Ralf loves 'German' Toyota

Although the brother of seven-times world champion Michael worked with German car manufacturer BMW since it returned to Formula 1 with Williams in 2000, he claims that he did not bond with the Munich company as well as he has with Toyota.

"I felt pretty welcomed here from the first day and to me, to some extent, it's more enjoyable to work," said Schumacher in a direct reference to his time at Williams-BMW. "I think the German mentality fits better in here than it does, maybe, in other teams."

Although Toyota has been keen to portray itself as a Japanese team based in Europe rather than simply a German outfit, Schumacher insists that there is no doubting the true nationality of the team.

"Obviously on the electronic side of the team there are more Japanese but to me it's more a German team than a Japanese team," he added. "There are obviously some very good Japanese guys on the electronics side and on the engine side of the team.

"I've worked in Barcelona with some of them and it was great, but they are fully integrated in the team and they're now more German than Japanese, as they've already spent so much time in Germany.

"The majority of the mechanics are German and come from the area where I was born, so that's making my life easier. This means that on the radio and in the meetings we speak in English but in normal conversation we speak in German."