LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Ralf Schumacher: Grand Prix
built 607 days ago
It was during his years at Williams... that Ralf came into his own. There in 1999, he partnered Alex Zanardi, the Italian who not only had F1 experience, but who had just won two CART titles. That season, Ralf finished sixth in the series, scoring 35 points, while Zanardi scored none. Even so, it would not be until 2001, and the second year with a BMW engine, that Ralf took his first victory, winning at the San Marino Grand Prix. He followed that with victories at the Canadian Grand Prix and the German Grand Prix. He finished fourth in the series both that year and the following year.
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Schumacher's performance in the 2000 season was considered by many to be a disappointment. Running the powerful new BMW engine, he was expected to compete for wins, but he was only able to match the three podium finishes of the previous year, despite being the senior driver in the team and suffering only four mechanical failures. In 2001... he broke through with his first three Grand Prix wins at Imola, Montreal and Hockenheim. In 2002, he won the Malaysian Grand Prix but finished the championship behind team mate Juan-Pablo Montoya, while in 2003, he seemed, for much of the European season, to have perhaps the only realistic shot at the drivers' title of his career after he won the European Grand Prix (at the Nürburgring) and the French Grand Prix within the space of a week. However, his form and luck eluded him subsequently and his challenge had faded by the time of the Italian Grand Prix at Monza. His contribution, alongside Juan Pablo Montoya did, however, help the Williams team to finish second in the Constructors Championship in 2002 and 2003, narrowly missing out on the title to Ferrari on the latter occasion.
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Schumacher's performance in the 2000 season was considered by many to be a disappointment. Running the powerful new BMW engine, he was expected to compete for wins, but despite only four mechanical failures and being the senior driver in the team, he was only able to match the three podium finishes of the previous year. In 2001... he broke through with his first three Grand Prix wins at Imola, Montreal and Hockenheim. In 2002, he won the Malaysian Grand Prix but finished the championship behind team mate Juan-Pablo Montoya, and in 2003, he won the European Grand Prix (at the Nürburgring) and the French Grand Prix, helping, along with teammate Juan Pablo Montoya the Williams team finish second in the Constructors Championship in 2002 and 2003.
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The 12-week deadline passed on Sunday and BMW motorsport boss Mario Theissen, who has been desperate for him to return as soon as possible, confirmed Schumacher will be in the car for the test. His participation in the inaugural Grand Prix in Shanghai... remains unconfirmed and will be decided upon after further medical examinations following this week’s planned three-day test at Silverstone.
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The younger Schumacher announced his decision with two races left in the season, in Shanghai, China, and Sao Paolo, Brazil. After 15 Grand Prix races, he has only five points and is 14th in the drivers' standings.
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Schumacher confirmed his retirement at the Italian Grand Prix post-race press conference. There had been much speculation and continued to be so for his next move, but Ferrari retained his services as an advisor on the pit wall for some races in the 2007 season.
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