Pedigree Yes, But Can He Survive a Dogfight?

Michael Schumacher winning all the time was bad enough. Ralf Schumacher winning all the time is even worse. To some observers the younger of the brothers from Kerpen, the victor in the last two grands prix and therefore, presumably, the favourite to make it a hat trick at Silverstone on Sunday week, is like Michael but with all the endearing personality traits erased.

Harsh, perhaps, but Ralf does not make friends easily, even in his own team. When he came into formula one a few years ago, he was said to be extraordinary in two respects: he was fast, and he was even more arrogant than his brother. Over the years, the unfairness of that judgment became evident. In the matter of arrogance, there wasn't much to choose between them.

Or so it might appear to an unfriendly eye. Michael certainly encouraged such a superficial judgement by his actions on the track, notably his crashes with Damon Hill in 1994 and with Jacques Villeneuve three years later, when he appeared unable to accept the possibility of losing a championship.

Ralf has no such blots on his record. As far as I can remember, he has never punted another driver off the track in a cynical attempt to gain an advantage. He is, in fact, scrupulously fair and sportsmanlike, even to the point of complying when the Jordan team ordered him not to overtake Hill, his team leader, at Spa in 1998 when he had a good chance of winning the Belgian grand prix. He grumbled afterwards, of course, but who could blame him?

If he has a fault, it is his unwillingness to contemplate breaking the rules. In Canada last month he received severe criticism for failing to challenge his brother when they were circulating in first and second places for most of the race.

His own team's technical director, the famously blunt Patrick Head, left the paddock in no doubt of his dismay at Ralf's apparent refusal to have a go at Michael.

What made it worse was that close behind Ralf lay Juan Pablo Montoya, his team-mate, whose willingness to deploy every ounce of his courage and skill in an effort to discomfort the five-times world champion has been so thrillingly demonstrated on several occasions over the past three seasons. In those circumstances, one felt the Colombian would not have accepted second position so readily.

Had Ralf tried to outbrake Michael, it might well have ended with two crumpled cars against the barrier and out of the race. But if you don't even try, how can you call yourself a racing driver?

Ralf is in a good position in the championship table. If the Williams-BMW continues to prove itself the class of the field, he could win the title. And therein lies the most serious obstacle to an appreciation of his talent.

In the right car, Ralf seems to be as fast as anyone out there. He is capable, as he showed at Magny-Cours last week, of dominating a meeting, taking pole position and leading from flag to flag. In adversity, however, he is not quite the same proposition.

Not all great drivers share the same characteristics. There have been champions who, like Ralf, were brilliant front-runners but not so impressive when they had to fight their way through the field. Some of them, indeed, tended to became disheartened when overtaken.

Alberto Ascari, the champion of 1952 and 1953, was one of those. A supremely gifted driver, the son of a champion, he was extremely fast and a fine stylist. But he was not a man for a dogfight.

Maybe Ralf Schumacher is simply not very good at overtaking. He would not be alone in that. Going very fast in a racing car is one thing, but the business of overtaking is quite another. It requires a driver to abandon the precision that enabled him to lap the track fast enough to win a place at the front of the grid. He must depart from the best line, using areas of the track that may be dusty enough to make it hard to keep the car on the road. He must use his imagination, rather than the data with which he has been programmed. He must be prepared to take a risk.

He must behave, in fact, like a racing driver, and that is what we are waiting to see from Ralf Schumacher, who has established his ability to win races but now needs to produce the performance that would enable him to step out from his brother's giant shadow.