Ralf Vows to Beat Brother Michael Next Time

Ralf Schumacher, winner in Malaysia two weeks ago, came close to beating his older brother Michael again on Sunday but this time Ferrari's World Champion came out on top.

The Brazilian Grand Prix was reminiscent of last year's battle between the German Formula One brothers in Canada - when Ralf won for Williams - with a mere half second separating them at Interlagos.

"Certainly I enjoyed it less because I am second," said Ralf afterwards when the comparison with Montreal was made. "Even though I was maybe slightly quicker than he was, I wasn't able to get close enough to overtake him down the straight...I'll do it next time."

That will be in two weeks at Imola, the Italian circuit where last year Ralf had his breakthrough first win and Williams's first victory since 1997. He led briefly on Sunday between pitstops but was pushed back to second again after he pitted. The gap was three seconds and he slashed that back soon enough.

No Mistake

Ralf said he had hoped Michael, who has now won four times in Brazil and had several tough duels with Ralf last year, would make a rare mistake but it never happened.

"Even Michael sometimes brakes a bit late, especially here, it's very easy to go off line and lose a lot (of time)," he said. "So that's what I was waiting for. But he didn't do me a favour this time. He was simply better today."

Had Ralf won, and Michael finished second, they would have ended the day sharing the lead in the World Championship after three rounds. As it was, Michael leads Ralf by eight points, while Williams stay ahead in the Constructors' Championship with 30 points to Ferrari's 24.

"I knew that there is only one possibility to overtake here which is into turn one," said Michael in the post-race news conference with Ralf alongside. "So I made sure that into the last corner everything was right...it is very easy, especially in the infield, to make a little mistake under braking.

"I don't think he was really close enough to outbrake me into the first corner in actual fact."