@@markmatthews7202 he never had the support of his team, and yet still essentially equaled Hakkinen's record minus one WDC decider, who was 10 years younger and very much had McLaren behind him with more "Neweymobiles" as they used to call those cars. Hill was also never gifted two wins and I doubt he'd have had as much trouble beating Edmond Irvine to a WDC. Hill was nothing but underrated IMO.
Exactly. Only few greatest drivers were able to do that in racing history. That car was awful, utterly unreliable and poor. I was devastated at the end.
Another good "heartbreak" race is the 1990 French Grand Prix which March (or Leyton House) dominated for most of the race, only to lose out three laps from the end when the engine misfired and robbed Ivan Capelli of his first ever win. What's even more shocking was neither Leyton had even qualified for the previous round in Mexico.
Funny to come across your comment. I saw a video in another channel where Adrian Newey was testing the MP 4/19 and the Leyton House he designed and he mentions that he had to pit after a few laps because of an engine misfire lol.
I was working in a bar in my home town when this happened, and I used to stick the F1 on the big screen with the sound off, so that I could watch it at work - we mostly had a football crowd, and I was normally the only one who did. During this race, we had the crowd for the football match that was on afterwards start turning up, and when they found out what was going on, this ended up being the only time that we had the whole place glued to the motor racing.
I like to think of them groaning in unison as the final pass happens.... I'm an American who has only been following for about a year (not a Netflix convert, just started watching some of the great F1 YTers)...It seems to my limited understanding that Damon Hill was really underappreciated/undervalued his whole career. Was that the case? I mean, I get that he had already been replaced via contracts before/as he won his championship...but there really wasn't anyone besides Arrows willing to take him onboards?
@@extragoogleaccount6061 It was Britain, so there was swearing rather than groaning. My appraisal of Hill was 'great at setting up a fast car, sticking it on pole, banging in consistent laps and winning from the front (which are the skills of a good test driver), rubbish at everything else'. He was always quite popular in Britain, because we're suckers for people who aren't that good, but try hard anyway.
Damon really earned the win with that drive. It was a heartbreaker for sure. I remember Villeneuve in the interviews after the race describing his thinking as the laps wound down, saying "ok Damon's car should be giving up about now, but he just kept on going." The sight of the two friends on the podium together is still a favorite memory.
Damon himself said something along the lines of "I felt that if the car broke down in the next 5 laps, I'd had had a good day just by leading. But it kept going." For the last few laps the car was basically on tickover, and Damon was afraid to brake in case it caused the revs to drop to such a point where the engine would cut out
For every Hill fan, this video is too soon. I think this was the race that actually broke him in F1 and he was mostly going through the motions with Jordan (the exception being Spa '98) before retiring the healthy car at the 1999 Japanese Grand Prix and giving up F1.
@@AndyFromBeaverton Frank Williams may have had his records and his ideas, but I never liked him because of how he treated his employees and drivers, especially Damon Hill.
Back in 1997, I was the only French Canadian who wasn't cheering for Villeneuve, because I was already a Hill fan before he showed up and I was massively pissed off at the way he got dumped by Williams, just when he delivered a championship no less... It was such a wild day that ended in heartbreak, but in hindsight I'm glad Damon got to get his redemption win with Jordan.
Remember being at my grandparents' place for that weekend. Had to pinch myself that Damon had even managed to get that shitbox of an Arrows anywhere near the front of the grid. Prett sure I lost my mind along with Murray when he took the lead...this was Damon's chance to shut a lot of people up. I'd like to think his performance that day still did.
Yeah, I remember it being during a break, but presumably they kept commentating during the break for the other channels around the world which used their commentary.
Fun fact: who was 4th in qualifying at that years finale in Jerez? Damon. Of course the biggest story was the top 3 all had the same lap time. Damon was just .058 of a second away from those 3. Imagine the scenes If Damon had taken pole 😱
Everytime I see 1997 Hungarian GP I still think Hill is gonna do it. It is always so heart breaking to see him breaking down. I say it was Hill's best ever race performance in F1 I think.
It was truly an impressive drive. For my money, Suzuka '94 gets the nod for Hill's best drive. Considering the conditions, confusion, and what was at stake with who was chasing him for the win, it was a tremendous day. As time goes on, my appreciation for Hill as a driver and as a man grows. TOP man!
@@jonnyspa27 the reason why I think Hungary 97 was his best is that he was able to fight in an underdeveloped car. Critics would say Damon Hill only won cos he was in the best car technically at Williams etc etc.
@@kevinprior3549 More than fair. That drive @ Hungaroring '97 really raised the bar in understanding just how good Damon was for many. It's harder to get a handle on how good a driver is in F1. "Is it mainly the car? Is the driver able to make up for the car's shortcomings?" Since there are typically large differences from the front to the back of the field, we don't often get to see moments like Suzuka '94 or Hungaroring '97 for most drivers. I'm glad we were able to enjoy these moments along the way with Damon!
"aaannddd going through and DAMON HILL LEADS OOH BOY!!" That piece of Murrays commentary has stayed with me all my life. Mention this race and its the first thing that comes to mind. Goosebumps everytime..
Yeah, as soon as Murray bursts into life with "YES! It looked as if Damon almost nudged the Ferrari MOVE OVER you can hear him saying!" it's pure goosebumps material. Although, trying not to sound like a dick, I have to correct you in that it's "I'm going through" 😜
I won a competition to meet Damon at the Autosport International in Birmingham, January 1997. Where we had our photo took with the other winners. Having just recently been world champion, and as we know you can't stop at Williams if your that successful. He told me the 1997 car he had was not great but you just watch me go at Hungary, he said it was one of his favourite tracks
Crazy what if. If Damon's car doesn't break and the rest of the season goes the same then Schumacher enters Jerez with a 5 point lead and doesn't feel compelled to crash into Villeneuve. Schumacher holds onto 2nd and wins the title by 1 point.
But Frentzen and the McLarens were also catching Schumi at Jerez. Harry-Heinz would've done all he could to help his teammate, which may well have led to the pair making contact and putting Michael out. But things happened as they did and we got the result we ended up with.
I remember this distinctly. I was 12, in Dublin airport on my way to visit family in London. While making our way to the waiting lounge (back when flying was still a little special) we walked past David Bowie and his wife! I knew who he was because I had just discovered my Dad's music collection and I was listening non stop to Bowie and Zeppelin. I got to the lounge, asked the staff where he had been sitting, and then sat in the seat Bowie had just vacated and watched the closing laps of this grand prix. A great day. Still gutted for Hill though.
As a Schumacher fan back in the days I was definitely no friend of Damon Hill but he fucking deserved that win in Hungary '97. It was heart breaking and unfair.
I´m a German and was a big Schumacher Fan back then. Needless to say I didn´t like Hill at all at that Time but even I cheered for Him and Arrows during the Race.
The very reason 1997 was and still is my favourite season. School holidays in summer and playing F1 on the Playstation and getting to see a brilliant season. That race though was utterly heart breaking. Louis Goodman reporting the Arrows problem from the garage made my heart sink. I had a brief moment of hope that Villeneuve was going to spin out when he overtook on the grass
I was working with a German friend in 1997. I told him on the Thursday before this race that I thought Hill would win. I just had a feeling, and he was one of those specialists at Hungary, which that circuit seems to have. The Bridgestones seemed to like these tedious circuits with hairpins too. He laughed. Of course he reminded me on Monday that Schumacher won. I still felt I called it. I was at the 1981 Long Beach GP, where Patrese probably came the next closest to a win for Arrows too.
I was eight when I watched this race. It remains my most painful sporting memory. Even now when Hungary 97 pops up on TH-cam I find myself hoping I’ve crossed into a timeline where the throttle lasted…
One of the most underrated F1 drivers ever, because he's nice, he doesn't have an edge to him, and that's why people don't rate him, which frankly is stupid. 🏁🍾👏
I also remember the overtake happening during the ITV ad breaks. The first time they'd "missed" an overtake for the lead. It was obviously played as soon as the ads had stopped.
I knew a guy from Eastern Europe, huge Hill's fan who knew the F1 history back and forth. In 1997 he finally got to see his first GP in person. In Budapest. He was like 'yeah, but I really hoped I could see Hill fighting for the lead in a championship winning car'. Now he's happy he was there when and where the history was made :)
Great videos! This one definitely opens old wounds. Damon was incredible that day! Murray was more excited than I've ever heard him! Such a cruel finish
I have been an avid f1 fan for over 35 years. This was definitely one of the best drives I have ever seen. I’m a big Schumacher fan. But I gotta give it to Damon. Fabulous performance.
Visited the factory the week after this race, was shown an example of the part that had failed. Remember a note from Damon to the team pinned to the wall thanking them for their support. Was quite a downbeat atmosphere there so soon after the race, however it was a very impressive facility full of fantastic people. Such a shame what ultimately happened to Arrows/TWR. At the end of the day an incredible achievement to come 2nd but was so close.
I remember the ITV coverage had commercial breaks during the race, and Hill's pass on Schumacher happened during one of those breaks, so we had to make do with seeing a replay.
I remember watching that live as a 10 year old at my Dad's place. Was devastated that his car starting breaking down. I think he had a 40 second lead at one point in the Arrows. It is the equivalent of a Haas nearly winning today.
I remember Damon forcing Jacques onto the grass and the Williams kicking up dirt in a desperate attempt to hang on to the lead but they were all smiles and hugged it out after the race.
Thank you for mentioning Frentzen's 1 stop hard Goodyears gamble that would probably have won him the race if not for reliability too, a lot of people forget this when talking about this race.
I remember visiting my uncle when this was on. I hardly ever saw him, since he was in England and my family lived in Aberdeen. Anyway, I remember my mother being really annoyed with me when I was glued to this race rather than socialising with everyone else.
I was fan of Damon Hill and this even today saddens me, I've noticed you've got Damon Hill's book behind you and in there he talks about this race. It was a part that costed 50p it was a washer from the gear box I believe, a mechanic noticed that this particular part was wearing out (how I don't know) he wanted to replace it but team management declined the idea saying that Tom Walkinshaw wanted the car on the grid as early as possible to get the necessary media coverage of Hill qualifying 3rd. What they didn't fully show that day was how close Damon came to actually retiring from the GP, (If anyone is interested it's shown on the 1997 Review of the season DVD) I still remember Murray Walker saying "We've got news from Louise Goodman, how's it it going for Damon Louise and her reply was "It's not going very well for Damon...."" It was a sad day to be a Hill fan. Damon's win in Spa 1998 was great!
Fun fact : If Damon had won the race, Michael Schumacher would have been the Champion in 1997. A second place in Jerez would have been enough for the title. ;)
I remember watching that race Murry must have been bouncing off the walls in his box. The throttle failure was a disaster and Damon couldn't have looked more down as he looked at the car when he got out of it, but then people hadn't really got electric throttles in their heads they thought put the cable back on.
Just been watching the Triathlon for the Commonwealth games. And remembered the streets of Birmingham used to host Formula 3000 and touring cars (and hence featured some quite-big-names) - there must be a video in there, especially given it's not far from your part of the world.
Despite being the son of an F1 world champion Damon was very much the normal bloke in F1, loved him when on the podium in Hungary (edit: after his maiden win) he asked, “what happens now?”. Always been a hero of mine and I feel genuinely privileged to have met him. Only wish I could apologise to him as I cheered when his engine blew in Silverstone in ‘93 as we all thought it was Prost 😂
I never liked Damon but this was a hell of a drive. This was his greatest drive and the one that justifies his championship above all others. It might have made getting mauled by Frentzen in 99 a bit less bitter
@@AidanMillward Ah, I didn't know that, I'm also a bit of a Frentzen Stan so there may have been a little bias there. Hungary 97 was still a great drive though
It still hurts, first time in sport I remember feeling like this. I rewatched the race a few years back and even though you knew he was gonna break down towards the end you still believe he’s gonna do it.
I can hear Murray walkers commentary on that day in my head right now I thought he might actually explode when hill stuck it in at turn 1 Too soon mr millward Too soon
I've had to build up my courage to watch this. I have most of that race engraved in my brain. I cried that day. Like many Damon fans, I took it worse than he did! 💔 I don't blame you for doing this but yes, it's still too soon! 😰 I think it's one of the greatest displays of his very underrated (particularly by those who only see the stats) skills.
My memories at that point: watching in the living room on the chair, with others on the sofa, not necessarily with lunch, it depended on the day. Race likely being taped to watch again and again on the TV in mum and dad's room until the next race, then tape over it with that one. Repeat. And when ITV took their multiple ad breaks, switch over to RTE to continue watching the action. They would typically only take one break in a race, around two thirds distance and upon returning, remain until the chequered flag. This happened the year before I started, so for years I only saw brief clips accompanied by the oft-repeated "OH BOY!" by Murray Walker. Sky then had the full race to watch in its Classic F1 series, and the full race is on F1TV, interestingly with the commentary as live, so including the famous line as other countries heard it live before then rejoining ITV with Jim Rosenthal declaring "Drama at the Hungarian Grand Prix", and Simon Taylor going over a replay before handing back to Murray. What a crazy event this race was, and how confusing was it for some watching for Damon to slow like that without context, while most English speakers learned of the problem as it was getting worse and worse. I wonder if RTE knew what was going on and why or if it was out of the blue for them. No footage exists of their feed, as far as I know. I recently saw a clip of the Japanese commentary, though, and their screaming as Irvine and Nakano came to blows and Nakano scored a point, celebrating as if he'd won the race. Martin Brundle's description of the technology and the throttle potentiometer sticks in my mind as it's a relatively long winded explanation that might have left people scratching their heads wondering how bad it is exactly. It crossed my mind as Leclerc had his throttle issues in Austria. It's been a running gag in our house: "He's got a problem with his potentiometer!" "Sounds painful!" This was on the level of Maldonado in Spain in 2012. As David Coulthard likes to say, "On this day in history", Arrows had the tyres and the set up nailed, the big names didn't, and the stage was set for an upset, except on this occasion, it didn't happen.
Another heartbreaking story that isn't necessarily as well known is the 1998 rally GB. It was a showdown between Tommi Makinen and Carlos Sainz('s dad, Carlos Sainz snr) both 2 time WRC champions going for a third at the last round of the year (rally GB). Makinen retired early on when he hit a rock and ripped off his right rear wheel, he tried to limp the car to service but the local police, not being fans of 3 wheeled rally cars, forced him to retire. As a result going into the last 2 stages Makinen's title hopes were all but over, because all Carlos and Toyota had to do was finish 4th, a position he was holding comfortably. but with just over 1km of the rally to go and just 300m away from service, Sainz's car lost power and trundled to an undignified and fiery halt. suddenly giving Makinen his 3rd WRC title out of nowhere. The footage that says it all is Sainz's co driver throwing his crash helmet through the rear window in frustration and yeah that one must have hurt...
Damon was a bloody good driver who never gets the credit he deserves. Just like his father he had to hold a team together after the death of his team mate.
I think for me the sight of Badoer in tears as his engine conked out while in 4th was tough. Murray saying that Badoer "was doing a Hakkinen" seemed just so completely lacking in taste....I mean yeah Gene scored a point in the end but they should've got the 4th that day. You watch the 1980 Monaco GP and the Derek Daly incident is referred to by Murray as a "Holocaust of cars" and...wow....just imagine social media's reaction if it was said in a modern day context.
On the whole tires argument: The next highest Bridgestone runners were 11th in Q and 6th in the Race. So the tires played a role but it was still Damon making the absolute most of the situation. Prost, Stewart and Minardi has the same advantage but did not star on this day. So it feels more than a little just haterish to render the performance down to just the tires. And I say this as not a Hill fan (I rather like the man personally but as a driver he does make my worst champions list where he had a lot going in his favor in 96 and the failures of 94,95 and a an astoundingly bad 99 due have to count) but on this day he was a superstar.
hey aiden speaking of 97, please can we have a look at mclarens season, a season where the engine was fast yet stupidly unreliable, they really could have won between 6-8 races that season....i belive mika retired from the lead 3 times that season.
Aidan, a question for you, mate. Posting this separately because it's just not fun looking at my other comment. I genuinely had to steel myself overnight to watch this video! (Ever the Damon fangirl ;) It's why since then, I'm a "let the best driver win" sort of person. It hurts too much despite Spa '98...) Re Hungary - I have it in my head that it's a great track for first time winners (JB?), especially drivers who excelled on technical tracks more than just fast ones (I'm not suggesting that they didn't win at fast ones, just that technical tracks have an edge for them over the fast ones, if that makes sense). Whereas I have as "head canon", as they say on YT film channels, that Monaco is a track where one-time winners are more likely to have struck gold, Hungary has the same place as a "diving board" to future success. If I'm remotely correct, or if it's actually other tracks which are the most likely first-time/one-time places, could you please do a video on it?
Hill in an arrows overtook Schumacher in a ferrari. In the dry. Thats a fact forever. Also hill STILL got his non Williams win later in the Jordan proving he was able to win without the best car.
To be honest I probably was the only german kid crossing fingers for damon from the moment i started following f1… well after ayrtons crash that is. to this day that particular arrows is quite far up on the list of f1 cars I’d wanna own, up there with ayrtons 1993 mclaren ( for some reason i dont care for championship winning cars )
Damon was always strong at that track. But being strong at a track is one thing, being strong in an Arrows is something else. Make no mistake, that performance is essentially akin to lets say this weekend, Alex Albon finishing p2 after getting overtaken by Max on the last lap. TBH, I believe Hill's Brit contemporaries such as Coulthard, Irvine and even Herbert and Brundle were better than him (it just so happened Hill usually had a Williams). However when he was in the mood, and lets face it, he needed to be in the mood, Damon was a beast.
Had Hill have won, Schumacher could have finished second the final race and won the championship. Schumacher was holding everyone up at the end and Nakano got a point for prost by ramming Irvine off.
If Hill have had won this and Mclaren be more reliable in the second half of the season, Villeneuve wouldn't win the championship. He may also thank for the restart at Interlagos as he went out on the first start and Berger would have win it without the restart.
Suppose the only good thing of this meant the championship panned out as it did, otherwise Villeneuve would have been 4 points worse off. Then would he have had the same chance in Jerez? Bloody hydraulics! IIRC the throttle was controlled by potentiometer also hydraulically driven which is why that went as well
As a big Hill fan, I remember this one well - it was races like this which showed Damon was a great driver and a worthy champion.
I think Damon is probably quite underrated. I mean how many people have the career path he does? Not many surely.
@@markmatthews7202 he never had the support of his team, and yet still essentially equaled Hakkinen's record minus one WDC decider, who was 10 years younger and very much had McLaren behind him with more "Neweymobiles" as they used to call those cars. Hill was also never gifted two wins and I doubt he'd have had as much trouble beating Edmond Irvine to a WDC. Hill was nothing but underrated IMO.
Exactly. Only few greatest drivers were able to do that in racing history. That car was awful, utterly unreliable and poor. I was devastated at the end.
Another good "heartbreak" race is the 1990 French Grand Prix which March (or Leyton House) dominated for most of the race, only to lose out three laps from the end when the engine misfired and robbed Ivan Capelli of his first ever win. What's even more shocking was neither Leyton had even qualified for the previous round in Mexico.
Funny to come across your comment. I saw a video in another channel where Adrian Newey was testing the MP 4/19 and the Leyton House he designed and he mentions that he had to pit after a few laps because of an engine misfire lol.
I was working in a bar in my home town when this happened, and I used to stick the F1 on the big screen with the sound off, so that I could watch it at work - we mostly had a football crowd, and I was normally the only one who did.
During this race, we had the crowd for the football match that was on afterwards start turning up, and when they found out what was going on, this ended up being the only time that we had the whole place glued to the motor racing.
I like to think of them groaning in unison as the final pass happens....
I'm an American who has only been following for about a year (not a Netflix convert, just started watching some of the great F1 YTers)...It seems to my limited understanding that Damon Hill was really underappreciated/undervalued his whole career. Was that the case? I mean, I get that he had already been replaced via contracts before/as he won his championship...but there really wasn't anyone besides Arrows willing to take him onboards?
@@extragoogleaccount6061 It was Britain, so there was swearing rather than groaning.
My appraisal of Hill was 'great at setting up a fast car, sticking it on pole, banging in consistent laps and winning from the front (which are the skills of a good test driver), rubbish at everything else'.
He was always quite popular in Britain, because we're suckers for people who aren't that good, but try hard anyway.
Damon really earned the win with that drive. It was a heartbreaker for sure. I remember Villeneuve in the interviews after the race describing his thinking as the laps wound down, saying "ok Damon's car should be giving up about now, but he just kept on going." The sight of the two friends on the podium together is still a favorite memory.
Damon himself said something along the lines of "I felt that if the car broke down in the next 5 laps, I'd had had a good day just by leading. But it kept going."
For the last few laps the car was basically on tickover, and Damon was afraid to brake in case it caused the revs to drop to such a point where the engine would cut out
For every Hill fan, this video is too soon. I think this was the race that actually broke him in F1 and he was mostly going through the motions with Jordan (the exception being Spa '98) before retiring the healthy car at the 1999 Japanese Grand Prix and giving up F1.
I still remember watching that live. Whilst I was a mad Schumacher fan, even I wanted Damon to win that one.
Same here! It really hurt when Williams won after giving Damon the boot. It was Herbert's best finish that year.
@@AndyFromBeavertonYes! It would have been a great, insult/middle finger to Williams!😂
@@AndyFromBeaverton Frank Williams may have had his records and his ideas, but I never liked him because of how he treated his employees and drivers, especially Damon Hill.
Back in 1997, I was the only French Canadian who wasn't cheering for Villeneuve, because I was already a Hill fan before he showed up and I was massively pissed off at the way he got dumped by Williams, just when he delivered a championship no less... It was such a wild day that ended in heartbreak, but in hindsight I'm glad Damon got to get his redemption win with Jordan.
Remember being at my grandparents' place for that weekend. Had to pinch myself that Damon had even managed to get that shitbox of an Arrows anywhere near the front of the grid. Prett sure I lost my mind along with Murray when he took the lead...this was Damon's chance to shut a lot of people up. I'd like to think his performance that day still did.
Always loved that 97 Arrows livery. I remember always choosing that car in F1 World Circuit on the N64. Good times
Same here. I did it again in F1 2000 with the Arrows and the Orange Livery.
Arrows had some solid paint jobs in their lifetime!
Arrows used to have a lot of good looking cars actually.
@@patrickhein6986 I loved their all black livery in 1998.
6:06 - ITV were actually on commercial break during Hill's overtake.
The clip on TH-cam has Murray going mental.
Yeah, I remember it being during a break, but presumably they kept commentating during the break for the other channels around the world which used their commentary.
And Damon Hill takes the lead....
OH BOY!
I was a mad Damon fan as a kid, this broke me.
Me too but SPA 1998 made up for it!
Fun fact: who was 4th in qualifying at that years finale in Jerez? Damon. Of course the biggest story was the top 3 all had the same lap time. Damon was just .058 of a second away from those 3. Imagine the scenes If Damon had taken pole 😱
Everytime I see 1997 Hungarian GP I still think Hill is gonna do it. It is always so heart breaking to see him breaking down. I say it was Hill's best ever race performance in F1 I think.
It was truly an impressive drive. For my money, Suzuka '94 gets the nod for Hill's best drive. Considering the conditions, confusion, and what was at stake with who was chasing him for the win, it was a tremendous day. As time goes on, my appreciation for Hill as a driver and as a man grows. TOP man!
@@jonnyspa27 the reason why I think Hungary 97 was his best is that he was able to fight in an underdeveloped car. Critics would say Damon Hill only won cos he was in the best car technically at Williams etc etc.
@@kevinprior3549 More than fair. That drive @ Hungaroring '97 really raised the bar in understanding just how good Damon was for many.
It's harder to get a handle on how good a driver is in F1. "Is it mainly the car? Is the driver able to make up for the car's shortcomings?"
Since there are typically large differences from the front to the back of the field, we don't often get to see moments like Suzuka '94 or Hungaroring '97 for most drivers. I'm glad we were able to enjoy these moments along the way with Damon!
"aaannddd going through and DAMON HILL LEADS OOH BOY!!" That piece of Murrays commentary has stayed with me all my life. Mention this race and its the first thing that comes to mind. Goosebumps everytime..
Yeah, as soon as Murray bursts into life with "YES! It looked as if Damon almost nudged the Ferrari MOVE OVER you can hear him saying!" it's pure goosebumps material.
Although, trying not to sound like a dick, I have to correct you in that it's "I'm going through" 😜
I won a competition to meet Damon at the Autosport International in Birmingham, January 1997. Where we had our photo took with the other winners. Having just recently been world champion, and as we know you can't stop at Williams if your that successful. He told me the 1997 car he had was not great but you just watch me go at Hungary, he said it was one of his favourite tracks
Crazy what if. If Damon's car doesn't break and the rest of the season goes the same then Schumacher enters Jerez with a 5 point lead and doesn't feel compelled to crash into Villeneuve. Schumacher holds onto 2nd and wins the title by 1 point.
But Frentzen and the McLarens were also catching Schumi at Jerez. Harry-Heinz would've done all he could to help his teammate, which may well have led to the pair making contact and putting Michael out.
But things happened as they did and we got the result we ended up with.
@@Ramtamtama I've considered Patrick's point over the years. BUt I never had considered yours.
50p washer 🤦
If it had got stuck in 4th or 5th instead of 3rd 😔
Long live the underdog!
I remember this distinctly. I was 12, in Dublin airport on my way to visit family in London. While making our way to the waiting lounge (back when flying was still a little special) we walked past David Bowie and his wife! I knew who he was because I had just discovered my Dad's music collection and I was listening non stop to Bowie and Zeppelin. I got to the lounge, asked the staff where he had been sitting, and then sat in the seat Bowie had just vacated and watched the closing laps of this grand prix. A great day.
Still gutted for Hill though.
As a Schumacher fan back in the days I was definitely no friend of Damon Hill but he fucking deserved that win in Hungary '97. It was heart breaking and unfair.
I couldn't agree fucking more!
Huge Damon Hill Fan. When he was Succeeding in F1. I was a kid just breaking I to Fandom for Racing. F1/Indy
Ah the days of ITV cutting to adverts in the race and us missing the action. I will not miss that.
I´m a German and was a big Schumacher Fan back then. Needless to say I didn´t like Hill at all at that Time but even I cheered for Him and Arrows during the Race.
That would have been Yamaha's only F1 win.
Reminds me of the 1990 French GP. Funny enough both of these instances involve Newey
The very reason 1997 was and still is my favourite season. School holidays in summer and playing F1 on the Playstation and getting to see a brilliant season. That race though was utterly heart breaking. Louis Goodman reporting the Arrows problem from the garage made my heart sink. I had a brief moment of hope that Villeneuve was going to spin out when he overtook on the grass
I love these blasts from the past. Thanks Aidan!
A most excellent picture at 2:30. Very impressive.
I really want a cigarette for some reason - and not a B&H
I was working with a German friend in 1997. I told him on the Thursday before this race that I thought Hill would win. I just had a feeling, and he was one of those specialists at Hungary, which that circuit seems to have. The Bridgestones seemed to like these tedious circuits with hairpins too. He laughed.
Of course he reminded me on Monday that Schumacher won. I still felt I called it.
I was at the 1981 Long Beach GP, where Patrese probably came the next closest to a win for Arrows too.
I was eight when I watched this race. It remains my most painful sporting memory.
Even now when Hungary 97 pops up on TH-cam I find myself hoping I’ve crossed into a timeline where the throttle lasted…
It was so gutting that it made Spa 98 so wonderful
One of the most underrated F1 drivers ever, because he's nice, he doesn't have an edge to him, and that's why people don't rate him, which frankly is stupid. 🏁🍾👏
I also remember the overtake happening during the ITV ad breaks. The first time they'd "missed" an overtake for the lead. It was obviously played as soon as the ads had stopped.
I knew a guy from Eastern Europe, huge Hill's fan who knew the F1 history back and forth. In 1997 he finally got to see his first GP in person. In Budapest. He was like 'yeah, but I really hoped I could see Hill fighting for the lead in a championship winning car'. Now he's happy he was there when and where the history was made :)
Great videos!
This one definitely opens old wounds. Damon was incredible that day! Murray was more excited than I've ever heard him! Such a cruel finish
I have been an avid f1 fan for over 35 years. This was definitely one of the best drives I have ever seen. I’m a big Schumacher fan. But I gotta give it to Damon. Fabulous performance.
'Move over you can hear him saying inside his cockpit. 'I'M COMING THROUGH!'
God I wish he'd won. Then he would be on 23 wins and not 22
Your content is soooo good. I get excited each time a see a new ‘story time’
Jim Clarke's [sob] comeback [blubber] drive at Monza '67. . . [breaks down entirely]. . . a cuppa gas! My left testicle for a cuppa gas!
Visited the factory the week after this race, was shown an example of the part that had failed. Remember a note from Damon to the team pinned to the wall thanking them for their support. Was quite a downbeat atmosphere there so soon after the race, however it was a very impressive facility full of fantastic people. Such a shame what ultimately happened to Arrows/TWR. At the end of the day an incredible achievement to come 2nd but was so close.
I remember the ITV coverage had commercial breaks during the race, and Hill's pass on Schumacher happened during one of those breaks, so we had to make do with seeing a replay.
Considering the niggle between them over the previous years, that overtake of Schumacher for the lead must have been massively satisfying for Hill.
I remember watching that live as a 10 year old at my Dad's place. Was devastated that his car starting breaking down. I think he had a 40 second lead at one point in the Arrows. It is the equivalent of a Haas nearly winning today.
Hello Aidan: Thank you. This was great.
Loved it! You've genuinely released this on the day that Boremula 1 is doing the 1997 Hungarian Bore Prix, too! 😂
Love your vids man! Keep it going!
Damon Hill fan and Hungarian here. This still hurts.
Still
freakin'
HURTS.
(So hurts 1994 Adelaide.)
I remember Damon forcing Jacques onto the grass and the Williams kicking up dirt in a desperate attempt to hang on to the lead but they were all smiles and hugged it out after the race.
It doesnt matter, Damon was the mental winner.
I saw it live, i was amazed and im thankful for this gem of a raceweekend.
Thank you for mentioning Frentzen's 1 stop hard Goodyears gamble that would probably have won him the race if not for reliability too, a lot of people forget this when talking about this race.
I remember visiting my uncle when this was on. I hardly ever saw him, since he was in England and my family lived in Aberdeen. Anyway, I remember my mother being really annoyed with me when I was glued to this race rather than socialising with everyone else.
I was fan of Damon Hill and this even today saddens me, I've noticed you've got Damon Hill's book behind you and in there he talks about this race. It was a part that costed 50p it was a washer from the gear box I believe, a mechanic noticed that this particular part was wearing out (how I don't know) he wanted to replace it but team management declined the idea saying that Tom Walkinshaw wanted the car on the grid as early as possible to get the necessary media coverage of Hill qualifying 3rd. What they didn't fully show that day was how close Damon came to actually retiring from the GP, (If anyone is interested it's shown on the 1997 Review of the season DVD)
I still remember Murray Walker saying "We've got news from Louise Goodman, how's it it going for Damon Louise and her reply was "It's not going very well for Damon...."" It was a sad day to be a Hill fan. Damon's win in Spa 1998 was great!
Bloody sh*t...
Fun fact : If Damon had won the race, Michael Schumacher would have been the Champion in 1997. A second place in Jerez would have been enough for the title. ;)
Might be worth talking about the 98 Belgian GP as a follow up to this one. Great video.
One thing I remember about the 1997 f1 season;
Grid Girls 🥴
I remember watching that race Murry must have been bouncing off the walls in his box. The throttle failure was a disaster and Damon couldn't have looked more down as he looked at the car when he got out of it, but then people hadn't really got electric throttles in their heads they thought put the cable back on.
I remember crying when this happened!will always go down in history of the one that got away!
Just been watching the Triathlon for the Commonwealth games. And remembered the streets of Birmingham used to host Formula 3000 and touring cars (and hence featured some quite-big-names) - there must be a video in there, especially given it's not far from your part of the world.
Just happened to watch the Sky Sports watch along to this race yesterday.
Despite being the son of an F1 world champion Damon was very much the normal bloke in F1, loved him when on the podium in Hungary (edit: after his maiden win) he asked, “what happens now?”. Always been a hero of mine and I feel genuinely privileged to have met him.
Only wish I could apologise to him as I cheered when his engine blew in Silverstone in ‘93 as we all thought it was Prost 😂
I never liked Damon but this was a hell of a drive. This was his greatest drive and the one that justifies his championship above all others. It might have made getting mauled by Frentzen in 99 a bit less bitter
After reading his autobiography he’d basically given up in 1999
@@AidanMillward Ah, I didn't know that, I'm also a bit of a Frentzen Stan so there may have been a little bias there. Hungary 97 was still a great drive though
It still hurts, first time in sport I remember feeling like this.
I rewatched the race a few years back and even though you knew he was gonna break down towards the end you still believe he’s gonna do it.
One of the few events that continues to break my heart every time I hear about it :(
Talk about been gutted, I was there watching live 😭
I can hear Murray walkers commentary on that day in my head right now
I thought he might actually explode when hill stuck it in at turn 1
Too soon mr millward
Too soon
The moment was perfectly captured by Murray Walker… “…MOVE OVER!!! He’s saying….AND DAMON HILL LEADS!!”
I've had to build up my courage to watch this. I have most of that race engraved in my brain. I cried that day. Like many Damon fans, I took it worse than he did! 💔
I don't blame you for doing this but yes, it's still too soon! 😰 I think it's one of the greatest displays of his very underrated (particularly by those who only see the stats) skills.
My memories at that point: watching in the living room on the chair, with others on the sofa, not necessarily with lunch, it depended on the day. Race likely being taped to watch again and again on the TV in mum and dad's room until the next race, then tape over it with that one. Repeat. And when ITV took their multiple ad breaks, switch over to RTE to continue watching the action. They would typically only take one break in a race, around two thirds distance and upon returning, remain until the chequered flag.
This happened the year before I started, so for years I only saw brief clips accompanied by the oft-repeated "OH BOY!" by Murray Walker. Sky then had the full race to watch in its Classic F1 series, and the full race is on F1TV, interestingly with the commentary as live, so including the famous line as other countries heard it live before then rejoining ITV with Jim Rosenthal declaring "Drama at the Hungarian Grand Prix", and Simon Taylor going over a replay before handing back to Murray. What a crazy event this race was, and how confusing was it for some watching for Damon to slow like that without context, while most English speakers learned of the problem as it was getting worse and worse. I wonder if RTE knew what was going on and why or if it was out of the blue for them. No footage exists of their feed, as far as I know. I recently saw a clip of the Japanese commentary, though, and their screaming as Irvine and Nakano came to blows and Nakano scored a point, celebrating as if he'd won the race.
Martin Brundle's description of the technology and the throttle potentiometer sticks in my mind as it's a relatively long winded explanation that might have left people scratching their heads wondering how bad it is exactly. It crossed my mind as Leclerc had his throttle issues in Austria. It's been a running gag in our house: "He's got a problem with his potentiometer!" "Sounds painful!"
This was on the level of Maldonado in Spain in 2012. As David Coulthard likes to say, "On this day in history", Arrows had the tyres and the set up nailed, the big names didn't, and the stage was set for an upset, except on this occasion, it didn't happen.
That day was heart-breaking, what a story it would have been had Hill won, still miss arrows
Another heartbreaking story that isn't necessarily as well known is the 1998 rally GB. It was a showdown between Tommi Makinen and Carlos Sainz('s dad, Carlos Sainz snr) both 2 time WRC champions going for a third at the last round of the year (rally GB). Makinen retired early on when he hit a rock and ripped off his right rear wheel, he tried to limp the car to service but the local police, not being fans of 3 wheeled rally cars, forced him to retire. As a result going into the last 2 stages Makinen's title hopes were all but over, because all Carlos and Toyota had to do was finish 4th, a position he was holding comfortably.
but with just over 1km of the rally to go and just 300m away from service, Sainz's car lost power and trundled to an undignified and fiery halt. suddenly giving Makinen his 3rd WRC title out of nowhere. The footage that says it all is Sainz's co driver throwing his crash helmet through the rear window in frustration and yeah that one must have hurt...
Damon was a bloody good driver who never gets the credit he deserves. Just like his father he had to hold a team together after the death of his team mate.
what a year for liveries
Too soon Aidan, too soon
Murray was in his element that day... was loving every minute of it and I don't blame him.
Can you do the 2012 Belgium GP after the Summer Break
I think for me the sight of Badoer in tears as his engine conked out while in 4th was tough. Murray saying that Badoer "was doing a Hakkinen" seemed just so completely lacking in taste....I mean yeah Gene scored a point in the end but they should've got the 4th that day.
You watch the 1980 Monaco GP and the Derek Daly incident is referred to by Murray as a "Holocaust of cars" and...wow....just imagine social media's reaction if it was said in a modern day context.
It was a nice livery.
great video. I can remeber being a very disapointed 7 year old when Damon lost the win
To this day, the heartbreak still lingers...
Vroom Vroom for the algorithm
Great story as always
What’s the name of your intro theme song? Kinda reminds me of the Everybody Loves Raymond
On the whole tires argument:
The next highest Bridgestone runners were 11th in Q and 6th in the Race. So the tires played a role but it was still Damon making the absolute most of the situation. Prost, Stewart and Minardi has the same advantage but did not star on this day. So it feels more than a little just haterish to render the performance down to just the tires.
And I say this as not a Hill fan (I rather like the man personally but as a driver he does make my worst champions list where he had a lot going in his favor in 96 and the failures of 94,95 and a an astoundingly bad 99 due have to count) but on this day he was a superstar.
Alesi fans: first time?
hey aiden speaking of 97, please can we have a look at mclarens season, a season where the engine was fast yet stupidly unreliable, they really could have won between 6-8 races that season....i belive mika retired from the lead 3 times that season.
Classic Frentzen. :-) It's a pity.
Aidan, a question for you, mate. Posting this separately because it's just not fun looking at my other comment. I genuinely had to steel myself overnight to watch this video! (Ever the Damon fangirl ;) It's why since then, I'm a "let the best driver win" sort of person. It hurts too much despite Spa '98...)
Re Hungary - I have it in my head that it's a great track for first time winners (JB?), especially drivers who excelled on technical tracks more than just fast ones (I'm not suggesting that they didn't win at fast ones, just that technical tracks have an edge for them over the fast ones, if that makes sense).
Whereas I have as "head canon", as they say on YT film channels, that Monaco is a track where one-time winners are more likely to have struck gold, Hungary has the same place as a "diving board" to future success.
If I'm remotely correct, or if it's actually other tracks which are the most likely first-time/one-time places, could you please do a video on it?
🙃 gret race
Remember the race Damon Hill did everything right that day and was very unlucky not to win
Good afternoon friends.
Pedro Diniz - famous for 2 things. Being a pay driver and for that car fire (Diniz in the Oven)
Hill in an arrows overtook Schumacher in a ferrari. In the dry. Thats a fact forever.
Also hill STILL got his non Williams win later in the Jordan proving he was able to win without the best car.
Anyone seen Jodie Kidds interview with Nigel Mansell?
To be honest I probably was the only german kid crossing fingers for damon from the moment i started following f1… well after ayrtons crash that is. to this day that particular arrows is quite far up on the list of f1 cars I’d wanna own, up there with ayrtons 1993 mclaren ( for some reason i dont care for championship winning cars )
Damon was always strong at that track. But being strong at a track is one thing, being strong in an Arrows is something else. Make no mistake, that performance is essentially akin to lets say this weekend, Alex Albon finishing p2 after getting overtaken by Max on the last lap. TBH, I believe Hill's Brit contemporaries such as Coulthard, Irvine and even Herbert and Brundle were better than him (it just so happened Hill usually had a Williams). However when he was in the mood, and lets face it, he needed to be in the mood, Damon was a beast.
Had Hill have won, Schumacher could have finished second the final race and won the championship. Schumacher was holding everyone up at the end and Nakano got a point for prost by ramming Irvine off.
If Hill have had won this and Mclaren be more reliable in the second half of the season, Villeneuve wouldn't win the championship. He may also thank for the restart at Interlagos as he went out on the first start and Berger would have win it without the restart.
The most irritating thing about watching Damon Schumacher for the lead? It happened during a bl00dy ad break!!!!!!!
Suppose the only good thing of this meant the championship panned out as it did, otherwise Villeneuve would have been 4 points worse off. Then would he have had the same chance in Jerez?
Bloody hydraulics!
IIRC the throttle was controlled by potentiometer also hydraulically driven which is why that went as well
Move over Trulli-Train, it's time the for the Schui-Train.
Still hurts. Damon, don't watch this.
I think if Hill was still at Williams in 97 he would have been miles better than Frentzen.