During a career overshadowed by F1 legend Michael and the tragedy of his older brother's accident that 'changed' their family forever, Ralf Schumacher was also battling the secret pain of decades spent hiding his sexuality. 

So it must have been a relief to Michael's racing driver brother, 49, when he finally felt ready to announce last month that he is in same-sex relationship with his French business manager Etienne Bousquet-Cassagne. 

The announcement was met with an outpouring of love from friends of the couple, most notably Ralf's son David who said he was 'very happy' to see his father in a relationship with someone who makes him 'feel comfortable and safe'.

In what appearead to be a very modern arrangement, Ralf seemed to have introduced his new lover to his ex-wife, Cora, who was pictured with Etienne in St Tropez in April 2023 - more than a year before the relationship became public.  

However, things have now taken an ugly twist with Cora claiming she 'feels used' and that she 'wasted her best years' with Ralf, who she was married to for 14 years before splitting in 2015.

Despite pictures showing the playfully tucking into slices of watermelon and enjoying dinner with a mutual friend, she claims that she was introduced to Etienne as an employee and had no idea he was romantically involved with her former husband.  

She told German news website Der Spiegel she had been unaware her former husband was in a gay relationship and felt 'stabbed in the heart'. 

Following her claims, Ralf in turn branded his ex-wife a 'liar' and published  screenshots of WhatsApp messages sent by Cora to Etienne last year to congratulate them on their union and even asking if they were married. 

But Cora, 47, has hit back at the move to release the private conversation, labelling it 'pathetic' and 'illegal', adding that she was on a fishing expedition, trying to establish the nature of their relationship.

Meanwhile, she has reportedly had little to no contact with her son David Schumacher since 2022. He maintains a close relationship with father Ralf, who frequently attends his races where they are routinely pictured smiling together.

Here, FEMAIL explores the toxic feud threatening to tear the Schumacher family apart - ten years after Michael suffered a severe brain injury in a horrific skiing accident... 

RALF REVEALS HE IS GAY

By almost anyone's standards, Ralf Schumacher enjoyed a highly successful career in racing.

But his accomplishments in the sport were dwarfed by the success of his older brother Michael, who was also a dab hand when it came to building a racing team around him and interacting with the media.

Ralf by contrast often shied away from the press and struggled to integrate as effectively with his team, and as a result never came close to achieving the stardom enjoyed by Michael.

After an impressive junior career which saw him finish as a runner up in several racing championships, Ralf won the Formula Nippon racing series in Japan in 1995 and punched his ticket to the F1 paddock for the 1997 season.

He competed for 11 years at the pinnacle of the sport, racing for three teams and winning six Grands Prix before leaving the F1 grid for the German touring car championship DTM at the end of 2007.

Ralf ultimately retired from motorsport alongside Michael at the end of 2012, and has since gone on to build a successful post-racing career as an entrepreneur and a pundit in Germany.

Three years later he separated from his wife Cora, and in July this year he came out as gay on Instagram, posting a picture of himself and his French business manager Etienne standing arm-in-arm on a boat.

He captioned the image: 'The most beautiful thing in life is when you have the right partner by your side with whom you can share everything.' Etienne reposted the image and said that he was 'above the clouds' in German.

The surprise announcement from the former driver turned entrepreneur and pundit was met with a torrent of congratulations and well-wishes from fans and members of the motorsport community. 

The 49-year-old was previously married to his former wife Cora Schumacher, a former Playboy model and ex-GQ cover star, for 14 years before the pair separated back in 2015. 

German actress Carmen Geiss, a close friend of the couple, revealed that Ralf had already been in a relationship for two years with Etienne - a Frenchman who was working as Ralf's business manager when they fell in love. 

'They met in Monaco. Ralf lives in Salzburg with his son, Etienne lives in Nice. But the two are together quite often,' Geiss said, adding the pair are 'sensationally happy' and have 'never had an argument or dispute'.  

Etienne splits his time between Cape Town in South Africa and the city of Nice on the French Riviera - just 30 minutes away from Monaco - home to many past and present members of the glitzy F1 paddock.

There the business manager is said to have met former Jordan, Williams and Toyota driver Ralf, and the pair began working together with Etienne managing the former driver's affairs. 

But it is not clear when their relationship crossed from professional to personal. 

Geiss, 59, told BILD that she and her husband Robert are frequently invited to visit Ralf and Etienne ever since their loving relationship began some two years ago.

'Robert and I are very happy for Ralf and Etienne. It's finally out, it's just wonderful that the two of them are now living out their love,' she said.

CORA CLAIMS SHE 'FEELS USED'

After Ralf came out as gay in July, his ex-wife Cora claimed she found out over social media and believes she was psychologically manipulated by the F1 star during their marriage. 

'I wish Ralf had included me or at least let me be part of his decision. It would have been a sign of respect,' she told Der Spiegel, via Marca.

'During his career in F1, there were many rumours in the paddock. I asked him to clarify if what was being said was true, but he always denied it, telling me that I was imagining everything and that maybe I needed psychological help.

'When he announced it, it was like a stab in the heart. Coming out always affects those around you, including the ex-wife with whom you had a child. 

'Today I feel used during the marriage. I feel like I've wasted my best years. I ask myself many questions. Was he honest with me?... I trusted him blindly and that's why his word was law for me.'

Cora and Ralf were still believed to be close prior to his announcement as he congratulated her on joining the cast of the German version of I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! in January.

She is a German actress, model, former racing driver and television presenter and is also on the adult platform Only Fans.

In October 2003, she featured on the cover of the German edition of GQ before turning her attention to racing.   

Influenced by her husband, she made her racing debut in 2004 as part of the celebrity team in the Mini Challenge in Germany, qualifying 22nd out of 24 for her first race.

In 2006 she signed for the SEAT Leon Supercopa alongside Christina Surer in a deal that made her the highest-paid woman driver in the world. 

From there she went on to more competitive racing and enjoyed 14 years of it until she hung up her wheel in 2018. 

RALF CALLS EX-WIFE A LIAR

This week, Ralf inflamed the row between himself and his ex-wife by branding her a 'liar' and leaking WhatsApp messages she sent apparently congratulating his new partner about their relationship.

Taking to Instagram, he published screenshots of an alleged exchange from last year in which Cora congratulates Etienne on their union, indicating that the ex-wife knew all along - a move she has labelled 'pathetic' and 'illegal'.

In the messages, Cora appears to say 'congrats' and 'so happy for you both' as she tells Etienne that she was told he had got married to Ralf due to them wearing rings on their right hands. 

In what seems an awkward exchange, Etienne dismisses her and says that in France people wear their rings on the left after getting married.

The conversation ends on good terms as Cora says 'I'm happy for you guys', while Etienne says 'thank you Cora'. 

Ralf published a screenshot of the WhatsApp conversation as proof that Cora was seemingly being dishonest about her shock over his relationship with Etienne. 

'With all the back and forth, I would like to make it clear that Cora congratulated us in September 2023 because she thought we had gotten married,' he wrote in the Instagram post. 

'As you can see from this message to Etienne personally. I think it's a shame for Etienne and me that she spreads so many lies. We both just want to be left in peace.'

But the former GQ cover star has hit back and labelled her ex-husband's move as 'pathetic' and 'illegal'.

'How pathetic does a person have to be to illegally publish private WhatsApp messages in order to conceal the truth?' Cora wrote on Instagram. 

'And you have been seriously suing me for ten years, claiming that I am not protecting your personal rights, while you shamelessly violate mine, instead of just approaching me and at least telling me the truth now.'

Cora claims that Ralf had introduced Etienne merely as an assistant, and not someone he was romantically involved with. 

She added: 'The WhatsApp was my last attempt to at least find out the truth from him.' 

RALF INTRODUCED HIS PARTNER TO EX-WIFE OVER A YEAR AGO 

Ralf reportedly introduced his partner Etienne Bousquet-Cassagne to his ex-wife Cora a year before publicly revealing his relationship to the world. 

Rather than being entirely caught out by her ex-husband's announcement, German news site BILD revealed that Cora has known Etienne for over a year - after an alleged roundabout introduction. 

Sources close to the former model and racing driver shared with the outlet that she had been told that Etienne was her ex-husband's assistant when first introduced to him. 

However, a former friend of Cora, Joerg Kunze shared with the outlet that she and Etienne had met in St Tropez in the South of France in April 2023 - where Joerg was also present - and after the holiday, it was 'clear' that Ralf and Etienne were a 'couple'. 

In pictures shared to Kunze's Instagram profile, Cora and Etienne are seen enjoying one another's company, eating lunch and sampling local watermelon, during a holiday that Joerg described as 'great fun'. 

Sources close to Ralf told BILD that Cora was well aware of their relationship, and happy for the couple. 

'We were with Etienne in St. Tropez, Cora got on really well with him, he's an incredibly nice person,' Kunze added in conversation with the publication. 

'We went to the beach club, went shopping, ate out or had a nice day at the pool. It was great. We had a good time.'

CORA ESTRANGED FROM SON

Racing driver David, 22, came out in full support of his father's decision to reveal his same sex relationship, writing: 'I'm very happy that you've finally found someone with whom you can really tell that you feel comfortable and safe.

'It doesn't matter whether you're a man or a woman. I'm 100% behind you, Dad, and I wish you all the best! Congratulations!'

But while David maintains a close relationship with father Ralf, who frequently attends his races where they are routinely pictured smiling together, German outlet BILD reported David and Cora have had little to no contact since 2022.

Indeed, his statement on his father's relationship with Etienne was interpreted by some as a pointed dig at his mother, when he noted that his father had 'finally' found someone to make him feel 'safe'. 

This weekend, father and son teamed up to take part in the Prototype Cup Germany and won both of their races at Nurburgring.

As well as being asked about their victories, David was encouraged by reporters to comment on the ongoing dispute between his mother and father.

He replied: 'It's the same for me. I feel the same way anyway...' 

After pausing to think, he continued: 'I have nothing to do with it, it doesn't stick in my head. And as soon as the visor is closed or the door is shut, it's just about driving and nothing else.'

David grew up go-karting alongside Michael Schumacher's son Mick, and competed in Formula 4 and Formula 3 classes before moving into German touring car championship DTM.

Estrangement from Michael's side of the family 

The brothers shared a good relationship and remained close throughout their careers, but Ralf is said to have lost touch with the immediate family since his brother's fateful accident.

He has openly told media that he is no longer in close contact with Michael and his wife Corinna but says he is always there to offer support.

'When I see his children Gina-Maria and Mick, my heart smiles,' Ralf shared with German magazine Bunte as he detailed his distant relationship with the family.

'If someone in the family is looking for my advice, I'm there. They go their own way.'

The former F1 driver admitted: 'I miss the Michael of the old days. Life is unfair from time to time. Michael was very lucky throughout his life. But then there was this tragic accident.

'Michael wasn't only my brother. When we were kids, he was also my coach and mentor. He taught me literally everything about kart racing.'

Ralf said: 'There may be an age gap of seven years, but he was always by my side. We raced together, we practised overtaking manoeuvres and everything that matters in motorsports. I had the honour to learn from the best.'

Summing up Michael's dire predicament, Ralf added: 'Fortunately, advanced medical science provides many opportunities. However, nothing is like it used to be.

'Life is unfair at times. That day held a lot of bad luck. This fate has changed our family' 

The seven-time Formula One champion suffered massive head injuries while skiing in the French resort of Meribel on December 29, 2013.

Michael, who wore a helmet, was put into an artificial coma and underwent several surgeries. His family has rigorously suppressed information regarding his condition ever since.

Only a trusted few are granted access to his bedside amid strict security protocols, which have inevitably given rise to a number of rumours over Schumi's condition.

There have been rumours that the family are concerned about Cora's potential for indiscretion. 

Earlier this year, she pulled out of Jungle Camp, Germany's answer to I'm a Celebrity..., just three days into filming. 

The official line from broadcaster RTL was that she left voluntarily, but German newspaper Bild suggested it was down to the 'pact of silence' surrounding Michael's condition. 

Suggesting that the TV network has an agreement with the family, the tabloid claimed that the 'program's producer breathed a sigh of relief after her departure' in case she revealed anything about Micahel's condition. 

Although she is not part of the tight inner circle with access to Michael, she claims to be close to his wife Corrina and their sons David and Mick are close through their racing careers. 

However, Cora herself insisted that there is no 'pact' of silence, writing on Instagram: 'If I don't say anything against my family, or ex-family, it has nothing to do with anything other than respect and loyalty to the family. If I wanted to, I could say it, but I don't.'