TIMO GLOCK was scared to leave the house after being hit with death threats over claims he helped Lewis Hamilton win the world title in 2008.
It was the German who was overtaken by Hamiltonon the last corner, of the last lap, of the last race 17 years ago in Brazil to win his maiden title by a single point.
The title fight between Hamilton at McLaren and Ferrari’s Felipe Massa that year went down to the final race.
Victory for Massa and a sixth place or lower finish for Hamilton would have secured Massa the title at his home race.
Starting the final lap, Hamilton was in sixth place, but overtook Glock at the final corner as the German driver struggled with dry tyres in the rain.
Ferrari’s garage even began boisterous celebrations before victory was snatched away from them in the dying moments, leaving Massa’s dad stunned and a mechanic headbutting the wall in frustration.
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Former F1 driver and Sky Sports pundit Glock told casino.org: “I don’t think he (Hamilton) ever realised the full impact of it all.
“I was happy social media wasn’t as big then as it was now, or I’d definitely have been in even more trouble than I was.
“It didn’t have an impact on my career. I just thought about what happened there, and I don’t think I did anything wrong.
“Felipe or Lewis didn’t realise what was going on in the background, or what was going on with my side of things.
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“I had an interview with Lewis two or three years ago, where we talked about 2008. He was surprised to hear what happened with me, in the aftermath of it all.”
Glock had to get a police escort to the airport following the race in Sao Paulo, with officers walking him on to the plane.
He received hate mail telling him he should be banned from racing and death threats once returning home.
Many people’s views of events changed after F1 released in-car footage of Glock struggling to keep a dry-shod car on track amid increasingly wet conditions.
He added: “I think because social media wasn’t as prominent, nobody saw what was happening. In general, I just tried to get on with my job.
“It was still weird to go to Brazil the following year, or years even, but at the end of the day, it was a big story and it’s still mentioned whenever that race comes up in the calendar.
“Overall, I have no problems with it. It’s all in the past now.”
Glock reckons Hamilton can grab a record eighth title with Ferrari, with him currently level with Michael Schumacher on seven.
Hamilton suffered heartbreak at the Chinese Grand Prix last time out when he was disqualified for the skid block on his car being half a millimetre under the minimum width.
Ferrari need to get their act together in Japan on April 4-6 with his teammate Charles Leclerc also disqualified after the race due to his car being underweight.
This came after Hamilton’s heroic victory in the sprint race on Saturday, which bagged him eight points in the table.
Glock said: “I think he can win a title with Ferrari.
“If the car suits him and the package is there, he will be challenging at the right end of proceedings for sure. It’s of course his ultimate goal.
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“He will push and try everything to reach that. It will be interesting to see how his first part of the season goes.
“I think it will give us a good idea of how he will get on generally at Ferrari after the first half of the 2025 season.”
Source: Motorsport - thesun.co.uk
