Ralf defends big brother Michael and Adrian Newey suffers accident
Not for the first time in his career, Michael Schumacher is under fire following his dangerous move on Rubens Barrichello, but Ralf Schumacher has leaped to the defence of his older brother.
Michael Schumacher almost forced his former teammate Barrichello into the wall at nearly 200mph after trying to defend his position at the Hungarian Grand Prix. The move angered Barrichello, while Michael apologised and was given a 10-place grid penalty at the next grand prix in Belgium, and race steward Derek Warwick even revealed he wanted to disqualify him from the race.
This is not the first time the seven-time world champion has been criticised, as controversial moves on Damon Hill and Jacques Villeneuve come flooding back to mind.
Ralf believes Michael’s apology should be taken seriously. “I think it's completely inappropriate when Michael is depicted as some kind of unfeeling robot. This is not Michael,” he said.
“He slept on his manoeuvre and said sorry, out of conviction because he realised his mistake. They should believe him and accept it. It certainly has a lot to do with Michael's past. He is the most successful driver in Formula One history and people are critical, especially now with his comeback which is not going very well,” said Ralf.
Ralf Schumacher retired from Formula One with Toyota in 2007, and now currently competes in the DTM series with Mercedes.
Michael returned to Formula One this season after retiring in 2006, and his comeback has not gone as well as he had hoped. However, Ralf sees a different side to his older brother. “It was a tough manoeuvre but shows how seriously Michael still takes his job. He is now more willing to compromise, which can be seen in his apology. Previously he was criticised for being too straight and cool, now he is more relaxed it is interpreted as a lack of ambition. This is the wrong interpretation,” he said.
Meanwhile, Red Bull technical director Adrian Newey is recovering in hospital after crashing in a Ginetta G50 race in Snetterton. The 51-year-old has no serious injuries, and was driving a guest car in the British Touring Car Championship when he was tugged by another car and suffered a huge impact on the side when hit by another driver.
Ginette chairman Lawrence Tomlinson said in a statement: “Adrian has been taken to a local hospital as a precautionary measure after being clipped by Julien Draper of Barwell Motorsport which caused Tony Hughes of Speedworks to have a side on collision with Newey's DynoJet car. It's testament to the strength of the G50 roll cage that the car withstood heavy impact and there were no serious injuries.”
This is not the first accident Newey has been a part of. A few years ago he crashed at Le Mans at 180mph, while during the early 1990s he crashed a bike into the Williams motor home awning after performing a wheelie.
Red Bull do not want Newey being involved in any more accidents, as he is the man responsible for their lightning speed this season, and it would be disastrous should he suffer anything serious.
Wait until the end of the Formula One season Adrian.
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