Problems to be left behind for Ralf Schumacher

By Andrew Hooper
June 11 2002

 

 

  
Problems to be left behind
 
For BMW WilliamsF1 driver Ralf Schumacher the Canadian Grand Prix was one where even the start of the day did not go well for him and just got worse as firstly his refuelling rig failed to deliver fuel properly and then after struggling into seventh place his engine failed after the finish.

For Ralf the start of the day saw him having to get up very early. Ralf said: “Waking up at 5.45, at 6.30 departure to the circuit - to be honest, that is not my favourite time of the day.”

Ralf SchumacherRalf adds: “Somehow the trouble seemed to continue during the race.” For already at the start the German lost his fourth position to Kimi Raikkonen, then at Ralf's pit stop there was the mishap with the fuel nozzle. Because he had to make a second pit stop, the race was nearly lost for Ralf already then.

Not only did Ralf have problems with his pitstop but also with the performance of his car during the race. Ralf tells why: “We had a problem with the traction performance. The tyre wear at the rear axle is by far too high; this is where we still have to work on. At the Nürburgring this might hopefully work better.”

For Ralf this comment sums up his weekend, “almost everything went wrong”. But he still sees a positive from it. He added: “Maybe this has something positive. Maybe now we've left behind all problems in one single race."

After all these problems Ralf hopes to see his fortunes change come the next race in Germany. For Ralf the next race will be close to his home in Austria making for a far easier weekend.

 
 
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