Damon Hill admits Michael Schumacher fans sent him ‘death threats’ after Monaco stewarding decision

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Damon Hill and Michael Schumacher enjoyed one of the most testing rivalries of the 1990s in Formula 1.

Michael Schumacher’s infamous crash into Damon Hill at the 1994 Australian Grand Prix in Adelaide denied the British driver his first drivers’ championship.

Hill went on to record his only championship win two years later when Schumacher moved from Benetton to Ferrari.

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That turned out to be the peak of Hill’s F1 career, and after stints with Arrows and Jordan, he retired at the end of the 1999 season.

Schumacher, on the other hand, was only just getting started and won five more championships after Hill’s retirement before walking away from Ferrari at the end of the 2006 campaign.

However, four years later, while racing for Mercedes, Hill and Schumacher once again clashed at F1’s most iconic race in Monaco.

READ MORE: Everything to know about Michael Schumacher, from F1 career to net worth

Damon Hill recalls the ‘death threats’ he received from Michael Schumacher’s fans

Hill was telling the story on The Undercut of how he was asked to help steward a race in Monaco in 2010 and had spotted a potential loophole in the regulations.

Under a safety car finish, there was a short section of track between the safety car line and the finish line, and Schumacher and Mercedes had spotted this. The seven-time world champion managed to overtake Fernando Alonso before taking the chequered flag.

Hill explained: “They were called up to the stewards, and there’s me and Michael Schumacher.

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“So he’s sitting there looking at me, and he’s smiling, and obviously I’m in a situation where people are going to think, well, he’s massively biased against Michael, so you’re not going to get a fair ruling here.

“I looked him in the eye, and I said, Michael, you knew what the intention of the regulation was, didn’t you, and he said what the regulations say and… I said clearly that the regulations are not clear enough, but we know what the intention was.

“So really, you knew you were doing something wrong, and therefore we’re going to penalise you.

“Anyway, I got death threats from Germany after that!”

READ MORE: Damon Hill reveals why he turned down the chance to be Michael Schumacher’s teammate at Ferrari

What happened to Michael Schumacher during the 2010 Monaco Grand Prix?

It was a very unique situation that Schumacher tried to take advantage of, as Formula 1 is unique in that if the safety car is out on the final lap, it will enter the pit lane to let the leading car take the chequered flag.

Had the safety car stayed out, as it does in many other racing series, then Schumacher would never have had the chance to jump past Alonso.

The German driver initially thought he had stolen P6 from Alonso, which would have earned him eight points.

However, the stewards, with the assistance of Hill, awarded Schumacher a drive-through penalty, which equated to a 20-second penalty as the race had already finished and he couldn’t serve the punishment.

Mercedes considered appealing the decision but opted not to appeal, leaving Schumacher having to settle for 12th, making him the final driver to finish the race.

Hill was no stranger to upsetting Formula 1 legends, but this was a unique scenario when he wasn’t even taking part in the race.