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Thursday March 26, 2009

Glock received threats when Hamilton became world champ

BERLIN: Timo Glock was a victim of personal threats after Lewis Hamilton passed him in the closing stages of last year’s Brazilian Grand Prix to secure the Formula One drivers’ title, the German said on Tuesday.

Briton Hamilton overtook Glock, who had stayed on dry-weather tyres, a few hundred metres from the finish to grab fifth place in the race.

“This was not a pretty way to end the season,” Glock told the Darmstaedter Echo newspaper as he prepared for Sunday’s Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne.

“The reactions from many German fans were very bad. It seems there are many racist people who did not like seeing Hamilton become world champion.

“The reactions ranged from ‘we know where your parents live’ to ‘you belong in the gas chamber’,” added the Toyota driver.

McLaren driver Hamilton, the sport’s first black champion, has occasionally been the target for racial abuse and last November his father Anthony said the taunting had made him doubt whether his son should be competing in Formula One.

“I did think maybe this is not the place for my family,“ Hamilton senior told the Daily Express newspaper.

“I have never said it to Lewis, you just go home and think ‘I didn’t think the world was like this’.” — Reuters

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