Ralf Schumacher is a former German race car driver. He is seven-time World champion Michael Schumacher’s younger sibling. He won six races while driving for Toyota, Williams, and Jordan during his career. He earned all six of his career victories when he drove for Williams-BMW. Schumacher has competed in DTM touring cars after leaving Formula One in 2008, unable to get a drive in F1.
One of the most memorable moments of his career was the 2001 Belgian GP, where he was left stranded on the start line by his team. As ridiculous as it may sound, during the Belgian Grand Prix, when all other cars started their formation lap, Ralf Schumacher was left hanging when the engineers kept his car lifted on the jacks.
What happened to Ralf Schumacher’s car at 2001 Belgian Grand Prix?
Ralf Schumacher was caught floating with his car at the start of the 2001 Belgian GP. His car was lifted by jacks and placed at his grid position on the starting line.
The race had actually already begun when the accident occurred, but it had to be restarted because of a red flag. Ralf’s teammate experienced a rear wing problem as the restart was being prepared. The Williams team labored to repair his teammate’s vehicles. Additionally, they began repairing Ralf’s car’s rear wing while it was still on the grid as a safety measure. They believed they could solve it in time, but sadly, they failed to do so.
Race control announced that the formation lap would be started. Ralf’s team, Williams, had two options on their hands, one of which was to take the car to the pits and repair it. This option would lead to a stop-go penalty and would cost them a lot of crucial time to score some points. The other option was to leave Ralf on the jacks like a duck on the track and then come and fix it after the start. This would result in him starting at the back of the grid, making it a hilarious but better decision for the team.
F1 driver Luciano Burti And Eddie Ervine sees high speed crash at 2001 Belgian Grand Prix
After the hilarious start to the 2001 Belgian GP, the race took a heart-stopping turn the Brazilian driver Luciano Burti met with a terrible accident, on lap five of the race. Burti and Jaguar driver Eddie Irvine were fighting it out for 15th place as they approached the incredibly quick, Blanchimont corner. The unfortunate struck and Burti flew over the gravel trap and slammed into something horrifying. He thankfully came out of it alive.
Luciano Burti in an interview in 2019 with Autosport revealed that he was saved by his helmet and the improvement of the overall Formula 1 safety measures done after the tragic death of Legend Ayrton Senna back in 1994. Burti is now 46 and is a commentator for TV Globo Brazil.
Formula 1 has made efforts to turn itself into a safer sport since then with the addition of Halo, which notably saved Lewis Hamilton’s life in Monza 2021.
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