1995: German Formula 3 Championship

1995 Ralf competed in his 2nd full season of German Formula 3 in the WTS Team. Driving a Dallara 395-Opel he excelled himself to a victory and the runner-up spot in the final championship position. He also earned his first international acclaims when he flew over to Macau and partook in the annual and unofficial F3 World Championship which he won. Shortly thereafter Ralf received an invitation to test a Formula 3000 car in Suzuka Japan, run by the LeMans Racing Team. He was so convincing that he raced the following season in the Japanese F3000 Championship, also called Formula Nippon.

1996: Japanese Formula 3000 Championship

In his first Formula Nippon Championship season Ralf won a few races and the title. Parallel to it he also partook in the Japanese GT Championship racing a BMW McLaren. There he also won 3 races and the runner-up spot in the championship. Towards the end of the year Ralf was granted a test for the McLaren Formula 1 team in Silverstone, followed by an offer of a test driver contract, which he rejected.

1997: First season in the Formula 1 World Championship

Just like his older brother Michael, also Ralf gave his debut in Formula 1 racing in a Jordan F1 car. His team mate then was the Italian Giancarlo Fisichella. In only his 3rd ever race he was able to claim a spot on the podium. He finished 3rd in the Grand Prix of Argentina. He scored further point positions in the races in Silverstone, his home race in Germany and in Austria on the A1 Ring.

Thanks to those results Ralf was able to claim 11th position in the driver’s world championship and team owner Eddie Jordan had the following to add: “Ralf and Giancarlo are certainly the most promising rookies in Formula 1.”

1998: Two podium positions in his second season

In only his 2nd F1 season Ralf continued with the Jordan F1 team and partnered Damon Hill now instead of Fisico and he now was powered by Peugeot engines instead of Mugen-Honda. His 2nd season proved even more successful than the previous and he scored two podium positions, one in Spa in 2nd and one in Monza in 3rd. At the end of the season Ralf finished in 10th position overall scoring a total of 14 points.

Notable: During the Jordan double victory in Spa, Ralf was called back and had to settle for 2nd behind his team mate Damon Hill, although he was much faster. He had to obey team orders and this is what he had to say after the race: “It was the first time that I was given team orders, and I hope they were the last!”