Formula 1 News

Ralf Schumacher: “Formula One career could be over” 

Following his test with Force India, Ralf Schumacher acknowledged that it may have been his last time at the wheel of a Formula One car. At the end of eleven seasons in the sport with Jordan, Williams and Toyota, the winner of six Grand Prix said at Jerez: “It is not planned that I will drive for Force India in 2008.”

Schumacher had a difficult day at the wheel of Force India’s 2007 car, including an hydraulic problem and two spins. He was also the slowest of the 20 testers on duty, and more than six tenths off the pace of the other Force India contender, Tonio Liuzzi.

The German told reporters late yesterday that he has been contemplating the possible end of his career since the middle of the 2007 season. “I do not believe that next year I will be here at Force India,” Schumacher is quoted as saying by the German press. “It looks as though that was my last ride in a F1 car. I now have to consider what is best for me. Maybe it means I will stay at home,” Schumacher added. “Of course I am not blindly slamming the door, but it (any offer) would really have to make sense. I would like to continue my career in F1, but it is not an obligation. I would like to continue, but I don’t know if these are the right conditions,” he added on television channel RTL.