When an F1 Champion Was Thrown Into a Pakistan Prison: “We Spent New Year’s Eve Behind Bars”

F1 world champions usually celebrate their title wins in grand fashion. However, there was one F1 world champion — Graham Hill — who unfortunately had to celebrate his 1962 title behind bars.

As crazy as that may sound, that is exactly what happened and it is not that Hill committed any atrocious crime. After winning the championship in East London (South Africa) on December 29, 1962, Hill was keen to compete in an F1 race in New Zealand, which was not a part of the Formula 1 calendar.

29 DECEMBER, 1962

There was a time when we had #F1 races in late December

Graham Hill wins in South Africa to clinch the world championship#OnThisDay #OTD pic.twitter.com/HhQLwYZAfL

— Formula 1 (@F1) December 29, 2017

With the race in New Zealand set to take place on January 5, 1963, he did not have much time to get there. What made it harder for him to travel there was that direct flights were rare back then due to the shorter range of airplanes.

So, after a stopover in Nairobi from South Africa, Hill and one of his companions arrived in Karachi, Pakistan — where they were going to board another flight to Sydney.

Since their flight was delayed, the Pakistani authorities got time to check the traveling duo’s documents. Since Pakistan required travelers to have a yellow fever vaccination and Hill and his companion did not have it, the authorities then put them behind bars on New Year’s Eve.

Despite having such a horrific New Year’s Eve celebration, Hill revealed he was in good spirits because Pakistanis were good hosts. As per Speedweek, Hill said,

“The Pakistanis turned out to be very accommodating hosts, apart from the accommodation. We ordered a bottle of brandy, which was empty in no time, and then another one straight away. So we spent New Year’s Eve behind bars, but in increasingly good spirits”.

While Hill was released shortly after, what made things worse for him was that he put in so much effort to get to a race in New Zealand that ultimately did not go too well as he retired on the last lap.