Ralf Schumacher reacts to kind reception after coming out as gay

Ralf Schumacher has given his reaction to the warm reception he received after announcing that he is in a same-sex relationship.

On Sunday, Schumacher took to Instagram to announce his relationship, posting a picture of him with his boyfriend, Etienne.

Under the initial post he wrote: “The most beautiful thing in life is when you have the right partner by your side with whom you can share everything.”

Since then, the six-time F1 race winner posted another picture thanking everyone for their support and comments.

He wrote: “Many thanks for the many congratulations and comments. We are very happy and thank you all.”

A spokesperson of the Schumacher family has also released a statement to the German media after the positive reaction.

It noted that both men were “overwhelmed” by the response.

The statement said: “Ralf and Etienne are overwhelmed by the great response from around the world, nobody could have expected that.”

Schumacher’s coming out makes him the first LGBTQ+ driver in F1 since Mike Buettler and Lella Lombardi.

Ralf - who is the younger brother of seven-time F1 world champion Michael Schumacher - retired from the sport at the end of 2007.

Since then, he’s been a vocal TV pundit in Germany.

1997 F1 world champion Jacques Villenueve declared he was “very happy” for Schumacher.

He’s quoted as saying: “This is great news for Ralf, I am very very happy for him and I can’t imagine how difficult all those years must have been having to carry the weight of hiding.”

1996 F1 world champion Damon Hill - who was famously teammates with Schumacher at Jordan - took to X to give his response to the news: "Mate, I never really clicked with Ralf, but I'm happy he's happy. 

"Sincerely, we get our knickers in a twist about sexuality. It's not a choice you either are or you aren't one way or another. As long as there is love and respect, it's cool. 'Whatever gets you through the night' Lennon."