Exactly ten years after his serious skiing accident, Michael Schumacher is on everyone’s lips. A former employee from the Formula 1 paddock has a strange story to tell about the motorsport legend. He was once stolen from Schumi.
At least that’s what Dave Freeman, once a sushi chef at Honda and other Formula 1 teams, said in an interview with the British “BBC”. According to his description, Schumacher often let him spoil him with culinary delicacies during his time at Ferrari.
“He had nothing to do with Honda, but he liked Japanese food. So his physio Balbir Singh came over regularly and got him a plate of sushi after qualifying,” said the chef.
He then got Schumacher a Japanese sushi platter especially “to make it really special for him,” says Freeman.
But then the mother of the seven-time Formula 1 world champion died during a racing weekend in San Marino.
“He ate my food on Saturday and then flew out to be with her. The next day he came back and won the race,” Freeman said. “But I didn’t get my plate back, so after the race I went to Balbir and asked: ‘Where’s my plate?’ He said, ‘Oh, Michael took it on the plane and now it’s at his house.’ I replied jokingly: ‘That’s nice, it cost me a hundred.'”
Formula 1: That’s why Michael Schumacher was “really, really great”
Five minutes later, one of Schumacher’s employees came with a checkbook and paid off the F1 icon’s debts, Freeman recalled. “A while after that I saw Michael in Monaco and said: ‘Where’s my record, you thief?!’ We both had a really good laugh about it.”
The former Formula 1 chef has fond memories of Michael Schumacher, who disappeared from the public eye after his accident. The German was “really, really great,” said Freeman, who also shared an anecdote from the legendary 2003 season finale in Japan.
“It was the last race, it was the duel between Ferrari and Williams, the situation was tense,” reflects the then employee of the traditional British racing team. “Balbir came into our motorhome and said, ‘Michael wants to take a photo with you.’ I had my Williams clothes on and went into the Ferrari garage. Michael came to me and said, ‘Dave, I wanted to thank you, let’s take a picture.’ I had it framed and had him sign it with the dedication ‘for my sushi’.”