The start of the 3rd season with the British-Bavarian partnership saw Ralf overflow with self-confidence. His massive shunt with Barrichello in Australia did not get his confidence level down. More tests and more work, let the team do the rest. Then the Malaysia GP and Ralf wins! Here we go! Brazil – not even Ferrari could intimidate Ralf.

Then came the shocker: From one day to the other Ferrari seemed to miraculously improve their car and paralyzed the rest of the grid. Within 300 race kilometres in Imola, where Ralf finished 3rd, all hopes were dashed when Michael and Rubens finished with miles advantage.

For a short period Ralf seemed to have lost his focus after the wake-up call in Imola. He made a driver’s mistake in Barcelona which damaged the car and then the pits didn’t have the right tyres ready. Montreal saw the fuel rig failing, and the same happened in Silverstone.

Hockenheim was another one of those races: Everything seemed to go right when Ralf was following his brother closely in 2nd, only to be called in the pits 4 laps before the end, to refill the pneumatic valve regulation in order to avoid an engine failure. Spa saw Ralf stranded on the grid in embarrassing fashion, in Monza the engine blew up, and in Indy Juan Pablo and Ralf were responsible for each others elimination from the race. Suzuka punished Ralf with another engine blow up only laps from the end on his way onto the podium.

But let’s look at the past season with a positive eye: Ralf scored 2 podium finishes in Monaco and Hungary as 3rd. Then there was that special day in Ralf’s life, September 7th, his wedding with Cora in Maria Plain. From that point of view he can’t top 2002!