Michael: Ralf’s anger was due to penalty
Michael Schumacher insisted his brother's angry confrontation at the Nurburgring was more to do with the stop-go penalty that destroyed his chances of victory than his own blocking manoeuvre at the start
Ralf had heated words with the world champion as they queued to be weighed after last Sunday's European Grand Prix. He then stormed out of the circuit without talking to the press.
But as the duo assembled with the rest of the paddock in Magny-Cours for this weekend's French Grand Prix, his big brother insisted that it was the 10-second penalty for crossing the pit exit white line that sparked the fit of anger. The penalty ended Ralf's chances of winning but he soldiered on to finish fourth.
"People don't like this explanation because it doesn't suit their story, but Ralf was upset with the stop-go," said Schu Snr. "I felt it was a very hard decision but there is a rule and everyone has to respect it. That was the main reason he was unhappy with what I did at the start. I have been unhappy with people who did the same with me in the past.
"The person who ends up behind is always the person who is unhappy, and the one in front is totally okay. It was not a problem for us to talk about it and the issues are pretty clear," he added.
"We work for different companies, we want to maximise performance and use the rules up to a certain point to achieve our ambitions, and he is happy with that."
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