Former world champion received DEATH THREATS amid Schumacher mania

Michael Schumacher

Former world champion received DEATH THREATS amid Schumacher mania

The 1996 champion had to arrive to Hockenheim in the back of a police car for protection

Michael Clarke

Tuesday 22 August 2023 18:57

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Damon Hill has recalled the moment he was told he would be shot if he out-qualified Michael Schumacher in Germany.

In 1994, the former world champion revealed he had to hide in his hotel room for most of a race weekend at the Hockenheim circuit after being told by police they had received a credible written death threat for the Williams driver.

“I went to Hockenheim in the height of Michael Schumacher mania and I was met by two policemen. They told me that they had a written death threat from a Schumacher fan that said if I out qualified Michael he would shoot me with a gun,” he told the F1 Nation podcast.

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“I literally had to hide away in my hotel room. I was brought into the circuit in the back of a car by the police.”

The final race of the 1994 season ended with a crash between both drivers

Damon Hill and Michael Schumacher fought a fierce rivalry for several seasons and in the 1994 season the tensions between both the drivers and their fans were reaching boiling point.

'I was a nervous wreck'

Hill remembers he was a complete wreck during the driver’s parade around the German circuit knowing about the death threat.

“I was sitting next to David Coulthard and I was clinging onto him. They were letting off fireworks, I was a complete nervous wreck after that,” Hill added.

Michael Schumacher went on to win the 1994 world championship in controversial fashion as he crashed with Hill on the final day of racing to secure the title, before then defending his title a year later.