Damon Hill

Damon Hill

Formula One World Championship career
Nationality	British
Active years	1992 - 1999
Teams	Brabham, Williams, Arrows, Jordan
Entries	122
Championships	1 (1996)
Wins	22
Podiums	42
Pole positions	20
Fastest laps	19
First entry	1992 British Grand Prix
First win	1993 Hungarian Grand Prix
Last win	1998 Belgian Grand Prix
Last entry	1999 Japanese Grand Prix

Damon Graham Devereux Hill, OBE commonly known as Damon Hill, is a British former race car driver and was the 1996 Formula One world champion. He was born in London on September 17, 1960, and is the son of the late, two time Formula One World Champion Graham Hill. He is the only son of a Formula One Grand Prix champion to win the championship himself. He took all but one of his 22 victories for the Williams team - including a victory at the 1994 British Grand Prix, a race his father never won. He also scored Jordan's first win and came within a few miles of being the only man to win a Grand Prix for the Arrows team and their Yamaha engine supplier at the 1997 Hungarian Grand Prix. Hill became president of the British Racing Drivers Club in 2006.

Early life

While in his teens Damon attended the prestigious Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School in Hertfordshire . The death of his father, double world champion Graham Hill, in a plane crash in 1975 when Damon was only 15 years old left the Hill family in drastically reduced circumstances. Hill worked as a labourer and a motorcycle courier to support his further education. He started to compete in motorcycle racing in 1981, winning the 350cc clubman's championship at Brands Hatch, he then took a course at the Winfield Racing School in France. Hill did not make his single-seater debut until 1984, wearing the blue and white colours of the London Rowing Club on his helmet as his father had done. He slowly graduated through Formula Ford, Formula Three and Formula 3000, winning 6 Formula Ford races, 10 Formula 3 races and never winning a F3000 race.

Formula One career

1992

Related Article: Brabham

In 1992, at the late age of 32, he broke into Grand Prix racing with the struggling Brabham team, managing to qualify for two mid-season Grands Prix: The British Grand Prix and the Hungarian Grand Prix. The Hungaroring would later be the scene of two victories for Hill and he would never again finish out of the points there. Hill was also the test driver for the dominant Williams-Renault team that year.

1993

Related Article: WilliamsF1

When Nigel Mansell left to drive IndyCars in 1993, Hill was promoted to the race team alongside Alain Prost ahead of more experienced candidate Martin Brundle. In his first full season of Formula One Hill benefited greatly from the vast experience of his veteran French team-mate. After four retirements in the first half of the season, as well as a tyre failure while leading the German Grand Prix, the Englishman went on to win three successive races in Hungary, Belgium - where he and Michael Schumacher had a thrilling race - and Italy. In doing so he became the first son of a Formula One Grand Prix winner to take victory himself.

"I think we can be close again, if not closer, to the Williams there. But congratulations to Damon. We had a brilliant race and he did a fantastic job" - Michael Schumacher speaking after Hill's victory at Spa '93

1994

In 1994 the legendary triple world champion Ayrton Senna joined Hill at Williams. The pre-season betting had been that Senna would coast to the title, but at Imola the Brazilian tragically died after his car went off the road. With the team undergoing investigation from the Italian authorities on manslaughter charges, Hill suddenly found himself team leader. Although Hill told BBC Sport in 2004 that he believed Senna simply took the corner too fast for the conditions, it was widely reported at the time that the car's steering column had failed. Under difficult circumstances Hill took an emotional win at the next race in Barcelona, much as his father had done 26 years earlier after the death of Jim Clark. Schumacher struggled to second with a gearbox fault, having comfortably lead the early laps.

Although Schumacher had dominated the early part of the season, Hill came back into contention for the title after winning the British Grand Prix, a race in which his late father had never tasted victory. Schumacher was disqualified from that race and banned for two further races for overtaking during the formation lap and ignoring a black flag. Four more victories for Hill, three of which were in races where Schumacher was banned or disqualified, took the title battle to the final event at Adelaide.

Neither he nor Schumacher finished the race after a controversial collision which gave the title to Schumacher. Hill was catching Schumacher when the German driver ran off the track while leading, seriously damaging his Benetton. Hill moved along the inside to pass the slow moving car at the next corner and the two collided, breaking the Williams' front left suspension wishbone, and forcing Hill's retirement from the race by his team. In 2003, the BBC conducted a search for "The Most Unsporting Moment", the incident in Adelaide was one of the proposed candidates for the award, Diego Maradona's "Hand of God" goal won the award in June 2003.

"...And there will be people of course who say as we see this replay of Schumacher going into the wall, that that was a desperate manouevre by Schumacher to stop Damon Hill from winning the championship..." - Murray Walker (Adelaide 94)

File:D hill.jpg

Damon Hill driving for the Williams Formula One team in Montreal in 1995

1995

For 1995 Hill was confident of title glory. The Williams team were reigning constructors champions having beaten Benetton in 1994 and with young David Coulthard as team-mate, he was undoubtedly the number one driver. The season started badly when he spun off in Brazil due to a mechanical problem, but a couple of wins put him in the championship lead. It was not to last. Schumacher hit top form and managed to successfully defend his title with two races to spare. To make matters worse, Williams lost the constructors championship. Hill had made several high profile errors in 1995 and it was around this time that Frank Williams began to consider bringing in Heinz-Harald Frentzen for the future. With Hill already under contract for 1996 his place at the team was secure for one more season, but it would prove to be his last at the Grove squad.

1996

In 1996 the Williams car was clearly the quickest in Formula Oneand Hill went on to win the title ahead of team-mate Jacques Villeneuve (in his first year in Formula One), becoming the first son of a Formula One champion to win the championship himself. Taking 8 wins and never qualifying off the front row, Hill enjoyed by far his best season. At Monaco, the legendary circuit where his father had been so dominant, he had been on course for victory before technical difficulties curtailed his race, Olivier Panis going on to take his one and only win. Despite a World Championship, Hill was dropped by Williams for the following season to the outrage of fans and media alike. Frentzen was his replacement.

"I've had some emotional moments in my years in Formula One, but none more so than the end of the 1996 Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka. 'I've Got to stop now', I said, 'because I've got a lump in my throat' as Damon Hill crossed the line to become world champion. You see, I'd known his father Graham, I'd watched him from his debut as a promising motorcycle racer to his dramatic years in Formula One, and I'd come to regard him as a friend. So his success, at the end of what I knew had been a long and very hard road, was very special to me" - Murray Walker, on Hill's victory in Suzuka

1997

Related Article: Arrows

At the British GP, Hill scored his first point for the Arrows team

As world champion Hill was in high demand, but surprisingly signed to Arrows, a team which had never won a race in its 20 year history and had scored only a single point the previous year. His title defence in 1997 proved unsuccessful. The car, using tyres from series debutant Bridgestone, was generally uncompetitive, but at Silverstone Hill scored his first point for the team. The highlight of the year came in Hungary. On a day when the Bridgestone tyres were competitive, Hill qualified third in a car which hadn't previously placed higher than 9th on the grid that year. During the race he passed Michael Schumacher on the track and was leading, well ahead of Villeneuve, late in the race when a hydraulic problem occurred in the Arrows, allowing Villeneuve to storm past and win. Hill salvaged second place and the team's first podium since the 1995 Australian Grand Prix.

"I nearly went through the roof in the commentary box" - Murray Walker speaking after the Hungarian Grand Prix

1998

Related Article: Jordan Grand Prix

Despite the excellent showing in Hungary, it was clear that Arrows could not provide Hill with the kind of success that he craved. For 1998 he switched to Jordan to partner Ralf Schumacher. The first half of the season was disastrous, the car off the pace and unreliable. In Canada however, things began to improve. Hill benefited from others misfortunes to lead the race and enjoyed a high speed duel with arch rival Michael Schumacher. He did not finish in Montreal, but had shown his speed once more. Finally at Hockenheim he scored his first points of 1998. At Spa he took Jordan's first ever win, leading home his team-mate in a 1-2 in drenching conditions. It was his first victory since being dropped by Williams. He went on to finish the year very strongly with a last lap move on Frentzen at Suzuka which earned him 4th place in the race, and Jordan 4th in the constructors championship.

File:DamonHill JordanGP1.jpg

Damon Hill in Jordan Grand Prix colours

1999

Hopes were high for 1999, but Hill did not enjoy a good season. Struggling with the new 4-grooved tyres, he was outpaced by team-mate Frentzen and appeared to lose motivation. After an inglorious crash at Montreal he announced plans to retire at the end of the year, but after a miserable French Grand Prix he considered quitting immediately. Jordan persuaded him to stay on for Silverstone at least, but going into the weekend Hill was talking of stopping after the race. Jordan had tested Jos Verstappen as a contingency for Hill retiring mid-season, but following a strong fifth place at his home event, the 1996 champion opted to see out the year. Only two more points were added, a sixth at Spa, scene of his last win, representing his final point in F1. With three races of 1999 to go, there were rumours that Prost would release Jarno Trulli (who had signed for Jordan in 2000) early to replace Hill, but Damon completed the season. His last race at Suzuka ended when he spun off the track and pulled into the pits to retire a healthy car, much to the dismay of the team. Many would agree that Hill spent a year too long in F1, but regardless of his unsuccessful final season, he ranks as one of the best drivers to have graced the sport and was a fully deserving world champion.

"We won't be seeing his famous blue helmet any more, with those knitted black brows and the intense brown eyes burning behind the visor" - Murray Walker on Hill's retirement

Notable battles between Hill and Michael Schumacher

Hill and Michael Schumacher have entertained the fans of Formula one racing with some spectacular races, here are the highlights of some of their most famous battles on the track:

• Spa 94: Schumacher won his eighth GP of the season at Spa, and was on his way home with a 35-point cushion over Hill when he got a call - his Benneton had been disqualified. The wooden plank underneath the car was worn beyond the tolerance allowed. Schumacher objected; Hill collected, his title hopes revitalised.
• Japan 94: One of Damon's greatest drives. Schumacher led the early stages of the rain-soaked event only for the race to be stopped after Brundle's McLaren crashed. Hill took over the lead at the re-start and pushed very hard to beat Michael in the wet.
• Adelaide 94: The incident everyone remembers. Michael entered the last race of '94 one point ahead of Damon - 92 to 91. Post-pitstop on lap 35, and after some serious pressure from Hill, Schumacher hit the wall. As he bounced back onto the track Hill went for the gap. Schumacher's Benetton cut across and they touched. Michael retired, as did Damon. The world title went to Schumacher: 92 plays 91.
• Silverstone 95: The pressure was really om Hill: he was at his home grand prix and Schumacher was leading the championship 46 points to Hill's 35 points. With 15 laps to go, Hill made an optimistic lunge at Schumacher into Priory. The inevitable collision happened and both retired. Hill described it as a "racing incident" while Schumacher said it was similar to Adelaide 94.
• Spa 95: Hill was on wets but Schumacher, after seeing Senna stay out on wets a few years before, decided to do the same. He won. But Hill was aggrieved at his driving tactics; they arrived side-by-side at Les Combes, contact was made and the accusations flew. Michael received a one-race suspension for his troubles.
• Monza 95: A real championship moment: on lap 24 Hill and Schumacher collided when trying to lap Taki Inoue. Neither accepted blame, but Hill did question why Schumacher was "suddenly doing nought miles an hour", while a majority of the Schumacher fans described it as a "stupid move" by Hill. The stewards didn't agree with Hill and this time he got a one-race ban.
• Nurburgring 95: Another decisive moment for Schumacher's title hopes. On lap 18 Hill attempted to overtake but Michael blocked and squeezed him to the edge of the track. Hill locked up and hit the back of the Benetton. "It's typical of the aggressive approach he has" said Hill. It was risky - Schumacher was racing under a suspended ban.
• Hungary 97: This was against the run of play: Hill in an uncompetitive Arrows pulled to the inside into the first corner to overtake Schumacher on lap 11. Damon was then on for a memorable win until his hydraulics failed. Qualifying third as well.
• Canada 98: Schumacher hit out at Hill, accusing him of "dangerously weaving" while they were dicing for second. Many were stunned at Schumacher's outburst; Hill said: "He always seem to be angry with me about something. We were racing for second; I made it difficult for him to pass".

Helmet

Damon Hill uses the same helmet design as his father, a simple, easily identifiable design of 8 white oar blades arranged vertically around the upper surface of the helmet, which is dark blue. The device and colours represent the London Rowing Club of which Graham and Bette Hill were both successful members and where they first met. Although Damon himself is not a rower he is proud to wear his father's colours and the club are happy for him to keep up the tradition.

The sponsors on Damon's helmet have been AGV (Helmet Manufacturer), Cellnet, Ricoh, Arai (Helmet Manufacturer), Camel, Olympus, Elf, Renault, Canon, Sega, Rothmans, Danka, Playstation, Remus, Delphi, Benson & Hedges and Hill sport.

Awards

Hill was the BBC Sports Personality of the Year twice, in 1994 and 1996 , one of only three people to achieve that feat. Boxer Henry Cooper and fellow Formula One driver Nigel Mansell being the other two to achieve the same feat.

Later life

Damon is married to Georgie (born 30 April 1963), and they have 4 children: Oliver (born 4 May 1989), Joshua (born 9 January 1991), Tabitha (born 16 July 1995) and Rosie (born 1 February 1998). Oliver was born with Down's Syndrome and Damon and Georgie are both active supporters of related charities, while Joshua learned skiing at the age of five at an Austria ski school. He didn't like it at first but after three days, he won a medal for going down a slalom course.

In retirement, Damon founded the high-performance car leasing business P1 International, based in Surrey, England, and has contributed many articles to the world's best-selling grand prix magazine, F1 Racing. He is also involved in a BMW dealership.He has raced both cars and motorcycles at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. In 2005 he tested the GP2 car, lapping impressively from the off. So far however, he has opted against a serious race comeback.

Hill also did an advert for Pizza Hut with Murray Walker. In which Walker commentates on Hill's meal as if it was a race. Walker first says, "and here comes the pasta", Hill then corrected him by saying, "It's a pizza, Murray", parodying the fact that Murray usually makes the occassional goof while commentating. At the end of the advert Walker said, in his commentary voice, "...and Hill finishes second...again...", parodying the 1994 and 1995 seasons, in reply to this Hill starts threatening Walker, to which Walker then replies, "..He's lost it...he's out of control..."

Hill appeared in the 2005 series of Top Gear in the UK in July, where he set a time of 1:46.3 around their course. While this was the fastest time at that point the record has since been broken by fellow former British F1 driver, Nigel Mansell, who attained a time of 1:44.6 . During the show, host Jeremy Clarkson made a joke about claims that Damon was in fact The Stig, by smelling Damon's breath and after a slight pause replied to the audience, "Yep...Magnesium", which is apparently one of The Stig's attributes. However, Damon himself stresses that he isn't the Stig, while many people have agreed with Damon, many still stick with the belief that he is the Stig.

In early 2006, Hill was nominated to succeed Jackie Stewart as President of the BRDC (British Racing Drivers Club). Owning Silverstone circuit, the BRDC as at crucial stage as it seeks to steer the future of the track and it's facilities whilst facing increased competition from newer international facilities abroad and even domestically. He successfully obtained this position in 2006 April.

In June 2006, Hill came to the aid of Britain's next hope for the Formula One title Jenson Button saying that the Honda F1 car is holding him back, not his driving ability.

Music career

Damon Hill has been interested in music all his life. When he found the time in his busy racing career, he often grabbed his guitar and played just for fun. He's played an awful lot for charities in different bands, but since his retirement at the end of the 1999 season, Hill set up a band called The Conrods. Now he has the time, he rocks around the world and the band performs often at parties.

It all started when he was at school. He formed with some friends the punk band "Sex, Hitler and the Hormones". Hill once joked in an interview that at that time they didn't go on tour because they didn't have mopeds. It was nothing serious but a good practice to learn to play the guitar.

Later he played a few times with ex-Beatle George Harrison. He was a good friend of Damon and they performed together for some TV shows. Joe Elliot, singer of the rock band Def Leppard, met Damon one day at a party. They were about to record their new album Euphoria and asked Hill to play along in one of the songs. The opening track of the album, Demolition Man, Damon plays a guitar solo on a Cortina-speed guitar. The solo is very good, although it is only 10 seconds long. Elliot describes the style of Damon as "a cross between the way Slash plays and Andy McCoy from Hanoi Rocks".

At the British Grand Prix, held in Silverstone each year, Damon has often played in front of an F1 fan crowd. It was in 1995 that he and fellow F1 racer Johnny Herbert had a fantastic show. In 1999 it seemed every one who attended the concert was wearing a Hill-cap, the traditional black cap with the white blades. Hill's team boss at that time, Eddie Jordan, starred on drums while Damon rocked his fans for the very last time at Silverstone.

One other band Damon played with, is the S.A.S. band. The band has a lot of guest performances. Hill appears on one live album of them.

The most recent and serious band Damon has played in is The Conrods. The band was formed some years ago and plays well known cover versions of songs from The Rolling Stones, Beatles and Kinks. Nothing obscure. Band members are Damon Hill (guitar), Josh Phillips (keyboards; Midge Ure & Whitesnake), Mark Brzezicki (drums; Big Country), Steve Brzezicki (bass; Scatman John), Robert Hart (vocals; Bad Company) and Steve Roux (guitar/vocals). 2002 has been a very busy year for the band, playing more than ever before.

Complete Formula One results

(key)

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	Team
1992	Brabham	RSA DNP	MEX DNP	BRA DNP	ESP DNQ	SMR DNQ	MON DNQ	CAN DNQ	FRA DNP	GBR 16	GER DNQ	HUN 11	BEL DNP	ITA DNP	POR DNP	JAP DNP	AUS DNP				Brabham
1993	Williams	RSA Ret	BRA 2	EUR 2	SMR Ret	ESP Ret	MON 2	CAN 3	FRA 2	GBR Ret	GER 15	HUN 1	BEL 1	ITA 1	POR 3	JPN 4	AUS 3				Williams
1994	Williams	BRA 2	PAC Ret	SMR 6	MON Ret	ESP 1	CAN 2	FRA 2	GBR 1	GER 8	HUN 2	BEL 1	ITA 1	POR 1	EUR 2	JPN 1	AUS Ret				Williams
1995	Williams	BRA Ret	ARG 1	SMR 1	ESP 4	MON 2	CAN Ret	FRA 2	GBR Ret	GER Ret	HUN 1	BEL 2	ITA Ret	POR 3	EUR Ret	PAC 3	JPN Ret	AUS 1			Williams
1996	Williams	AUS 1	BRA 1	ARG 1	EUR 4	SMR 1	MON Ret	ESP Ret	CAN 1	FRA 1	GBR Ret	GER 1	HUN 2	BEL 5	ITA Ret	POR 2	JPN 1				Williams
1997	Arrows	AUS Ret	BRA Ret	ARG Ret	SMR Ret	MON Ret	ESP Ret	CAN 9	FRA 12	GBR 6	GER 8	HUN 2	BEL 13	ITA Ret	AUT 7	LUX 8	JPN 11	EUR Ret			Arrows
1998	Jordan	AUS 8	BRA DSQ	ARG 8	SMR 10	ESP Ret	MON 8	CAN Ret	FRA Ret	GBR Ret	AUT 7	GER 4	HUN 4	BEL 1	ITA 6	LUX 9	JPN 4				Jordan
1999	Jordan	AUS Ret	BRA Ret	SMR 4	MON Ret	ESP 7	CAN Ret	FRA Ret	GBR 5	AUT 8	GER Ret	HUN 6	BEL 6	ITA 10	EUR Ret	MAL Ret	JPN WD				Jordan

Further reading

• Damon Hill, Damon Hill: Through the eyes of Damon Hill ISBN 0316853925
• David Tremayne, Damon Hill: World Champion ISBN 0297822624
• Alan Henry, Damon Hill: From Zero to Hero ISBN 1852605170

References

• Hall of Fame - Damon Hill www.formula1.com Retrieved 9 June 2006
• Klaus-Achim Peitzmeier Formula One: The 1999 Season Michael O'Mara Books ISBN 1854794639
• "Notable Battles Between Hill and Schumacher" taken from: Specials > Damon Hill Specials > The Battles Between Damon Hill and Michael Schumacher TheHillsForever. Retrieved 14 June 2006

All Formula One race and championship results are taken from:

• Official Formula 1 Website. Archive: Results for 1992 – 1999 seasons www.formula1.com Retrieved 6 June 2006

External links

• Damon's Exclusive Car Leasing Club
• Website of High School Damon used to attend
• A tribute to Damon Hill
• The Hills 4ever: a tribute to Graham and Damon Hill
• Damon Hill statistics
• DamonHill.de Template:De icon