.

    http://joesaward.wordpress.com/2009/12/28/a-ramble-about-ralf-and-chitty-chitty-bang-bang/

    1. I saw this too. Interesting that USF1 tried to talk to him.

  4. It would make me so happy to see Ralf back! :D
    I’m not so sure itll actually happen, but it is definitely a nice thought!! :D

    1. Clare I think it’s safe to say you’re in the minority wanting Ralf back!

      To be fair, although I think he’s probably past it by now, I think he was a better driver than people gave him credit for. Between 1999 and 2001 in particular he put in some amazing drives in what was at times a rubbish Williams car.

      I reckon most people criticse him because he was so overpaid. But that’s not his fault, that was Willi Weber’s doing!

      1. Oh I’ve spent many a year being in the minority when it comes to Ralf :D I like it that way, has always made F1 discussions more interesting!

        Its nice to see a non-Ralf fan say summat thats actually positive about him though :) He wasnt all that bad, i know he was never the best, but i could name many who were worse! He did well at Williams, but it just all went downhill at Toyota (i blame Toyota :P few of Toyota’s drivers have come away from the team looking good, thats if they even stay in F1 after their Toyota stint!)

        I agree on the overpaid thing, that was never going to make him look good – but if its offered…i dont think i would turn down a huge pay? And Toyota, in theory, shouldnt have been a bad option.

        Also i think a lot of people were disappointed with him because he wasnt as good as Michael, which i have always said is an unfair comparison – noone else got compared to Michael they same way Ralf did and called disappointing if they didnt match up. It was just expected that people werent as good as him, except in Ralf’s case where he was expected to be as good, and wasnt. I think people had higher expectations of Ralf than most other drivers, so he was always going to look disappointing compared to Michael – if that makes sense lol!

      2. I didn’t mind his pay. If Toyota were willing to pay that much then good on Ralf and Weber for getting it.

  5. Is Ralf Schumacher an under-appreciated talent who left F1 too soon with much yet to accomplish? I doubt it.

    Harsh!

    …but fair. :D

  6. Ralf Schumacher’s perfomance has often been disappointing, indeed. However, prior to the German’s F1 début, he was regarded by some to be better even than Michael.

    1. Prior to the Dane’s F1 debut, Jan Magnussen was referred to as ‘the next Senna’. ;)

    2. Heinz-Harald Frentzen was also considered to be better than Der Schumeister.

      Obviously Mrs Schumacher didn’t agree. ;)

      1. Ralf was very impressive at the start of his career. He’ll just be remembered as the overpaid less succesful Schumacher though

  7. Would anyone hire Ralf over a Ricciardo, a Bianchi (if that’s the name of the Italian Euro F3 winner, over here in Oz we don;t hear too much of him), or even a Paffett, De La Rosa, Wurz, Gene, Dixon, Briscoe and so on? No way!

    Ralf was a hack by the time of the second year of his Toyota contract and looked bewildered on track in his final season – remember when he asked his engineers about set up for Q2 when he was bumped in Q1 (I think it was bahrain?)?

    A tool who would never have recieved a seat in F1 if his name was Ralf Smith. Any team who takes him on will be an immediate laughing stock.

    1. Ralf wasn’t specutacular, but he is a six time race winner, unlike De La Rosa, Wurz, and Gene in their F1 careers. He wasn’t too bad, but must be way past it now, in 2009/2010.

  8. To paraphrase I joke I once heard (I don’t remember the original source), Ralf Schumacher was only employed in F1 because the team bosses thought they were signing up Michael Schumacher and only when they looked at the signature on the contracts did they realize their mistake!

  9. Look Ralf! That’s your 2010 F1 car, parked over there by that Unicorn!

  10. I would seriously consider an interesting and attractive offer to drive in a competitive Formula One team.

    That’s the thing, he actually thinks he’s very good. His salary was always ridiculously over what he was worth. He might want to but he won’t be coming back – least of all to a ‘competitive’ car!

  11. The only way I see ralf racing again is if its a choice between him and Piquet. Cause anyone in there right mind would pick him over piquet, unless piquet sr. bought the team out.

  12. I’d rather see Jacques Villeneuve come back than Ralf Schumacher.
    Few people have much interest in RS, whereas JV might generate interest in North America. Not to mention JV has actually been campaigning and training, not just trying to ride someone else’s coat-tails.

  13. Prisoner Monkeys
    30th December 2009, 22:14

    I would seriously consider an interesting and attractive offer to drive in a competitive Formula One team.
    Ralf Schumacher

    Let’s break this down, Ralf. As of right now, there is one Renault, one Toro Rosso, one Campos, one Sauber and one USF1 drive on the line. Which one of those falls under your definition of “really competitive”.

    – Renault probably stands the best chance of being ompeitive, but their second seat is likely to go to someone associated with Gravity Sports Management; the names Ho-Pin Tung and Bertrand Baguette have been thrown about. Vitaly Petrov is another possibility because there has been talk that Gerard Lopez is close with minor sponsors MegaFon (who may want to increase involvement).

    – Toro Rosso are no longer receiving the same chassis as Red Bull. They are building their own, and they’re probably going to be fighting at the back. Jaime Alguersuari has apparently been promised the #17 seat, but even if he doesn’t get it, they’l probably take another Red Bull Young Driver – Daniel Ricciardo or Brendon Hartley – before Ralf.

    – Adrian Campos says he’s close to getting his second driver and a title sponsor. Vitaly Petrov and Pastor Maldonado (with their Gazprom and PDVSA money respectively) are believed to be the front-runners. Pedro de la Rosa has been decribed as an “ideal” choice, but languishes a distant third due to lack of sponsor dollars. Even if Campos does not take Petrov or Maldonado, Schumacher will have a hard time getting around de la Rosa.

    – Sauber probably stand the second-best chance at being competitive, though they are running with a greatly-reduced budget and Peter Sauber is said to be reluctant to resume his role as team boss, so I expect he’ll sell the team for 2011. He has said he wants one experienced driver and one rookie; he’s got his rookie in the form of Kamui Kobayashi, and that experienced driver will probably be Nick Heidfeld or Giancarlo Fisichella. Betrand Baguette is another posibility (despite a lack of experience), as is Vitaly Petrov.

    – The first USF1 seat is expected to go to Jose Maria Lopez. The second seat is probably the most open of the six available; no name really sticks to it. It’s known that Windsor and Anderson would like an experienced driver, but the names Pedro de la Rosa and Alexander Wurz come up far more frequently than Ralf Schumacher, even if Windsor is a Ralf fan.

    Of course, none of that accounts for competitive-ness. My belief is that Ralf is just making sure his name is known; he’s always lived in Michael’s shadow. And when Schumacher the Elder does something, the Younger has to do something of is own to make sure the world doesn’t forget he exists.

  14. First I don’t think he will be competitive.Second which competitive team will he join?Renault may be his best chance or may be Campos.But it will be bad if Sauber gets him.Will he try Torro Rossos,I doubt that STR will have such an experience driver in their squad.

    1. If he drives for Toro Rosso, then he can claim that he has driven for Ferrari (Just like his brother). :)

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