Michael and Ralf Schumacher
Seeing two brothers competing in the same world championship, as happens every year with Marc and Alex Marquez in MotoGP, is as rare as it is interesting. Yet, before them, this happened in Formula 1 with Michael and Ralf Schumacher. While the former won as many as seven world titles, becoming the most successful driver ever alongside Lewis Hamilton, the latter won a total of six GPs from 1997 to 2007, with a record therefore incomparable to that of his older brother.
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The lack of privacy
Precisely for this, and for other reasons, Ralf Schumacher’s experience in Formula 1 proved to be quite complex. The 50-year-old himself admitted this in an interview with Abendzeitung München, recalling how those ten years in the top series were heavy and difficult to manage: “I don’t think anyone was prepared for what happened. Leaving your comfort zone changes you. You no longer have privacy. Wherever you are, whatever you do, you feel watched and, above all, judged. It’s unpleasant.”
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Comparisons with Michael
Outside of privacy protection, Ralf Schumacher has always been compared to his brother for the lower number of successes, with the German constantly put under the spotlight: “In my case, obviously, it was a bit more difficult because I had a very successful brother – he added – on the other hand, I have always wanted my peace and quiet. You can’t tell someone: ‘Please, not today. I’m sitting here at the restaurant with my friends’ And then I think: ‘Is he so arrogant that he can’t even get up and take a photo?’”. Only once, at the 2001 Canadian GP, did Ralf win ahead of Michael, making history in F1 as the first brothers to achieve a one-two finish. On four other occasions, however, this happened in reverse order.
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