Ralf Schumacher says he and boyfriend Etienne are “very happy” and grateful for the many goodwill messages they have received after the former F1 driver went public about their relationship.
Reactions were swift and overwhelmingly positive to Schumacher’s Instagram post Sunday night, in which he shared an image of himself with Etienne, with their arms around each other, looking towards the sunset.
Schumacher 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.”
He followed that up Monday with a new photo of them together alongside the words: “Many thanks for the many congratulations and comments. We are very happy and thank you all.”
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A supportive comment and a separate social media post by the couple’s friend Carmen Geiss, a German businesswoman and reality TV star, had confirmed that Schumacher was coming out as gay.
Also commenting on the 49-year-old’s original post — and with heartfelt words of affection — was his son David, who is also a racing driver.
Earlier that weekend, the 22-year-old had made history with his Haupt Racing Team in the GT Masters series with back-to-back race wins at the iconic Nurburgring circuit.
David’s message to his father read: “I am very happy that you have finally found someone with whom you really feel that you feel very comfortable and secure, no matter if you are a man or a woman, I am 100% behind you dad and wish you all the best and congratulations.”
Other comments included love emojis sent from the account of the Mercedes F1 team, with whom Ralf’s brother — seven-time world champion Michael — finished his career.
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Similar reactions came from other pro athletes who have previously come out as gay, including Finnish hockey player Janne Puhakka, Swiss basketball player Marco Lehmann and English soccer player Thomas Beattie.
The LGBTQ inclusion in motorsport organization Racing Pride wrote “Thank you for this post. Love is love and love is beautiful.”
German tabloid BILD reported Monday that Etienne is also Ralf Schumacher’s manager and that they have been in love for two years.
The newspaper quoted Geiss as saying: “They met in Monaco. Ralf lives in Salzburg with his son, Etienne lives in Nice. But the two are together quite often.”
She added: “The two are sensationally happy, always. There has never been an argument or dispute.”
