The inaugural Chinese GP back in 2004 witnessed a fascinating moment involving Michael Schumacher. The seven-time world champion took a moment to wave at his brother, Ralf Schumacher mid-race when he was passing the latter on the main straight.
Although Michael won a record seventh championship in 2004 with Ferrari, his race at Shanghai that year was nothing short of disastrous. Because Ferrari changed his engine before the race began, he had to start from the pit lane.
The Grand Prix was majorly uneventful for him, but after overtaking a few cars, Michael found himself just behind his younger brother Ralf. That is when the Ferrari driver cheekily waved at him, as he overtook the Williams on lap 37.
The commentators too noticed the moment as they labeled Michael’s gesture as a “nonchalant wave” to Ralf. Perhaps, Michael was having some fun mid-race, because he had already wrapped up the world championship by then.
Michael Schumacher waves at Ralf Schumacher as he passes his brother during the 2004 Chinese GP. #F1@CrystalRacing @photoracertv @F1#ChinaGP #ChineseGP #Shanghai pic.twitter.com/GRJO3tAEUe
— Paul McGinnes (@PaulMcG92) April 8, 2024
The legendary Ferrari driver had an unassailable 38-point lead over Ferrari teammate Rubens Barrichello. All went well for him that season, as his seventh title win made him the most successful F1 driver of all time. The same, however, cannot be said about Ralf Schumacher.
Ralf and Michael Schumacher’s contrasting F1 careers
With six Grand Prix wins, Ralf Schumacher had a better career compared to most who enter F1. But his achievements were completely overshadowed by his older brother, who broke almost every single record there was in F1.
Ralf always remained in Michael’s shadows and achieved a career-high finish of fourth in the championship. Despite not having been as successful as Michael, Ralf has always maintained that he shared a strong relationship with the 55-year-old and that they barely had any tense rivalry during their racing days.
It was Michael who once also rescued Ralf’s F1 career. Back in 1999, Ralf was driving for the Jordan team, a side he was unhappy with. Rumors suggested that Jordan favored Damon Hill, something that Ralf did not appreciate and wanted to get away from a side where he did not feel welcomed.
However, since Ralf had a contract with the Jordan team, it was not easy for him to move to Williams. Eddie Jordan, who owned the Jordan team back in the day, once revealed in an interview how it was Michael who helped Ralf break his contract. The former Ferrari driver paid Jordan $2.5 million to “tear up” the contract with his brother. As Jordan revealed, he was happy to do that.
