Michael Schumacher: Brother Ralf praises Netflix documentary about F1 legend

The brother of the F1 record-breaker says the documentary was ‘done very nicely’

Ralf and Michael Schumacher raced together in the Formula 1 (Bongarts/Getty Images)

Ralf Schumacher has praised the Netflix documentary created about his brother and Formula 1 legend Michael.

‘Schumacher’ was released on the streaming service last Wednesday. It documents the driver’s career with some snippets about his private life and insight into how his family is coping since his skiing accident in 2013.

Schumacher, who raced in the F1 alongside his brother, told Sport 1: “There were a lot of years when I wasn’t involved. Of course there would have been a lot more, it was a very long time.

“But I think it’s done very, very nicely, at least in terms of motorsport and sport. Also a lot of private insights, also from the family, especially the children and their mother. I thought that was really great, very open.”

Corinna Schumacher, Michael’s wife, spoke about how the family are now protecting his private life from the outside world.

She says in the documentary: “We’re together. We live together at home. We do therapy. We do everything we can to make Michael better and to make sure he’s comfortable. And to simply make him feel our family, our bond.

“And no matter what, I will do everything I can. We all will. We’re trying to carry on as a family, the way Michael liked it and still does. And we are getting on with our lives.

“‘Private is private’, as he always said. It’s very important to me that he can continue to enjoy his private life as much as possible. Michael always protected us and now we are protecting Michael.”

The makers of the documentary had to delay its release due to the pandemic and Ralf Schumacher says his parts were filmed ‘a bit ago – it was all a bit delayed’.

And he added on his relationship with his brother: “We had a good childhood, we spent a lot of time together. We looked forward to the winter when the kart track was closed and we had more time for ourselves. That was great.

“We had a great time together, especially at such a level and in the most beautiful places in the world. Those were good times.”