Timo Glock explains why he avoids discussing Brazil 2008 with Lewis Hamilton

Timo Glock and Lewis Hamilton are inextricably linked after ‘that’ pass at the final corner of the 2008 season, but they have not spoken about it – partly because Glock does not want to interrupt Hamilton in the paddock on race weekends.

On this day 14 years ago, Hamilton overtook the Toyota driver at the final corner on the last lap at Interlagos on a wet track surface, with Glock having opted to stay out on dry tyres to try and make it to the end.

But Hamilton’s McLaren was on much faster intermediates at the time, and reeled in the Toyota to gain the crucial position he needed to beat Felipe Massa to the title at the last possible moment.

It was one of the most dramatic ends to a season in Formula 1 history, but it has not been a topic of conversation between the two since that day – and Glock revealed their first chat for a long time took place in Belgium in August.

“Not really, no,” Glock told the Beyond the Grid podcast when asked if he and Hamilton had discussed the events of Interlagos.

“Somehow [at] the last two race weekends when I was at the track, I met him at Spa, I walked in through the gate and I just looked at my phone and then someone says ‘hey, Timo, how are you?’ And I was looking left, right and then it’s Lewis.

“I didn’t talk to him since I don’t know how many years, let’s say. Now I met him when I played table tennis against George Russell, having a quick sort of chat.

“He’s in his world when he’s at a race weekend and it feels like he doesn’t want to be attacked by someone, let’s say, or have a little chat, and I don’t want to disturb him in the way how he approaches his weekend.

“So I would never go there and ask him to have a chat with him about 2008 now. If it happens, it happens. If not, it doesn’t.”

Given how close to the end the overtake happened, conspiracy theories flew around about Glock somehow helping Hamilton towards the title and denying Massa in the process, but the German has long denied thoughts surrounding that – as he explained.

“It didn’t change my confidence in myself. I just couldn’t understand why people thought I would help or I would have made Lewis the World Champion,” he said.

“I was trying for Toyota. Why should I make Lewis the World Champion? There was no way I could have been involved in anything because I just drove my race and I tried to make the best of it.

“I could not understand what people were thinking, that I did it on purpose. I had no clue where I was in the race.”

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