Ralf Schumacher’s Formula 1 achievements pale in comparison to those of his brother Michael. However, his journey to the sport may have been much more difficult if it weren’t for his famous and influential sibling.
In 2001, there was a brief period where Michael’s claim that Ralf was his biggest future title threat didn’t seem entirely crazy. Ralf performed exceptionally well with the Williams-BMW package, surpassing expectations and challenging his older brother.
Unfortunately, Ralf often found himself coming up short. At the Nurburgring, for example, his chances of a home win were dashed by controversial driving from Michael and a penalty that was supported by Michael’s Ferrari team.
The Schumacher brothers’ rivalry was just a small part of an eventful weekend in the early-2000s F1 news world. From Mika Hakkinen’s declining form and McLaren’s struggles to interesting developments at Arrows and Minardi, there was no shortage of stories to cover.
If you have any questions about F1 between 1989 and 2005, feel free to submit them for our end-of-series episode using the hashtag #BringBackV10s on Twitter or by emailing [email protected].
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