Newsgroup: it.sport.formula1.moderato
Titolo: [ENG] About Ralf

Dear Nigel,
What is going on with Ralf Schumacher? Is he genuinely unable to produce a
quick lap in qualifying when the pressure is on, or is he not trying because
he doesn't think the car is good enough to win?
Adam Taylor, Christchurch, New Zealand
Dear Adam,
Ralf has always been a bit of mystery to me, in the sense that sometimes he
is blindingly quick (although rarely as much so as his team mate, Juan
Montoya), and sometimes you wouldn't know he was in the race.
Unquestionably his level of natural ability is high, and often he arrives at
a good set-up more quickly than Montoya, but his motivation appears to waver
sometimes, and certainly it can be affected by outside influences. At Monza
in 2001, for example, his head was all over the place, and while everyone in
the place was much affected by the terrorist attacks on America just a few
days earlier, Ralf (and, it must be said, his brother) gave the impression
that somehow they had been affected more than anyone else. Throughout the
practice days, all he could talk about was how the race should have been
cancelled, and it was exactly the same at Indianapolis, a fortnight later.
At Monza, where team mate Montoya won, he scraped on to the podium, but at
Indy he was simply nowhere, and by the end of the season members of his team
were seriously concerned about his performances.
At Sepang last weekend, Ralf was very much upset by sensationalist stories
in the German press concerning his private life, and perhaps this accounted
in part for a thoroughly lacklustre performance in qualifying, and a fourth
place in the race achieved only by luck and attrition.
Then there's the other Ralf, the one who beat his brother in a straight
fight, for example, at Montreal in 2001, the one who led virtually from
start to finish at Imola the same year. In his first season with Williams,
1999, he was invariably on tremendous form, and achieved some remarkable
results, despite the power limitations of the Supertec engine.
To some degree, his performance level has always ebbed and flowed, and it's
fair to say that his team's estimation of him has done the same. Everyone at
Williams knows that Ralf can be a sensationally quick driver when the mood
takes him, so of course it is a source of frustration when he goes into Mode
B, looks even sulkier than usual, and fails to produce on the track.
The situation at Williams has been difficult for him since the arrival of
Montoya, at the beginning of 2001, in that, while he had invariably had much
the upper hand on his previous team mates, Alex Zanardi and Jenson Button,
clearly this was not going to be the situation with JPM.
Initially, while Juan found his feet in F1, Ralf remained very much the
team's leading driver, and performed to that level, but over time Montoya
increasingly asserted himself, and when that happened Schumacher did not
respond positively - towards the end of 2001, as we said, his performances
were frankly poor.
As well as that, the gregarious Montoya quickly became hugely popular in the
Williams camp, while Schumacher, a much more reserved individual, continued
to keep his distance. One way and another, it will surprise me if another
contract is signed between Ralf and Williams.
--
Fluored aka FF
www.m4driving.sm/route67
Chi corre sulla strada è un coglione, forse anche un impotente

 results, despite the power limitations of the Supertec engine.
In realtà qualcosa di buono lo fece anche alla sua prima stagione, con la
Jordan, dove mi pare sia andato a podio alla 3. gara, anche se dopo aver
speronato il compagno di squadra Fisichella.
A me da molto l'impressione di un pilota che quando vuole è anche veloce,
ma deve avere la macchina messa bene e deve essere in forma lui
(mentalmente). Peccato per lui che non capiti così spesso...
-- 
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 (o_        Vinci                     registered Linux User #276630
 //\           " I find your lack of faith disturbing "
 V_/_            Darth Vader, Star Wars : A New Hope