Coming Out as Gay Famous F1 Driver: Schumacher Publishes Photo With his Husband
The best thing in life is having the right partner to share everything with, former Formula 1 driver Ralf Schumacher wrote under an Instagram photo of him and another man embracing each other as they romantically watched the sunset over the ocean.
His son David, also a racing driver, added in a comment on Instagram: ‘I'm so glad you finally found someone you really feel comfortable and safe with, whether you're a man or a woman, I'm 100% behind you dad and wish you all the best and congratulations.’
Ralf Schumacher is only the third Formula One driver to come out since the championship began in 1950 in this bastion of male heterosexuality.
Ralf, the brother of seven-time Ferrari world champion Michael Schumacher, announced on Sunday that he is in a same-sex relationship. He raced between 1997 and 2007 and was married for 14 years to Cora Schumacher, a former model, before they divorced in 2015. Nevertheless, rumours about his personal life persisted during and after his time in Formula 1.
Racing is a sport that has been associated for many years with heterosexuality and everything that goes with it. Sports car drivers living a glamorous social life alongside beautiful women have been so highly publicised that it has become inextricably linked to the image of F1. But even here, too, change was coming.
The elder Schumacher won six races in his 11-season Formula One career, peaking with finishes between 4th and 6th in each of his full seasons with Williams between 2000 and 2003. He also qualified on pole six times, highlighted by one of the three pole positions ever secured by a Toyota F1 driver. Schumacher also won the Macau Grand Prix in 1995, won three races in Japan in a McLaren F1 and finished his career with five years in the DTM with Mercedes.
