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Ralf Schumacher Profile |
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Birth Date: June 30, 1975
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Birth Place: Hürth-Hermülheim, Germany
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Birth Name: Ralf Schumacher
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Height: 5'10"
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Ralf Schumacher Wallpapers |
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Biography |
Ralf Schumacher (born June 30, 1975 in Hürth-Hermülheim 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.
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 won the prestigious
Macau Grand Prix. In 1996, he won the Japanese Formula
Nippon (ex Japanese F3000) Championship 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, obsolescent Supertec engine. However,
Heinz-Harald Frentzen who replaced him at Jordan scored two
wins and four podiums that year.
Schumacher's performance in the 2000 season was considered
by many to be a disappointment. 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 Nürburgring) 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 an accident
at the United States Grand Prix. The acceleration was
measured at 78 g (765 m/s²), 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.
In 2005, Ralf transferred to the Toyota F1 team. In the
first 12 races of the season he was out-performed by 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. The Toyota team brought the "B" specification
of their TF105 car to the last 3 races of the season which
allowed Ralf to take pole position in Japan and finish China
GP in third position a week later. This modified version of
the car secured 6th position in the 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
solid fast laps, and a penalty for speeding in the pitlane
did not appear to harm his result. A fourth position in
France was his only other significant finish in 2006, with
the competitiveness Toyota had demonstrated at the start of
the season diminishing. |
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Other Information |
His team mates have been Giancarlo Fisichella (1997), Damon
Hill (1998),Alex Zanardi (1999), Jenson Button (2000), Juan
Pablo Montoya (2001-2004) and Jarno Trulli (2005-).
Formula 1 driver, along with his brother Michael Schumacher.
Has 6 career victories at the end of 2005 and currently
drives for the Toyota team.
Brother of Michael Schumacher
Has a son with his wife Cora: David |
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