Following the revelation that Ralf Schumacher may be booted out of the Toyota team at the end of the season, there is now growing speculation that he may actually be on his way out part-way through the season if his performances do not improve.
Schumacher is thought to be on a multimillion dollar contract with Toyota, far more than his team-mate Jarno Trulli, yet his team-mate repeatedly outshines him. The Monaco Grand Prix was a disaster for Ralf Schumacher – he qualified in a lowly twentieth, sat at the rear of the field for the first twenty four laps of the circuit, before finishing in sixteenth.
Schumacher is trying his best to play down the rumours. “At the moment, I am not thinking about a contract for next year,” he said. “I am trying to solve the problems.” Hardly anyone is being fooled though with the talk in the paddock being that test driver Franck Montagny may be gifted Schumacher’s race seat should the German’s performances not improve drastically in the next couple of races.
