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.

Hill's professional career began in 1983, where he took part in motorcycle racing, winning the 350cc Clubman's cup at Brands Hatch in 1984. A year later, Damon moved onto 4 wheel open-wheel racing with Team Van Diemen, in the Formula Ford championship, before moved up again into the UK Formula 3 championship in 1986, winning 10 races in total. After 3 seasons in Formula 3, Hill moved up another tier in open wheel racing by joining Mooncraft in the International Formula 3000 championship, where, although often competitive he never won a race.

Hill started his Formula One career with the then back of the grid Brabham team in 1992. He went on to take his first win at the 1993 Hungarian Grand Prix for the Williams team, the first of 22 victories, of which 21 were for Williams. In 1994 he won the British Grand Prix, a race his father never won in his long and successful career. During the mid 1990s, Hill was Michael Schumacher's main rival for the Formula One driver's championship, finishing runner-up in the German's 1994 and 1995 title seasons. The two had a series of controversial clashes on and off track, including the famous collision at Adelaide in 1994 that gave Schumacher his first title.

Hill was dropped by Williams after winning his world championship in 1996. He went on to record the Jordan team's first win at the 1998 Belgian Grand Prix and came within a few miles of being the only driver to win a Grand Prix for the Arrows team and their Yamaha engine supplier at the 1997 Hungarian Grand Prix.

In 2006, Hill became president of the British Racing Drivers Club, taking over from Jackie Stewart.

Personal and 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.

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.

Career

Pre-Formula One career

Hill started his motorsport career in motorcycle racing in 1983, 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, racing for Team Van Diemen and winning six races for the team. Hill then moved up into Formula Three where he raced for three different teams in three years, taking six wins for Mooncraft in 1986 and brace of wins in each of the following years for Middlebridge Racing and then Intersport. In 1989 Hill moved up to Formula 3000, racing for Mooncraft and then Middlebridge Racing over the next three years. Although Hill ran at the front with the unfavoured Lola chassis for Middlebridge in 1991 he did not win a race during his Formula 3000 career.

Formula One career

1992 - Brabham

Related Article: Brabham Racing Organisation

In 1992, at the late age of 32, Hill broke into Grand Prix racing with the struggling Brabham team which was then owned by Middlebridge Group Ltd, parent company of his former F3000 team. He started the season after three races, replacing Giovanna Amati whose sponsorship had failed to materialise. Amati had not been able to get the car through qualifying but Hill did manage 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.

1993-1996 - Williams

Related Article: WilliamsF1

1993

When Nigel Mansell left Williams 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 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 found himself team leader with only a season’s experience in the top flight. 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 for Lotus after the death of Jim Clark. Schumacher struggled to second with a gearbox fault, having comfortably led the early laps.

Although Schumacher 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 had just come through the fifth corner of the track when he saw Schumacher returning to the racing line. Coming into the sixth corner Hill moved to the inside to pass the slow moving car and the two collided, breaking the Williams' front left suspension wishbone, and forcing Hill's retirement from the race by his team. Schumacher has been blamed by the UK public for the incident - 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. Hill's 1994 season earned him the 1994 BBC Sports Personality of the Year.

"...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 manoeuvre 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 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 One and 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 allowing Ligier driver Olivier Panis to take his one and only win. Hill's 1996 world championship earned him his second BBC Sports Personality Of The Year Award, making Hill one of only three people ever to receive the award twice – the others being Boxer Henry Cooper and fellow Formula One driver Nigel Mansell, 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 - Arrows

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, and Hill did not score his first point for the team until the British Grand Prix at Silverstone in July. The highlight of the year came at the Hungarian Grand Prix. On a day when the Bridgestone tyres had a competitive edge over their Goodyear rivals, Hill qualified third in a car which hadn't previously placed higher than 9th on the grid. During the race he passed world championship contender Michael Schumacher on the track and was leading, well ahead of the eventual 1997 world champion Villeneuve, late in the race when a hydraulic problem slowed the Arrows drastically. This allowed Villeneuve to storm past and win although 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

1998-1999 - Jordan

Related Article: Jordan Grand Prix

1998

Despite the excellent showing in Hungary, it was clear that Arrows could not provide Hill with the kind of success that he was used to. 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.

"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 clashed frequently on the track in the mid 1990s:

• Japan 1994: 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, the acknowledged ‘rain master’, in the wet and take the title fight to the final race of the season in Australia.
• Adelaide 1994: Michael entered the last race of 1994 one point ahead of Damon - 92 to 91. While leading from Hill, who was closing the gap, Schumacher went off the track and hit the wall. He returned to the track in the badly damaged car and as Hill tried to pass him at the next corner the two collided. Michael retired, as did Damon and the world title went to Schumacher by a single point.
• Silverstone 1995: At his home grand prix and trailing Schumacher by 11 points in the championship, Hill attempted to pass the German going into Priory 11 laps from the end of the race. The two collided again and both retired. Hill described it as a "racing incident" while Schumacher said it was similar to Adelaide 1994.
• Spa 1995: The two made contact at Les Combes. On this occasion Schumacher received a one-race suspension.
• Monza 1995: 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. Hill received a one-race ban.
• Nurburgring 1995: On lap 18 Hill attempted to overtake Schumacher 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.
• Hungary 1997: After qualifying third in the usually uncompetitive Arrows, Hill passed Schumacher cleanly on the inside on lap 11 going into the first corner before pulling away into the lead of the race.
• Canada 1998: Schumacher accused Hill of "dangerously weaving" while they were dicing for second. Hill said: "He always seems 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 has said that 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.

Later life

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 occasional 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 (the programme's anonymous tame racing driver), by smelling Damon's breath and after a slight pause replying to the audience, "Yep...Magnesium", which is apparently one of the Stig's attributes. Hill himself stresses that he is not the Stig, but many continue to believe the claims.

In early 2006, Hill was nominated to succeed Jackie Stewart as President of the BRDC (British Racing Drivers Club). The BRDC, owner of the Silverstone circuit, is at a crucial stage as it seeks to steer the future of the track and its facilities while 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. He formed the punk band "Sex, Hitler and the Hormones" with some friends while at school. Hill once joked in an interview that at that time they didn't go on tour because they didn't have mopeds.

After achieving success in Formula One Damon played several times with ex-Beatle George Harrison. They became friends and performed together for some TV shows. Damon also recorded with rock band Def Leppard after meeting their lead singer Joe Elliott at a party. Hill was asked to play on the opening track of the album Euphoria, Demolition Man in which he delivers a 10 second guitar solo on a Cortina-speed guitar. Elliot described Damon's style as "a cross between the way Slash plays and Andy McCoy from Hanoi Rocks".

During his racing career Damon often played in front of a crowd of Formula One fans at the British Grand Prix at Silverstone. In 1995 he was joined by fellow Formula One racer Johnny Herbert. In 1999 Hill's team boss at the time, Eddie Jordan, starred on drums while Damon played for his fans for the very last time at Silverstone. Damon has also played with the S.A.S. band, which has many guest performances. Hill appears on one of their live albums.

Damon's most recent band was The Conrods which was active up to 2003. The band was formed after his retirement from racing at the end of the 1999 season and played well known cover versions of songs from The Rolling Stones, Beatles and Kinks. Band members were 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). The band performed at Grands Prix, Formula One social events and in various smaller venues as well as on several TV programmes.

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

All Pre-Formula One race and championship results are taken from:

• The Formula One Database - Damon Hill F1db.com. Retrieved 12 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