Seven-time Formula 1 world champion Michael Schumacher hasn`t been seen in public since suffering a severe brain injury while skiing in the French Alps a decade ago.
According to the latter, Michael Schumacher believed that David Coulthard tried to kill him during a Formula 1 race.
Coulthard made the sensational claims in a new documentary about the seven-time world champion, Being Michael Schumacher, scheduled to be released next month on German broadcaster ARD. The incident occurred at the 1998 Belgian Grand Prix.
Coulthard and Schumacher were involved in an accident during the race. The latter was his first attempt at a third world title with Ferrari, and he needed to win the race at Spa-Francorchamps to keep the pressure on championship leader Mika Hakkinen.
However, Schumacher was forced to retire due to a collision with Coulthard. The latter revealed that Schumacher was furious and claimed the accident was intentional. Coulthard was a teammate of Schumacher’s title rival Hakkinen at McLaren.
Hakkinen also retired from the Belgian GP. As quoted by The Sun, Coulthard recalled in the documentary series: “Michael thought it was some sort of conspiracy to kill him and try and help my teammate Mika. But it was just an accident. It was just one of those things.”
This leaves Schumacher seven points behind Hakkinen with three races left (a win would give him 10 points). Hakkinen won his first world title with wins in Luxembourg and Japan, and won back-to-back titles the following year.
Schumacher understands the importance of the Belgian Grand Prix and was visibly angry in the pit lane after the accident. German told reporters at the time: “David is a good driver, so I can’t understand why he acted like that at all.”
He is also shown speaking to the group. He said: “I don’t understand him (Schumacher). He accused me again of wanting to kill him. He has to take it back, it’s possible.”
Schumacher eventually won F1 with Ferrari, winning five consecutive championships from 2000 to 2004, in addition to the two he won with Benetton in 1994 and 1995. Coulthard believes Schumacher’s ruthlessness was the key to his success.
He added in the documentary: “Schumacher could be very ruthless, he could be ruthless, he could be cold, he could be distant. I think that’s probably the level he needs to be successful. He probably understands where the limits were.” I had the same opinion as other riders.
Schumacher retired from his F1 in 2012 and suffered a skiing accident in the French Alps a year later. As a result, he suffered severe brain damage, but his family has provided little information about it for the past 10 years. He has not been seen in public since the accident.
In a 2021 Netflix documentary about Schumacher’s life and career, Schumacher’s wife Corinna revealed that her husband was “different, but still here.” She added: “He still shows me his strength every day. We try to carry on as a family.”