Ralf Schumacher ticked off today’s F1 cars with his 2003 Williams

There is no Austrian Grand Prix without old Formula 1 cars. Race cars from previous decades roll out on the Spielberg track every year to recall the beauty of the past. This year was no different: after Saturday’s sprint and before Sunday’s race, six previous machines did a couple of demo laps.

And it wasn’t just anyone who led them. Mario Andretti’s 1978 Lotus 79 was occupied by McLaren managing director Zak Brown. The 1983 Brabham BT52 was driven by Riccardo Patrese, the driver of the team at the time, the 1992 Benetton B192 was driven by Martin Brundle, who won multiple podiums with the car that year, and Sebastian Vettel’s 2013 champion Red Bull RB8 was driven by David Coulthard .

It was a special moment to see Matthias Lauda in his father’s 1974 Ferrari; perhaps the biggest noise was caused by Ralf Schumacher, who brought the Williams FW25, which brought him his first F1 victory in 2003, back onto the track.

Mathias Lauda (Photo: XPB)

Schumacher also competed in Austria 19 years ago (he was flagged off in 6th place) with the white and blue Williams, which was still powered by the BMW V10 engine, and this time, instead of the grooved Michelin tires of that time, slick Pirellis were installed.

“Like it was just yesterday” – nostalgic Schumacher a Motorsport-Totalafter the presentation, on which he did not elaborate, he thoroughly drove his previous machine. “It was the car I won two races with. The seat, belts and everything still fit. The pedals were still set for me. I just had to sit in it. Funnily enough, I even had the overalls I had back then. Back then, things weren’t as complicated as they are today, so I knew what to do, I knew the switches. It was an incredible and very nice experience.”

However, one thing was not familiar to him: slick tires, which were not allowed at that time. “The car gripped incredibly well! It was unbelievable and I wouldn’t have believed it beforehand,” said the German.

His laps were also measured on the track, and although he stated that he would not give the exact time, he confirmed that in such a setup (that is, on slicks) he proved to be faster than the 2022 cars.

“I was faster, but I won’t say how much!”

In 2003, on grooved rubber, Schumacher achieved a time of 1:10.279 seconds in the qualifying session, which earned him the 10th starting grid. His older brother Michael took pole position with a Ferrari with a time of 1:07.908 seconds. Max Verstappen recorded a time of 1:04.984 seconds on slicks this year.

Schumacher revealed that the V10 BMW engine was not spinning at its maximum. “My engine at the time had 950 horsepower. Here I could only go with 850 horsepower. And I replaced it at two thousand lower rpm. The engine should last a little longer. That’s a big difference” he highlighted.

However, there is also a big difference between this year’s and 2003’s F1 machines. “Today’s cars are two hundred kilograms heavier. Also, we’re talking about system performance here. My eight hundred and fifty horse power was available the whole time and that should not be underestimated” – indicated that neither turbo nor ERS complicated the power delivery of the V10.

In defense of today’s machines, however, he highlighted: “One thing must not be forgotten: safety is what makes today’s cars so much more difficult.”

The sound of the V10 engine and the sight of Williams, light and agile compared to today, made many shudder. After Sebastian Vettel’s Williams presentation in Silverstone, another old F1 car held up a mirror to the current F1 constructions. The difference was confusing for some participants.

“I’ve had team principals come up to me on the grid and say: »This is embarrassing for us“”

Schumacher said.

Vettel’s presentation a week earlier raised some interesting questions. Since Nigel Mansell’s 1992 car was powered by synthetic fuel, it was suggested that F1 could switch to environmentally neutral fuels surprisingly easily, and even the hybrid hocus pocus would not be needed, the sport could even be green with V10 engines. “E-petrol would weaken certain systems. I can imagine that a smaller engine would come in the future that would burn e-gasoline more efficiently. And even without a battery” – said Schumacher in this regard, who believes that today could still learn a few things from the times of two decades ago.

“I think that my brother and I were able to experience a really beautiful period, which was driven by development. It was really cool that a V10 engine was capable of 20,000 rpm. Today’s F1 is much more technical than that.”

Finally, he added that what bothers him the most in today’s era is that the competitors have to schedule too many things and hold back. “Our races at that time were sprint races. The competitor has more history. Today, everything is tailored from the outside, take care of the tires, this and that. How to call battery power? I find this unfortunate. I think in the long term we should return to the way it was before” Michael Schumacher’s younger brother stated.

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