For very different reasons, F1’s famous Schumacher brothers were in the headlines as the Monaco grand prix got into gear.
Michael Schumacher, who last year retired as a seven time world champion, set tongues wagging when he chose the outside of the Rascasse corner as his trackside vantage point for the afternoon practice session — the very scene of his ‘parking’ incident during qualifying a year ago.
It was also rumoured that Schumacher – in Monte Carlo as a Ferrari ‘advisor’ – ran into trouble with the police last week while driving a Ferrari on the famous ‘Nordschleife’ layout at the Nurburgring in Germany.
But he told the newspaper Bild: “The police stopped me because they wanted my autograph.”
Michael’s younger brother Ralf, meanwhile, extended his formula one trough on Thursday by crashing at the Swimming Pool and lagging his Toyota teammate Jarno Trulli’s pace by more than two seconds.
Later though, he was spotted in a jocular mood on the Toyota yacht with his incoming boss Tadashi Yamashina, amid rumours that he has already signed a contract extension for 2008.
Ralf was then quoted by the ‘sid’ agency as saying: “I am one hundred per cent sure that I will drive in formula one also next year.”
