Scandal at David Schumacher’s first GT3 race: The 20-year-old son of ex-Formula 1 driver Ralf Schumacher, who is also competing in the DTM for the Winward team this year, got caught at the season opener of the GTC Race Series on Saturday in Oschersleben with Timo Rumpfkeil. First on the track, when he pushed his Mercedes-AMG brand colleague off the track in the fight for fifth place, then there was an aftermath in the paddock as well.
While Schumacher received a 30-second time penalty for the maneuver on the last lap of the GT60 race, which dropped him to sixth place behind Rumpfkeil, the Motopark team boss was later immediately banned from the rest of the event for “unsportsmanlike conduct”.
The cause was an action by Rumpfkeil during a direct encounter after the race: The reason given by the race stewards states that the 46-year-old “deliberately bumped into or pushed” his rival.
Hull wedge: “No fisticuffs and shoving”
Ralf Schumacher then burst out on Instagram and he sharply criticized Rumpfkeil for physically attacking his son, but he deleted the post a little later. Even when asked by ‘Motorsport-Total.com’ he did not want to comment.
According to Rumpfkeil, however, it was not an attack. “What happened after the race was exaggerated in my opinion,” he told Motorsport-Total.com. “There was no fisticuffs or shoving. I see things differently there as unsportsmanlike conduct.”
According to the DMSB, the trigger for the fact that race manager Sven Stoppe passed the case on to the sports commissioners was a report from a sports warden who had observed the incident in Parc Ferme. Apart from that, a driver was also a witness. Both were then questioned by the sports commissioners about the events and the penalty imposed against torso wedge.
Why Rumpfkeil accepted the disqualification
“For the sake of peace, I accepted the decision of the stewards, even if I don’t support it,” explains Rumpfkeil, why he did not appeal. “For me it was important that everyone could have a good race on Sunday, that there shouldn’t be any unnecessary focus on side stories or that things get even more exaggerated there.” You owe that to the organizers.
In addition, he personally has “nothing against David” and is looking forward to “having a beer with him next time”.
“Incident in the last lap only a small part”
In general, however, Schumacher’s tough pace, to whom he also wishes “good luck for his DTM debut”, bothered him in a gentlemen’s racing series. “The purpose of the racing series is to provide good mass sport, to have some fun and to see good races,” says Rumpfkeil.
“I think it’s also the task of the professionals to adapt to this situation.” Rumpfkeil was “surprised” by “the bandages” used in the race, “although the incident on the last lap was only a small part.” That was “not appropriate for the race event and the framework”.
The history of the incident
David Schumacher, who competes in the GTC Race Series as Carrie Schreiner’s team partner in the Mercedes-AMG GT3 fielded by Schaeffler-Paravan with the Space Drive system, took over Schreiner’s car with 26 minutes to go at the mandatory stop in tenth place .
Schumacher quickly found himself behind Rumpfkeil’s Mercedes and couldn’t find a way past the amateur racer. There was some contact before the youngster lost his patience three corners before the end and sat down next to his rival in the right-left chicane.
When his right front wheel was level with Rumpfkeil’s rear wheel, a collision occurred, which caused Rumpfkeil to spin in the gravel. Schumacher finished fifth but was sixth due to the penalty.
“I was able to test the limits of the car, how it feels in the race and also the duel in the car and I will now slowly approach it,” he said after the race. “The differences to single-seater racing are already clear.” Schumacher did not comment on the accident.
In the second sprint race on Sunday – Carrie Schreiner was in the car in the first – Schumacher was also used. The Space Drive pilot started fifth and finished seventh.