Ralf Schumacher has admitted his burning desire to prove his older brother Michael wrong – by making a success of his new
DTM career with Mercedes-Benz.
The younger Schumacher has signed up to compete in the pan-European touring car series in 2008
against the advice of the seven-time
Formula 1 World Champion, who only last month suggested Ralf would find the experience somewhat more of a challenge than what he had been used to in single-seaters.
“I believe that neither of us have the talent to drive those cars quickly,” the former Ferrari ace is quoted as having said by
Grand Prix Magazine. “I have even tried them, and it is a completely different world.”
In evidence of Schumacher Snr's point, fellow ex-F1 aces Mika Hakkinen, Jean Alesi and Heinz-Harald Frentzen have all won races in the
DTM in recent years, but none were able to string together the necessary consistency in order to mount a full-on title bid.
What's more, Schumacher Jnr – who quit F1 at the end of the 2007 season following eleven years and six victories in the top flight – will be campaigning a year-old C-Class during his maiden season in the championship, hardly an advantage in such a hotly-contested environment. He insisted, however, that his elder sibling's concerns had only served to spur him on.
“It is more of an incentive for me,” the 32-year-old told German newspaper
Bild, fuelling speculation that the brothers no longer share a close relationship. “To find out if it comes easily to me or not I can only try, so we will see.”
