NOVEMBER 15, 2005

Ralf and Weber go their separate ways

The word from Germany is that Ralf Schumacher and Willi Weber have ended their relationship. The contract runs until the end of 2006 but the pair agreed to dissolve the arrangement early, presumably using a buy-out clause which is believed to have existed. The two men have been working together since 1993 when Ralf was in Formula Ford in Germany. This led to a drive with Weber's Formula 3 team in 1994 and 1995. In 1996 Weber placed him in Formula Nippon in Japan before he negotiated a deal for Ralf to join Jordan in 1997. Two year later Weber convinced Williams to hire Ralf in order to keep BMW happy. Weber then managed to negotiate a second deal at Williams before landing Ralf a big contract at Toyota.