– It was supposed to be an entertaining evening, but for Ralf Schumacher, the Jetski Star World Championship staged by TV entertainer Stefan Raab ended in the hospital on Saturday evening: The former Formula 1 driver suffered a shoulder injury in a fall with one of the watercraft. He now has to undergo surgery.
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The event at the regatta course in Duisburg started very promisingly for Schumacher. In the individual competition, the so-called Speed Duel, he made it to the grand final and only had to concede defeat to the German circus artist and Ninja Warrior athlete Rene Casselly. But the current Sky expert proved on unfamiliar terrain that he hasn’t forgotten how to accelerate.
Afterwards, he competed in the team event together with Stefan Raab. Schumacher steered the jetski, and Raab sat behind him when the two fell at a buoy. At first, both climbed back onto the seat, but because Schumacher had already started driving while Raab had not yet taken his position again, the celebrity duo fell into the water again. Initially, this was met with laughter from the well-entertained audience on site.
How the jetski fall with injury consequences happened
When trying to get back on the jetski, Schumacher suddenly twisted his face. “The shoulder was dislocated when I tried to turn the jetski quickly,” Schumacher reported during the live broadcast on RTL+ in the first interview with moderator Laura Wontorra.
Raab did not immediately realize the seriousness of the situation: “At first, I thought nothing had happened, and then the jetski kept going. I was like, ‘Ralf, what’s going on?’ He said he had dislocated his shoulder. Then I quickly waved.” For the Schumacher-Raab team, the fun competition was naturally over.
Schumacher: “The first time it almost happened too. I hope nothing is broken. Thank God. Many thanks to the team who pulled me out so quickly. Thanks to the doctor who put the shoulder back in place. It’s not very pleasant, I admit. But right now, it’s okay.”
Sympathies on Ralf’s side: “A true warrior”
Even though he didn’t win the golden swim ring: Schumacher had the audience’s sympathies on his side. “A true warrior,” Wontorra greeted him when he came back to the live microphone after the doctor had reset his shoulder. Later, Schumacher grinned, saying he was 51, not 25 anymore. To which Wontorra replied, “You still look like 25 to me. […] Really, big compliment on how you stand here and did all this.”
On Sunday morning, Schumacher spoke in a video on Instagram and thanked again the “team on site who put my shoulder back in place and pulled me out of the water. That was super fast, many thanks. And a big thank you also to the BG Clinic Duisburg.”
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Examination results: Ralf must undergo surgery
There, an X-ray was done late Saturday evening and an MRI on Sunday morning. Diagnosis: “It was only a shoulder dislocation, but unfortunately a piece of bone broke off.” This now requires “a small operation,” the Formula 1 star reports.
For his appearance as a Sky expert at the upcoming Italian Grand Prix in Monza, he gives the all-clear despite the fall: The operation will “be over quickly, and then I should be on site in Monza again. I just have to hold my microphone with my left hand!”
By the way, Schumacher does not regret participating in the TV fun: “It was an amazing event, really a lot of fun. […] If it happens again, I’m definitely in, dear Stefan! It was a great event. Sorry we couldn’t win the team competition. But next time we’ll surely be better.”
What Schumacher still doesn’t understand: “How you can get pulled out of the water, turn the jetski, and dislocate your shoulder, you have to manage that first. But maybe I’m just too old for this stuff.” And he makes it clear: “The organizer is definitely not to blame.”
Ralf Schumacher: Successful in Formula 1
Motorsport fans know Ralf Schumacher as one of the most successful German Formula 1 drivers of all time. The younger brother of seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher won six Grands Prix in his career and was fourth in the drivers’ championship in 2001 and 2002, both times with Williams-BMW.
Not only since coming out about his relationship with his partner Etienne Bousquet-Cassagne in July 2024 has Schumacher, who had largely withdrawn from society life before, been appearing more frequently in public again. Recently, among other things, in the Sky docuseries “Ralf and Etienne: We Say Yes,” which follows Schumacher and his partner preparing for their wedding in Saint-Tropez.
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