Ralf Schumacher Crashed Skiing, Had Shoulder Surgery

Unfortunate crashes seem to run in the Schumacher family lately, as it was revealed Ralf Schumacher recently underwent surgery on his right shoulder following a ski crash last month. The Mercedes DTM driver was vacationing in Austria at the time (midway thought January), in the state of Vorarlberg, when the crash occurred.

According to Cologne publication Express, the surgery took place soon after that. However, nothing appeared in the media ever since, as the former Williams and Toyota Formula One driver wanted to keep the injury secret. It's not really rocket science to figure out why, as such an injury would have seriously jeopardized his chances of securing an F1 drive in 2010.

“The injury only came to light when, in Germany last weekend for the 'Ball des Sports' gala, Schumacher almost fell down a flight of stairs and was assisted by well-known handball player Kurt Kluhspies,” said a report from the GMM news agency.

“I noticed someone behind me was falling; it was Ralf Schumacher. I stopped him with my left hand onto his operated shoulder. It probably hurt him a lot, but Ralf thanked me and said 'Better to have a sore arm than to fall down stairs!” said Kluhspies, according to the Express.

The 34-year old German was recently tipped to take the Stefan GP seat in the 2010 F1 championship (if the Serbian team will secure an entry from the FIA), soon after the very chief executive of F1, Bernie Ecclestone, publicly stated his support for Ralf's comeback. Schumacher himself admitted to the talks, but insisted no decision has been taken just yet.

Last year, a neck injury sustained by Michael Schumacher during a German Superbike test in February prevented the 7-time F1 champion from making a much-awaited return in the series with Ferrari.