 Ralf Triumph is No Solace for Michael Fans Sunday July 29th, 2001 By Carmel Crimmins
"It's so depressing. I helped out in my dad's factory all year to get the money together to see Michael win," said 14-year old Tomas Lutz, a Ferrari flag wrapped forlornly around his shoulders. "I couldn't care less about Ralf. Michael Schumacher was the man I had come to see," said Lutz, standing amongst other subdued "Super Schumi" fans outside the sweltering hot stadium in Hockenheim. Ralf's first win on home territory came in a dramatic race that saw his older brother Michael walk away from a horrific crash with Brazilian Luciano Burti on the grid before retiring on the 24th lap. It was an emotional roller-coaster for the Ferrari driver's fans, who slumped in despair after the triple champion's starting crash only to jump for joy when the race was restarted with him in the spare car. But Schumacher clearly had problems with his car and the 32-year old German retired after a pit stop to the disappointed applause of his fans. Sore Head For some, the realisation that Schumacher would not achieve his record-equalling 51st victory at home was too much, even among non-German fans. "I couldn't watch any more, I had to leave," said Brian Perry, a Schumacher devotee from Ireland. "I'm going home with a heavy heart...and a very sore head," said the building foreman, whose girlfriend Rosaleen had bought him the Grand Prix ticket for his birthday. The exit of McLaren's David Coulthard on the 26th lap with a blown engine was a small consolation for Michael Schumacher fans who twirled their red flags furiously and screamed "Go home" as the unlucky Scotsman walked away from his car. Coulthard is Schumacher's nearest rival for the Championship and their respective retirements left the German with a 37-point lead over the Scot with just five races - worth 50 points - left. Ralf's victory at Hockenheim put him six points behind Coulthard in third place in the standings. Little Brother For some of Michael's fans, Ralf's ascent was a sombre omen for their hero. "Michael is still the king but he'd better watch out for his little brother," said Hermann Siebold. Others took a more pragmatic approach. "If Ralf keeps up this performance, I've a feeling I might be changing my shirt colour from red to blue before long," said Juergen Koelsch, a marketing executive from Kaiserslautern. Some 20,000 fans had camped out around the circuit for the Grand Prix weekend. "It's noisy alright, seems like every tent has brought their own music systems but it's great fun. The kids love bopping around to the tunes and sure a few beers sends you to sleep no problem," said Erwin Honold, kitted out, like so many of his compatriots, in Michael Schumacher regalia. "It was great, we had Finns on one side of us and English on the other," said Anne Lutz, a 23-year old receptionist from Dresden who also spent three nights in the campsites. The only problem, for women on the campsite at least, were the mixed open-air showers. "The men weren't at all bothered, they just went in naked but the women stayed in their swimsuits," said Lutz.
Published at 16:59:07 GMT
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Ralf Schumacher's victory at the German Grand Prix did not offer much solace to his older brother's army of red-capped supporters.
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