|
|
|
|
| April 29,
2001 |
| Spanis Grand
Prix - RACE |
Ralf
Schumacher Said "I really don't know what happened when I spun.
When I was braking just before the left hander
the car felt fine. Suddenly the rear came round, I spun off the track and
got
stuck in the gravel. It is really
a shame, as after some problems over the
weekend the race was looking good for me." |
| . |
| R.Schumacher
Williams BMW (M)
DNF (spun on lap 21) |
|
|
|
|
| April 28,
2001 |
| Spanis Grand
Prix - QUALIFYING |
| Ralf
Schumacher: "I am happy so far as we got
the most out of the car, as it was clear
Barcelona would be difficult for us. In view of
this being eight tenths away from pole is reasonable. Making
a forecast for the race is difficult as our package here is not as strong
as in Imola." |
| . |
| R.Schumacher
Williams BMW (M)
1.19:016 ( 5th ) |
|
|
|
|
| April 27,
2001 |
| Ralf
Schumacher |
| "As
expected today has been difficult for
us. The Circuit of Catalunya doesn't really suit us, and I am still
not happy with the balance of the car. We have got a
lot of work to do before the race." |
| . |
| R.Schumacher
Williams BMW (M)
1:21.259 ( 8th ) |
|
|
|
|
| April 26,
2001 |
| Press Conference
- Spanish GP |
| Question
: Ralf, what difference has the win at Imola
made to those winning for the first time? Has anything changed? |
| Ralf
Schumacher : No not really. There's no reason for
anything to have changed. I was happy for the team,
happy for the result itself. But then coming to the next race, there are
a few pressures on us to prove that we are competitive. |
| Question
:
Drivers often say that the most important thing
is to have done it, to know how to win. |
| Ralf
Schumacher : Well Niki told me that the first one is the most
difficult and the other ones are easy and there are a lot more
to come. I hope he's right. We'll see. |
| Question
: We've seen very little from drivers in recent years in terms
of cornering skill, but occasionally we do
still see a nice powerslide - is that finished? |
| Ralf
Schumacher : You order it beforehand and we'll
see what we can do. |
| Question
: Could you just tell us what
are your own personal feelings about these
driver aids? |
| Ralf
Schumacher : What should I say? I think the problem
is for Formula One the way all the
rumours didn't do any good so I think it was the right decision
to change the rules to stop all the discussions
about it. I think the situation would have been a lot
easier in all this if the press problems hadn't have been there,
I think I would have preferred to leave it. The way it is I think
it's the best decision the FIA could have taken to be honest. |
| Question
: Sorry to ask a sad question, Michele
Alboreto died yesterday, I wonder if you
heard about that and if anybody knew him? |
| Ralf
Schumacher :
What do you expect me to say. Obviously
I just knew him by name. I just heard it this morning so I
can't say anything about it, I just heard it was a very bad accident at
high speed in a test he did but obviously it's
a very sad thing I just can't say anything about it. |
|
|
|
| April 23,
2001 |
| Spanish Grand
Prix |
| Friday
April 27th : |
| free
practice 1.1 : 11.00 - 12.00
(GMT + 2) |
| free
practice 1.2 : 13.00 - 14.00 (GMT +
2) |
| Saturday
April 28th : |
| free
practice 2.1 : 09.00 - 09.45 (GMT + 2) |
| free
practice 2.2 : 10.15 - 11.00
(GMT + 2) |
| qualifying
session : 13.00 - 14.00 (GMT + 2) |
| Sunday
April 29th : |
| warm-up
: 09.30 - 10.00
(GMT + 2) |
| RACE
: 14.00 - 16.00
(GMT + 2) |
| . |
| London
time: GMT+1 (Summer time) |
| Local
time : GMT+2 |
|
|
|
| April 23,
2001 |
| Spanish Grand Prix
- PREVIEW |
|
| Ralf
Schumacher said : "Barcelona is a combination of
fast and slow corners so is quite interesting and demanding. Tyre wear
can be a problem there. Last year I finished fourth and in 1999 fifth,
so this shows that normally it is
a circuit that suits me. It is difficult to predict
where we are standing, because we had some very good tests there
and then others that were not so promising. We still have some
work to do to improve our traction control. All in all we just
have to wait and see what will happen." |
|
|
|
|
|
| April 22,
2001 |
| Ralf says he is
not tempted by the idea of partnering his brother Michael, |
| "There's
no need to do that because one of us would lose, whoever that is, and
I think we would be stupid to do that. Why not keep in
different teams and make it more exciting?" "I don't have a real rivalry.
I'm pretty happy for him if he wins races as he is if I do. You might
say it's pretty strange for racing drivers. I
think he wants to beat me and I want to
beat him, there's no doubt. But then if it doesn't work out, try next time.
I would have been happy for him if he would have been next
to me on the podium in Imola instead of his team-mate
obviously. Basically Michael is just another driver
because I always did things my own way." |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| April 21,
2001 |
What did Schumacher's
Family say abaut Ralf ?
. |
His mother Elisabeth
told :
"Now
we have the fastest sons in the world. On Sunday, my heart was
beating particularly for Ralf. Deep down,
the first win matters more than any other."
. |
His father Rolf
told :
"I
was so nervous that I didn't even
want to watch the race. Several seconds before the
start of the race I went up to the first floor. I couldn't
keep still; I was pacing around like a caged animal. Then I heard a shout:
'Ralf's leading.' I couldn't believe it, I ran downstairs in
a hurry."
. |
His brother Michael
told :
"I am
very happy for him, he was so strong a couple of times in the past,
but this time everything was right and he did it
in a great style. If you look at the recent races and his comments
about his races, he downplayed his performances. You
could see what his potential is and even if he doesn't like to admit
it, now he is and he likes to be in
the circle of favourites. He made no mistakes from start to
finish and he deserved to win, it is clear that he can be contender.
I have won many times and now it is
his turn. I honestly did not think the
Williams could be so strong so soon. Not as much
for BMW, but for the tyres, because
I thought Bridgestone would be able to keep their advantage a little longer.
Clearly Michelin has done a great job
and this has made the Williams-BMW very competitive.''
He said
"It is pretty clear I am going to have to fight my brother this season.
Ralf drove a perfect race at Imola
and if I have to lose to anyone I prefer it to be to
him. He has been waiting for a competitive car and now
he has one." "He showed what he can do at Imola
and I am sure he will be strong for the rest of
the season. He is a serious contender. We like
to race hard but fair. We could have a lot
of fun, but maybe our parents won't enjoy it so much!" |
|
|
|
|
| April 20,
2001 |
Schedule of FIA
press conferences for the Spanish GP
. |
| THURSDAY
26 APRIL - 15.00 |
MIKA
HAKKINEN (McLAREN)
RALF
SCHUMACHER (WILLIAMS)
PIERRE
DUPASQUIER (MICHELIN)
MARIO
THEISSEN (BMW)
HIROSHI
YASUKAWA (BRIDGESTONE)
. |
| FRIDAY
27 APRIL - 15.00 |
FERNANDO
ALONSO (MINARDI)
LUCIANO
BURTI (PROST)
PEDRO
DE LA ROSA (JAGUAR)
JUAN
PABLO MONTOYA (WILLIAMS)
JEAN
TODT (FERRARI)
FRANK
WILLIAMS (WILLIAMS)
. |
|
|
|
| April 19,
2001 |
| Silverstone test:
day 3 |
| Ralf
Schumacher said: “I think the test was reasonable
and we went through everything we needed
to. We still have some problems with traction
control so there is still a lot of work to be done.” |
| . |
1. M. Hakkinen
McLaren-Mercedes 1: 22.329
42 laps
2. D. Coulthard
McLaren-Mercedes 1: 22.512
48 laps
3. O. Panis
BAR-Honda
1: 22.62
66 laps
4. J. Villeneuve
BAR-Honda
1: 23.384 51 laps
5. H-H. Frentzen
Jordan-Honda
1: 23.538 20 laps
6. R. Schumacher
Williams-BMW
1: 23.763 22 laps
7. J. Montoya
Williams-BMW
1: 24.062 42 laps |
|
|
|
|
| April 18,
2001 |
| Silverstone test:
day 2 |
Ralf
Schumacher said: "We just did traction control testing today as nothing
else was possible due to the cold weather conditions.
Also
because of the weather the circuit
changed frequently. Unfortunately I don't think the weather
is going to change very much tomorrow." |
| . |
| 1. M.
Hakkinen McLaren-Mercedes
1:22.450 61 laps 2. D.
Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes
1:22.760 27 laps 3. H-H.
Frentzen Jordan-Honda
1:23.310 56 laps
4. R. Schumacher Williams-BMW
1:23.630 45 laps 5. O.
Panis
BAR-Honda
1:23.820 52 laps 6. J.
Villeneuve BAR-Honda
1:23.950 54 laps 7. J.Montoya
Williams-BMW
1:24.160 25 laps |
|
|
|
|
| April 18,
2001 |
What did they say
about RALF ?
. |
Michael Schumacher,
"I am
very happy for Ralf, He has shown strongly in the past and he has
also had some bad luck. But this time everything went well and he did it
in style. This is the first time that two brothers have won F1 grand
prix's. We have both achieved our goal and our parents will be very proud."
. |
Gerhard Berger,
"Ralf
has driven a great race leading from the front for all to see and proving
exactly what the team already knew about him. It’s a dream day for
us!"
"Can
Ralf emulate Michael? Yes, of course he can. He has got everything he needs
to do it, but he will need to stay at this level,
build
up his experience and stay consistent. But there is one thing
Michael
has got that he hasn't got - and that is a really fantastic
bank account !" |
David Coulthard,
"I moved
a little just before the start and stopped, and then the lights
changed and there was too much wheelspin and I thought I might get
swamped, I sensed Ralf on the inside and I had to move to make enough
space for us all and then waited to see how quick he would be in
the rest of the race. He was much faster
than I was, to my disappointment."
"I saw
Ralf, and I saw Frank (Williams), and I told them I wanted to be first
to congratulate them,"
. |
Sir Frank Williams,
"It
was a very good race by Ralf. He did not make a single mistake. He and
David tried very hard to break each other when they were on their first
set of tyres. They were both pushing. It just shows how tough grand
prix racing is. That was hand-to-hand fighting." "It is a great
piece of work by everybody at Williams, BMW and Michelin. It is a
remarkable achievement by Michelin in only their fourth race after coming
back after 16 years. I have been in F1 for so many years and
have seen so many things go wrong so I always
take the slightly pessimistic attitude. But I am pleasantly
surprised for this success to come so early in the season." |
Willi Weber,
"Well,
he drove a fantastic race without any mistakes
and that, for me, is very important. It shows
me what I always said, that Ralf has the same talent like Michael.
I always said that, when he had the material, he would
win, which is what he did today. For sure it was not the last of
this season." " Ralf has shown before that he can win a race, at Spa with
Jordan, but he wasn't allowed to. He wasn't very pleased then, but today
he is a happy man! "
. |
Patrick Head,
"He
didn't put a foot wrong - it was a fantastic start and then he
slowly
pulled away from DC and just did a brilliant job. Then in the
latter part of the race, after the
second pit stop when he knew he was 10 seconds ahead of David, it
was just a question of
controlling
the gap so that he didn't stress the
car too much. So yes, an excellent drive.
He's certainly very high on speed,
determination
and tenacity. I can't fault his race
craft and
steadiness
under pressure. I suspect that he'll build
on it and
carry
on in that way. "
. |
|
|
|
|
|
| April 15,
2001 |
| Post-Race Press
Conference - SAN MARINO GP |
| Question
: Ralf, you've spent a lot of years watching your brother clock up
over 40 grand prix wins, and now you've done it yourself. Talk us through
the start. Last year you got on the grass at the start, this year the same
again. |
| Ralf
Schumacher : Yeah, it was the same situation, but this year it was
a bit further, and luckily David gave me the space. I
think it was a clean start aside from that. From there on I was in
front, I couldn't even believe it to be honest. Then I pulled a gap out.
Then after a few laps I thought he was going to go a bit quicker
so I had to push again, because I had to watch out for my brakes.
From there on it was a pretty long race I must say. It took
ages to be honest. |
| Question
: Notably you led every single lap of the race. David was about
three seconds behind when you came
in for your first pitstop. But I noticed after that pitstop
and after your second you were very quick. Did your tyres heat up super
fast - you were very competitive? |
| Ralf
Schumacher : As we saw in previous races
we were just caught out by a bit of bad luck really. The Michelin
is a great tyre, especially in race conditions, its doing a great job and
we saw that today. I mean everything went perfect. The car setting
was great, the engine obviously so you know that's why we have the result. |
| Question
: Ralf, is this the start of something
big for Williams, BMW and Michelin, three companies that are getting back
onto the big stage? |
| Ralf
Schumacher : It might be a bit early, but we have been pretty strong
the whole season. Obviously we have been
caught out by some bad luck up to now. We have to keep on working.
We have a great package together, we just need to improve it bit by bit
and it might be possible. We'll see, we'll try our best. |
| Question
: Well Ralf, now you know why
your brother's been making such a fuss about winning all these years,
how does it feel for you? |
Ralf
Schumacher : Well obviously it's a great
experience and I hope for it to be one of many. I've waited
long enough for it I guess. Since I joined Williams
we've had a lot of work to see that
and
it paid off today. |
| Question
: That start was really something, it may not be possible with
new regulations. |
| Ralf
Schumacher : Well I know one thing for sure, for
us in the future the starts will be easier than they are now. It
was a very good start, it was just right and I think
it was lucky to get David right there, and the
same was for Mika and I just tried it the same way I
did here last year and this time
there was space enough - or David gave me
a little space - and from there on it worked out. It was a pretty
long race afterwards I must say. We did it on the start today. |
| Question
: And the car was good all the way through? |
| Ralf
Schumacher : Yes it was perfect, for the first ten laps I had
to be careful and save the brakes a bit but from there on I pushed a bit
and then backed off again and it was perfect. |
| Question
: What we did see was a sign being held out to you saying 'oil pump'
and from there on you slowed down a bit - were the two connected? |
| Ralf
Schumacher : No no, not connected. Normal procedure. |
| Question
: Does this victory makes it a three way
fight for the championship? |
Ralf
Schumacher : Well it might be the beginning
of it. We've been competitive for the last three races
but had a bit of bad luck I must say. It's
still in the early stages, we have to continue working
out to keep the level. There are still
areas to work on definitely but if we work hard and try our best
we may be able to keep up with them. There's some
development needed on the aerodynamic side, that's
the same for all of us, the engine is strong
but will always need development and I think
that the
biggest
problem we have at the moment are the wet tyres although to be fair with
Michelin I think they're doing amazingly well in
the dry. |
| Question
: Ralf, on your last lap, firstly could you
keep up your concentration, second what were your precise emotions
crossing the line and third who spoke to you first in the team? |
| Ralf
Schumacher : So many things at once!
At 20 laps to go I started thinking about winning but
then I remembered last year when it was 16 laps to go and I
thought 'okay let's wait'. Then the last three laps I
was taking it pretty easy, I knew David was six or seven seconds behind
me and I just tried to finish.I was pretty relaxed really, although the
pressure is on us to continue like this now. Over the radio
my engineer spoke to me first, then Patrick, then Frank. They said
'good job' because while it might be a long time ago but they're
used to winning races. |
| Question
: Ralf, what did your brother say
to you - just 'good job?' |
| Ralf
Schumacher : He said well done and
that it was time, that I've waited long enough basically. |
|
|
|
| April 15,
2001 |
| San Marino Grand Prix - RACE |
| Ralf Schumacher"I’ve been
waiting for this moment for five years. It is a great experience and the
result of all of the hard work that
the team has done and it has paid off. At the start I also had a
bit of luck because David missed his start
and I did the same move that I did last year, but this time there was space
enough. We had the strongest car today. I would have liked my brother to
have been on the podium with me. We won thanks to a great package
of engine, car and tyre, which were all very good, especially
in race conditions.” |
|
| R.Schumacher Williams
BMW (M)
1h 30:44.817 ( 1st ) |
|
|
|
|
| April 14,
2001 |
| Ralf Schumacher
will start the San Marino Grand Prix ahead of his brother's on row
two of the grid. |
| Ralf Schumacher said
he was surprised to grab third place for Sunday's race
and joked that it was now time
for the Ferrari driver to stop calling him his 'little brother'. "He calls
me his little brother, but I am not really. I am taller
and heavier than him, so he won't worry me, although
I cannot remember when I last out-qualified
him. Never in Formula 1 I guess." |
|
| "We were only
a few tenths behind the Ferraris on Friday and they are generally
quick as they try to get the spectators in for the weekend,"Schumacher
joked. "It's a shame it didn't work out for my brother but I'm sure
he will get things sorted out tomorrow" |
| "I am not worried
about Michael. I am always called the smaller one but actually
I am bigger and heavier. I don't think he will come too
near me or anything in the race and I think this is the first
time I have outqualified him in Formula One. |
| "I left it late and I didn't
expect us to be that quick. We had a lot of problems in the
wet and we hoped for dry conditions. BMW have got
a great engine and we changed a lot of things overnight. I'm confident
for the race." |
|
|
| April 14,
2001 |
| FIA
QUALIFYING press release |
| Question
: Now Ralf, you seem to be appearing
in the top three on the grid very frequently, but you
left it very very late today. Tell me about your final
lap. |
| Ralf
Schumacher : Well to be honest I didn't expect us to be that quick. We
had several problems especially in the rain, as you saw we
struggled. So hope it to be dry, and the Michelin
is known to work better under hot circumstances with a lot
of rubber (on the track). We didn't have the right
conditions, but even then we seemed to get it right.
BMW supplied us with another good engine. We changed quite a few things
on the car overnight. And the tyres seemed to work as well in qualifying. |
| Question
: Now as you said problems earlier when it was cold on the
Michelin's in the wet. What do you
know of the weather forecast for tomorrow? If rain is forecast
is it worth you turning up at the circuit? |
| Ralf
Schumacher : To be honest I just listen to the ones that
say its (going to be) dry, because otherwise we are in deep problems again.
I mean we have had a bit of bad luck this
year, because every grand prix so far, except Melbourne,
we had rain. I hope it's different tomorrow. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| April 14,
2001 |
| San Marino Grand
Prix - QUALIFYING |
| Ralf
Schumacher said "I am very pleased, mostly because I didn't expect
a dry track this afternoon. We are still struggling a
bit in the wet, as the Michelin tyres work better in hot conditions.
BMW did a great job and gave us a
very strong engine. I think that I have never before outqualified
Michael in F1, so when I saw him after getting out of the car he
told me "see you tomorrow!". Things change in the race, of course,
but the forecast for tomorrow is for good weather,
so I am quite confident." |
|
|
| R.Schumacher
Williams BMW (M)
1:23.357 ( 3rd ) |
|
|
|
|
| April 13,
2001 |
| San Marino Grand
Prix - FREE PRACTICE |
| Ralf
Schumacher "Not a bad Friday overall, As always, you don't really
know where you're at relative to the others, it's difficult to evaluate.
But P3 is good any way, especially as the gap behind
is quite big.The basic set up is quite good but we're still
struggling a little bit - the car is still slightly nervous
and we lack a bit of downforce. The only thing that might cause us
a big problem is rain because in the wet we're
not very good at the moment. Our tyre partners just lack experience
in such conditions." |
| |
|
| R.Schumacher
Williams BMW (M)
1:25.829 ( 3rd ) |
|
|
|
| April 11,
2001 |
| Gerhard Berger
said |
| "Ralf's
driving performances are very, very close to those we're used
to seeing from Michael. I really believe that if
they were driving equally matched cars Michael would have to
push himself to the limit to stay ahead of his brother. Ralf
lacks nothing to go just as fast as Michael." |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| April 10,
2001 |
| San Marino Grand
Prix |
| Friday
April 13th : |
| free
practice 1.1 : 11.00 - 12.00
(GMT + 2) |
| free
practice 1.2 : 13.00 - 14.00 (GMT +
2) |
| Saturday
April 14th : |
| free practice 2.1 :
09.00 - 09.45 (GMT + 2) |
| free practice 2.2 :
10.15 - 11.00 (GMT
+ 2) |
| qualifying session :
13.00 - 14.00 (GMT + 2) |
| Sunday
April 15th : |
| warm-up
: 09.30 - 10.00
(GMT + 2) |
| RACE
: 14.00 - 16.00
(GMT + 2) |
|
| London time: GMT+1 (Summer
time) |
| Local time : GMT+2 |
|
|
|
| April 09,
2001 |
| San Marino Grand
Prix – PREVIEW |
| Ralf Schumacher said
“The
Imola circuit is interesting to drive as it has some blind
corners. The kerbs invite the drivers to use them
as part of the track, which does not work
very well. The combination of fast and slow
corners is very attractive. On the other hand, overtaking was
very difficult in the last couple of
years. I think that we are well prepared for the Grand Prix of San Marino.
So I am looking forward to travelling to
Italy as I love Italian food and the fantastic atmosphere around
the race track. I hope that I can finish my race and collect
as many championship points as possible.” |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| April 03,
2001 |
| Ralf Schumacher
said |
| "It
is bad enough that the incident happened, but what is worse is that he
is blaming me for it. Whenever a car is braking, just like in normal
driving, the car behind has to watch
it. I did a normal braking manoeuvre there but Rubens should simply
step back a bit, not try to manoeuvre like my brother because he
cannot achieve that anyway. He should try to do his own
best and then maybe he will have fewer accidents. It happens to all of
us to crash someone out and when it does, you hold your
hands up and say 'sorry, I made a mistake and I can't
change'. I don't like the Barrichello approach of blaming me." |
| "A
fine doesn't matter. $15,000 doesn't matter in Barrichello's
case. You can't just give a penalty because Ferrari
will pay it without worrying. In our business, the team
doesn't care. A race ban is quite a hard thing, because a mistake
can happen to all of us. But a suspended race ban for
four races or something, I think that would be a good
idea." |
|
|
|
|
|
| April 01,
2001 |
| Brazilian Grand
Prix - RACE |
| Ralf
Schumacher "At the start the engine revs fell and I don't know why. Then
my car was hit from behind by Barrichello. Obviously this has to be sorted
out by the Stewards and I hope they will take action as this has to stop
in my opinion. Today we proved that we have a really good car and we are
going to be able to win a race. Unfortunately it didn't happen but I am
sure it will happen in the near future." |
|
| Position:
DNF (spun on lap 55) |
|
|
|
|
