Ralf's form no surprise to me, says DC

McLaren's David Coulthard has said that he is not surprised by Ralf Schumacher's sudden leap into contention for the Formula 1 World Championship

Jul 7, 2003, 11:18 AM

Ralf scored his second victory in a week for Williams-BMW in Sunday's French Grand Prix at Magny-Cours, but has been criticised for his approach to racing as recently as the Canadian GP, when he was condemned for not attempting to pass his brother Michael's Ferrari.

"I have always been surprised by the criticism of Ralf," said Coulthard after Sunday's race. "He's always been a good guy. When Montoya arrived at Wiliams, people said he would blow Ralf away. Writing him off was ridiculous, though - he's a world class driver."

Schumacher Jnr is now just 11 points behind his older brother in the championship chase. After the race Williams technical director Patrick Head, who was one to question Ralf's recalcitrance to challenge his brother in Canada, sang his praises.

"Ralf is obviously very strong and driving well," he said. "He made a small mistake near the end, which I'm sure he'll be annoyed about, but it was a fantastic job by him."