Ralf Schumacher turns 32 on Saturday and has said the best present would be if he qualified strongly at Magny-Cours. Schumacher has had a torrid time so far this season with his best results beng eighth place at Australia and Canada. Thanks to his poor performance, he has also had to endure rumours that Toyota may not want him as a driver for much longer. In America, Schumacher did nothing to improve his reputation, ending his race in the first corner, whilst his team mate Jarno Trulli went on to finish in sixth.
“To retire at the first corner in the last race at Indianapolis was obviously pretty disappointing, especially after a pretty good qualifying performance,” Schumacher said. “But I am determined to have a better race in France, with Jarno’s result demonstrating what the team can achieve.
“I had the chance to test at Silverstone for a day last week which was productive, and I also recorded the fastest lap time of the day. It went well and we had no problems at all with the car, so I am reasonably optimistic we can fight for points again this weekend.
“It is also me 32nd birthday on Saturday so I am hoping for a strong qualifying performance to celebrate, and then some points would be a good present!”
Trulli is also looking forward to the race this weekend and is confident that Toyota will end up with their best results to-date this season.
“I had a fantastic result in Indy after a really great job by myself and the team,” Trulli said. “At the start of the weekend I did not expect to finish as high as sixth but we made no mistakes and we had perfect reliability. This shows we are capable of strong results and I am optimistic we can fight at the front again in France.”
