Ralf Schumacher was NOT my best F1 team-mate claims Giancarlo Fisichella

Formula 1

Schumacher was NOT my best team-mate claims former F1 race winner

Schumacher started out his F1 journey at Jordan but quickly angered one team-mate early in his career

Dan Ripley Global Editor

Professional F1 journalist and analyst

Monday 26 June 2023 20:57

Giancarlo Fisichella has revealed how being team-mates with Ralf Schumacher left him being angry with the German amid their highly competitive season together.

Having made his debut with Minardi in 1996, Fisichella joined the Jordan team for his first full year in Formula 1, where he was partnered alongside a rookie Schumacher.

Both drivers impressed throughout the season to guide Jordan to a respectable fifth in the constructors’ championship, with the Italian taking the majority of the points ahead of Michael Schumacher’s brother.

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Yet, Fisichella has admitted their relationship was not the best inside the garage, with Schumacher not willing to share data for the benefit of the team with his priorities set on being the No 1 driver at the outfit that has over the years gone through a number of team changes before its current incarnation as Aston Martin.

Ralf Schumacher (left) and his brother Michael walk through the paddock in the early 2000s

Battles at Jordan

“Ralf was young and competitive”, Fisichella told the Beyond the Grid podcast.

“But it was important to be quicker than your team-mate. During the season, I was quicker than him. I scored more points than him. It was very competitive.

“He's not been my best team-mate; always watching you strangely, not happy to share the telemetry, he was not working as a team-mate or for the team. It was just important for him to be in front of me, that was the target and that was my target as well.”

Giancarlo Fisichella is pictured driving for Jordan on the way to winning the 2003 Brazilian Grand Prix

Fisichella, who won three grands prix in an F1 career that ended in 2009 at Ferrari, also admitted he had been left furious with Schumacher after the two crashed at the Argentine Grand Prix that could have given the team a highly valuable double podium.

“Argentina was another great race for us”, he added. “We could score second and third easily. We were fighting for the position and in the middle of the race, Ralf crashed into my car and I had to retire my car.

“There was a possibility to score easily second and third, but there was a crash and that's part of the race. I was a little bit angry with Ralf.”