Michael Schumacher waved to his brother Ralf while passing him on the straights of the circuit at the inaugural Chinese GP in 2004.
Michael Schumacher waved passed his brother Ralf Schumacher during a miserable weekend at the Chinese Grand Prix in 2004.
The Shanghai Internation Circuit in China hosted its first-ever Grand Prix in 2004. Ferrari’s Rubens Barrichello won the race ahead of BAR Honda’s Jenson Button and McLaren’s Kimi Raikkonen.
Meanwhile, Schumacher had an awful weekend altogether in China despite taking up 12 wins in the 2004 season. The title challenge had already been concluded with the German winning his seventh.
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Michael Schumacher’s miserable Chinese Grand Prix debut
Michael Schumacher spun out during the qualifying and only could start from the pitlane. Meanwhile, his team gave him an all-new engine and a full tank to cover up places.
At the end of the first lap, the seven times world champion was already 15.9 seconds behind the leader Barrichello due to traffic.
During the middle of the race, Schumacher would spin out of the track costing him precious time. Moreover, by the end of the 15th lap, he was 36 seconds behind the leader.
Michael and Ralf Schumacher’s brief family moment
Going into lap 37, the battle of the Schumacher brothers was in full force. Ralf Schumacher tried all he could to defend and not allow his brother to take the lead.
However, the long straight at the near end of the turn had other plans. The Ferrari F2004 was far better than Ralf’s BMW-powered Williams.
The seven-times world champion waved towards his brother while passing him on the straight. The commentators noticed this particular family joke as well.
Schumacher’s bad luck would further continue as he shred his left rear tire and the race became a three-stop one instead of a two-stop.
At the end of the race, the younger Schumacher retired due to a collision while his brother finished 12th outside the points system.
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