MEDIA 
Curse of Formula 1 -- Ralf Schumacher escapes  drowning 

Wednesday, July 21, 1999 
Williams  driver  R. Schumacher had  to wriggle out  of  a car window  on  Tuesday at Monza to avoid  drowning in a flooded tunnel.
Just two days earlier, older brother Michael's Ferrari  barreled into a tire wall at the British Grand  Prix. That ended  the  two - time  world champion's Formula 1 season with a broken  leg.
Jordan driver  H-H. Frentzen is limping around
with  a  worsening  knee  injury. That also came  from  a  horrific crash  at the  Canadian Grand Prix on June 13,although  he overcome the pain   to win the French GP two weeks later.
It   wasn't   until   afterwards    that   he   was diagnosed  with two  hairline  fractures  in the knee.
Right  now, the  three  German  drivers  on  the circuit must be feeling a little cursed.
"It'll   grow   together   again,"    said  a   grim Frentzen of  his  knee, which  doctors' advised  needs  a six-week  break to  heal.
Ralf  Schumacher  had  just  completed  a  test run at  Monza  when the car in which he was a passenger   drove   into   a   tunnel   following torrential  downpour.
 
Schumacher'spress spokesman Franz Tost was driving  the   car.  Tost  said  he  and  his  two passengers had seen the water, but misjudged  its depth.
"We thought, by hitting the gas pedal hard, we would  make  it  through.  As  we  were  in   the tunnel, I started pumping  nothing but air  with the pedal," Tost told the  German weekly,  Bild Am Sonntag.
"The car started to swim like a boat. More and more  water  started  to  pour  in and the doors wouldn't open."
According to Tost, Schumacher then yelled that they would  have to escape through the windows and they wriggled free.
Schumacher   may   have  escaped  without any long-term consequences but  Frentzen's injury, sustained  in   Montreal,   seems  to  be getting worse.   According   to   Bild,   Frentzen    was diagnosed  with  a  bone  chip at the bottom of the knee following the British Grand Prix.
But  the  32-year-old   is  driving  test  runs at Monza instead of following his doctor's advice for a recuperation period.
"It  really  hurts  under  the  right  knee, but I wanted to make these tests.It's very  important for us," said Frentzen, who is currently  fourth in the F1 driver's standings.
The  only good news for the German contingent  is   that   Michael  Schumacher  is  expected  to begin  his  rehabilitation training  in a few days. His leg was broken in two places in the crash. Surgeons  at  the Northampton General Hospital in England later inserted a steel pin into his leg to assist his
recovery.
Schumacher   will  begin   with  water  training and by next week will begin riding a stationary bicycle.