Ralf Schumacher (born 30 June 1975) is a German former racing driver and broadcaster who competed in Formula One from 1997 to 2007. Schumacher won six Formula One Grands Prix across 11 seasons.
Born and raised in North Rhine-Westphalia, Schumacher is the younger brother of seven-time Formula One World Champion Michael Schumacher, and the pair remain the only siblings to each win a Formula One Grand Prix. Schumacher began karting at the age of three and achieved early success before making the transition to automobile racing in the German Formula Three Championship and the Formula Nippon series. He first drove in Formula One with Jordan Grand Prix for the 1997 season. Schumacher moved to the Williams team in 1999, finishing sixth in the Drivers' Championship that year. He won his first Grand Prix in 2001, en-route to fourth place in the Drivers' Championship, and subsequently won five more races over the course of two years.
Schumacher left Williams at the end of 2004 and joined Toyota Racing in 2005. His performance throughout 2006 and 2007 resulted in Schumacher leaving Formula One as a result of internal pressure. After leaving Formula One, Schumacher joined the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (DTM) in 2008, achieving minor success, and retired from motorsport at the end of 2012 to enter a managerial role within DTM, mentoring young drivers. He is now a co-commentator for Sky Sport in Germany.
Schumacher was born in Hürth, North Rhine-Westphalia, West Germany, on 30 June 1975, the second son of Rolf Schumacher, a bricklayer, and his wife Elisabeth. Michael Schumacher is his elder brother. He began karting at the age of three driving on his parents' go-kart track in Kerpen. Schumacher's first major karting success came when he clinched the NRW Cup and the Gold Cup in 1991. In 1992, he won the German Junior Kart Championship. He then moved up into the senior series, finishing runner-up.
Aged 17, Schumacher moved into car racing, finishing runner-up in the ADAC Junior Formula Championship. This performance allowed Schumacher to test a Formula Three car during 1992, and later took part in a Formula Three event. His testing and one-off appearance in the series caught the attention of WTS Racing, allowing Schumacher to enter the German Formula Three Championship in 1994, where he finished third. He finished fourth and thirtieth in the Macau Grand Prix and the Masters of Formula 3, respectively.
Schumacher's performances in 1995 had improved over the previous year. Schumacher secured pole position and victory in the Macau Grand Prix and finished second in the Masters of Formula 3. In the German Formula Three series, Schumacher took three victories and finished second in the Championship behind Norberto Fontana. For 1996, Schumacher's manager Willi Weber secured him a seat in the Formula Nippon Series, driving for the Team Le Mans alongside experienced driver Naoki Hattori. Schumacher won the series on his first attempt, becoming the first rookie driver to clinch the championship. In the same year, Schumacher and Hattori entered the All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship, winning four races and taking the runner-up spot in the GT500 Championship behind the pairing of David Brabham and John Nielsen.
In August 1996, Schumacher tested for the McLaren team at Silverstone. In September, it was announced that Schumacher had signed a three-year contract to drive for the Jordan team. The deal also brought in a further £8 million from Schumacher's sponsor Bitburger brewery, with a small percentage going towards his salary. In January 1997, Giancarlo Fisichella was confirmed as Schumacher's teammate replacing Martin Brundle, who expressed a desire to remain with the team. Schumacher believed that Brundle's experience would have helped him in the coming season.
Schumacher took the first podium of his career in Argentina with third place despite a collision with teammate Fisichella. Further consecutive retirements followed in the next four races before picking up a sixth-place finish in France. Schumacher followed this result by picking up consecutive fifth-place finishes in the following three races. A further two retirements followed in the races in Belgium and Italy, before picking up a fifth-place finish in Austria. Schumacher did not score points in the final three races of the season, which included retirements in the Luxembourg Grand Prix and the European Grand Prix. In his debut 1997 season, Schumacher finished 11th in the Drivers' Championship, scoring 13 points.
Like all male German citizens, Schumacher was subject to compulsory military service in the German Armed Forces. Outside Formula One, Schumacher participated in the FIA GT Championship as a guest driver for the AMG Mercedes team at the Spa 4 Hours and was partnered by Klaus Ludwig. The pair finished fifth, scoring two points.
For 1998, Schumacher remained at Jordan and was partnered by 1996 Drivers' Champion Damon Hill. Schumacher endured a horrid start as he suffered from retirements in the first three races, and managed to finish in the races in San Marino and Spain, albeit outside the points scoring positions. Schumacher suffered from further consecutive retirements in the next two races, and managed to finish 16th in France. He took his and Jordan's first point of the season with a sixth-place finish at the British Grand Prix, before picking up further consecutive points finishes in the next two races.
Schumacher went on to secure second place in Belgium behind teammate Hill. Schumacher was issued with team orders to prevent him from overtaking Hill, which caused a strain in the relationship between Schumacher and Jordan. Schumacher managed to take his second consecutive podium with third place in Italy. After this race, it was announced that Schumacher signed a two-year contract to drive for the Williams team, alongside Alessandro Zanardi; with Williams partnering BMW from 2000 onwards, one of BMW's stipulations was to have a German driver in the team. Reportedly, this came after Michael Schumacher verbally declared to Eddie Jordan that his younger brother would never race for his team again and offering to buy him out of his contract with the team. According to Jordan himself 22 years later, Schumacher's elder brother actually paid the money of 2 million GBP to terminate his contract. He finished the season with consecutive retirements in the final two races, and clinched tenth place in the Drivers' Championship, with 14 points. He was replaced at Jordan for 1999 by Heinz-Harald Frentzen, who left Williams after two generally unsuccessful seasons.
Schumacher began his season by finishing third in Australia, which was followed up with a fourth-place finish in Brazil. He suffered consecutive retirements in the next two races—he spun off in San Marino and suffered an accident in Monaco. Schumacher was able to take further points in the next two races in Spain, Canada, and France. Schumacher took a further podium position with third place in Britain but retired from the next race in Austria due to a spin. He took further points in the German Grand Prix, before taking a ninth-place finish in Hungary.
In Belgium, Schumacher took fifth place helped by a one-stop strategy earning him a better finish. In October, it was announced that Schumacher's contract was extended to a three-year deal worth $31 million. He rounded off the season with a fifth-place finish in Japan. Schumacher finished the 1999 season sixth in the Drivers' Championship, with 35 points.
Schumacher continued to drive for Williams in 2000, and was partnered by rookie driver and future World Champion Jenson Button. His season started well as he managed to take third place in the opening race in Australia, and clinched fifth position in Brazil. He was forced to retire from the San Marino Grand Prix due to a fuel system issue but managed to clinch consecutive fourth-place finishes in the next two races. Schumacher was forced into another retirement as he was caught in a collision involving Eddie Irvine and Jos Verstappen at the European Grand Prix, and another retirement followed in Monaco due to a crash where he suffered from a 3-inch cut across his calf.