Ralf: Racing 'Completely Secondary' Today

Ralf Schumacher has said his performance in today's qualifying for the San Marino Grand Prix is a "completely secondary matter" as his and his brother Michael's mother was fighting for her life.

Elisabeth Schumacher, 55, is in a coma in a Cologne hospital after an emergency operation. Her two sons flew home to Cologne on Saturday immediately after securing the top two spots on the grid and are expected to return to Italy late on Saturday night or Sunday morning.

A pack of journalists and photographers were waiting at the University clinic when Michael and Ralf arrived clearly in no mood for interviews.

"Is that really necessary?" Ralf Schumacher snarled at television journalists upon his arrival at the hospital.

"Stop," added Michael, wearing a white shirt and jeans, as a physician escorted the brothers past journalists into the hospital through the underground garage entrance.

Earlier on Saturday the sibling racers did their best to blank out their anguish - Michael secured pole position and Ralf finished a close second.

"It's very difficult for me at the moment to find the right words because the fears about our mother overshadow everything else," said Ralf Schumacher in a statement on his website. "I hope everyone can understand that Michael and I do not want to go into detail because it is a special and private situation. Our mother is in a coma and isn't doing well.

"Even if the qualifying was very successful from a sporting aspect, it was a completely secondary matter for me because my thoughts were with my mother every second of the way," Ralf added.

He said flying to Cologne was "the most important thing that we can do for her right now."

Michael Schumacher, asked at a post-qualifying news conference in Imola about his mother, wrestled with his emotions and said: "Please, don't expect an answer."

Ralf Schumacher's press spokesman Thomas Hofman was quoted on Michael Schumacher's website saying they would return to Italy either late on Saturday or early on Sunday.

Elisabeth Schumacher was brought to hospital last week after collapsing. She was suffering from internal bleeding and put into an artificial coma, according to Schumacher's website. Bild newspaper said she had undergone emergency surgery.

Frau Schumacher, who sold sausages at a go-kart track where her sons learned their trade, has tried hard to stay away from the gaze of publicity that has followed her sons around the jet-set world of Formula One.

She continues to live in Kerpen, a small working class town 20 km (12 miles) from Cologne, where the brothers grew up.

"Her condition has become a bit more stable but we are still very concerned," Ralf Schumacher told Bild.

"Obviously you ask yourself in a situation like this if it's worth racing or not," Ralf added. "But after the first shock it became clear you can't drop everything. No one can. We can only try to do everything for our mother. And hope."

Rarely Sighted

The Schumachers' parents are divorced. Elisabeth has rarely been sighted at the racetrack although she has followed her illustrious sons' progress closely.

Rolf Schumacher, a bricklayer by trade who also worked as a groundsman at the now-famous Kerpen go-kart track, built Michael's first kart powered by a lawnmower engine when he was just four years old. Elisabeth sold sausages on race days.

Elisabeth Schumacher was happy to see both her boys achieve success and in rare remarks to journalists once said high taxes in Germany were to blame for her sons living abroad - Michael in Switzerland and Ralf in Austria.

"We have the fastest sons in the world," she said proudly after Ralf won his first career Formula One race at the San Marino Grand Prix in 2001. "My heart was beating, particularly for Ralf. Deep down, the first win matters more than anything else."

Elisabeth has also stayed close to Michael. He had once complained to her that the cost of living in Switzerland was so expensive. He asked her to send him some home-made marmalade from Germany "because it is so expensive here."

Two years ago when Michael took part in a go-kart race in Kerpen, in which he had to pull out with a broken engine, Elisabeth was delighted that Michael spent the weekend at home in the modest town outside Cologne.

"It was great to have breakfast with him again," she said.