Ralf Schumacher's plans to move to the Williams Formula One team is taking a stumble lately, reports today the German magazine Der Spiegel. According to the magazine, Frank Williams will have to pay the Jordan team a sum of around 5 million DM (about 2.8 Million USD) in order to free Ralf Schumacher of his contract with the team. This, added to the reported 6 million DM Ralf's manager Will Weber is demanding for his annual salary, makes the young German an expensive deal for any team, and most certainly for Williams, who is not known for its generosity.

However, it seems that Schumacher juniour is keen on making the move to Williams, and according to Der Spiegel, Weber is currnetly holding negotiations over the "penalty fee" with both Williams and Jordan. That latter's team manager and owner is quoted saying, "if Ralf wants to leave, then he should leave. I do not want to argue any more with his manager, Willi Weber. But then, I want cash".

The magazine also speculates that should Schumacher move to Williams, the up and coming Formula 3 Driver Nick Heidfeld would take his place at Jordan.

reported to AtlasF1 by Jan Nottmeier