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Ralf Schumacher Reveals Williams’ Bizarre F1 Tactic: “Used His Media Contacts to Put Extreme Pressure”

Published 03/22/2021, 9:05 AM EDT

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Ralf Schumacher, the brother of Michael Schumacher, drove for Williams from 1999 to 2004 under Frank Williams. As a former Formula 1 driver, the German has immense knowledge of the premier league motorsport racing.

Understandably, it is essential for a driver to feel comfortable in a team to perform to the best of his ability. In a recent interview, Ralf opened up about his time as a driver for Williams under Frank Williams.

“Frank Williams – despite all the great successes he had – was extremely difficult on a human level. It was the opposite of straight ahead.”

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“You could really tear yourself up with it, even loudly, then in the evening you drank a glass of red wine together, laughed at yourself and the dispute was forgotten again.”

“For example, Sir Frank had often used his media contacts to put extreme pressure on his drivers. He also believed that it wasn’t enough that his two pilots didn’t like each other. You should downright hate yourself,” shared Ralf Schumacher.

Sir Francis Williams founded Williams racing and later entered the Formula 1 championship in 1977 as a constructor. The team has since built a legacy in the sport before Frank Williams finally gave up their ownership to Dorilton capital.

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Ralf Schumacher on Sebastian Vettel’s horror

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Ferrari was widely criticised for the way they handled their break-up with Sebastian Vettel. Ralf Schumacher acknowledged that a driver’s psyche is extremely important and believes that the while saga last year must’ve been a horror show for his fellow German.

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“Ferrari announced in a completely incomprehensible manner before the first race in 2020 that they would part with him. That must have been the horror for Sebastian, because suddenly there is mistrust where there used to be trust,” he explained.

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It must not have been easy to deal with that. Ralf believes that at Aston Martin the tables have turned completely. He can feel how much the team counts on him, and that positive change could be exactly what he needs.

Do you believe Sebastian Vettel will have a more open relationship with his team at Aston Martin? Do you believe this will reflect positively on his 2021 campaign?

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Written by:

Ayush Manjunath

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Ayush Manjunath is a Formula 1 author for EssentiallySports with more than 500 articles to his name. A Law graduate and a current Sports Management student, Ayush also has a certificate from UCLA on Sports, Media and Entertainment Management. He has an undying love for motorsports and lives to see Max Verstappen, George Russell, Charles Leclerc, and Lando Norris battle for the championship one day!
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