Full Throttle

Ralf is whining about big brother Michael.

Ralf Schumacher has accused older brother Michael of endangering their lives with a risky overtaking maneuver at the Monaco Grand Prix.

Michael tried to squeeze in-between the wall and his brother’s Toyota in the last lap on the straight, just before the checkered flag, in Sunday’s race. Ralf avoided any contact by pulling his car away from Michael’s Ferrari.

“It was very dangerous,” Ralf Schumacher told a German television station. “It seems to be that Michael sometimes loses it. I have the feeling he sometimes switches his brain off.”

Ralf was also quoted in Monday’s Bild newspaper.

“If our tires had touched even slightly, one of us would have been gone,” he said. “At least one of one [sic] would have a broken neck. I don’t want that.”

Guess Ralf has some form of ESP if he can predict with certainty the outcome of an accident that didn’t happen.

I suggest you locate your own on/off switch considering your Toyota teammate has consistently out performed you this season. And Ralf, as a gentile reminder, it’s called “racing” which means if given the opportunity on the last lap of a prestigious Grand Prix race to improve your placement, you take it.

Or more to the point: “Lead, follow or get out of the way!”

Peter Sauber is also going on a rampage, and rightly so.

Jacques Villeneuve and Felipe Massa will be visiting the Sauber factory shortly to talk about the debacle in Monte Carlo and once again Peter Sauber finds himself under pressure to dump Villeneuve. In the early races this year Villeneuve was not impressive and there was much talk that Sauber had made a mistake in his choice of driver but the level-headed Swiss team boss weathered the storm and Villeneuve has since shown signs of improvement at Monaco things were looking up until Jacques tried a move on the inside at Ste Devote which not only screwed his race but also forced Felipe Massa off the road and lost any chance either of them had to score points in the race. Sauber was exasperated and angry but has been around long enough to know that the best thing to do is not to get into fights at the end of the races and wait to discuss matters until the tempers have cooled. Villeneuve is either going to have to come up with something better than “I tried something which did not work” or simply accept that it was stupid and throw himself at the mercy of Sauber.

Actually it’s Peter that tried “something stupid” by signing Villeneuve in the first place. Due to his large contract he may be safe, at least til the end of the year.