Jul 30 2009
Formula One: Schumacher-Hill rivalry to be revived as both drivers announce comeback
Hot on the heels of the shock news that Michael Schumacher will return to Formula One, Damon Hill has also announced he shall once again be donning the goggles to go head to head with his bitter foe for a final time.
In the 1990s, the pair were the subject of much attention on and off the track, employing close-to-the-knuckle techniques to outdo each other both mentally and physically. Though Schumacher usually came out on top, the thrill of the chase was all rather good fun for the F1 punters.
In typical evil villain style, Hill immediately called a press conference at which he stated his intentions in no uncertain terms.
I cannot let that Sunday driver get away with this! The fact I haven’t driven a car with more than 55 horse powers for almost a decade does not matter one jot, for I must thwart his dastardly attempts at world domination! To the Hillmobile! — Damon Hill
Of the news, Schumacher was actually rather cheesed off.
Blasted sponger. This just confirms my presumption that Damon is still attempting to make money from our so called ‘rivalry’, which was no more than a squabble over who gets to buy the other doughnuts after the race.
Yeah, the press like to build these things up into huge events, when in actual fact it was all a glorified arm wrestle. Granted, with hugely powerful and expensive cars, but it was all rather petty in the grand scheme of things. — Michael Schumacher
Schumacher went on to describe his failsafe Rock, Paper, Scissors technique against Hill.
He always picked rock first. You could set your calendar by him - in the end I usually took pity on the fool and just forfeited, letting him have the blasted doughnuts. Haha, English weakling! — Schumacher
Racing commentator Murray Walker is rubbing his hands, not to mention his chest — he has a rather nasty exhaust-fume induced cough — at the thought of the two going wheel to wheel again.
It’ll be just like old times, except this time, they’ll both be challenging for nineteenth place. That makes it all the more exciting. Who will crash out first? My money is on Hill… taken out by Schumacher. — Murray Walker
The eleventh race in the 2009 Formula One calendar takes place in under a month’s time in Valencia, Spain. The foes have a limited time in which to ready their cars with booby traps, in-built stingers and the like to outdo the competition, Super Mario Kart-style.
