A COMPLICATED CAREER END! The Story of Damon Hill's Post-Williams Career (1997-1999)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 1 ต.ค. 2024
- We often look back at the tail end of the 1990s and think that Damon Hill just fell off the face of the planet, performance-wise. But in his book he goes in to much more detail and it's a lot less black and white as we all thought.
While most of us, if we were racing at the time would just go out and race knowing it's safe enough for us to take the risk, Damon was from a totally different world- Dad comes home after a friend died, that way of life ingrained in you from a young age. To the point when it's in the back of your mind too much to ignore anymore.
So with that... Well... In mind... Let's have a look at the complicated end to a short career packed with so much.
Enjoy! And remember to like and subscribe for more!
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Blame the people who used to live here. They were visiting next door and dropped by to say hello
Damon feeling he needed to put the Hill name back on the map, plus all he witnessed up to that point, REALLY nails in the context of Murray Walker having a lump in his throat! 🥹
Stop blaming others and own your mistakes already! 👹
I've read Hill's book, a recommendation for every fan of the sport indeed... if you're worried about the mold, it's also available as ones and zeroes. (save the trees!). ;)
“I just wanna talk to him”
@@aoife1122then that’s plastic and silicone…
To be fair to him he was very honest about his emotions and his feelings. It's not something that's talked about a lot in men in general, let alone racing drivers. Keeping that motivation and confidence for so so long. Nico burnt himself out fighting Lewis, Seb realised enough was enough. They both have families and kids.
You want real (brutal) honesty? check out Brian Redman's 'Daring Drivers,Deadly Tracks'
Can we just appreciate how often Mr Millward posts? Absolutely amazing, massive respect for the dedication to the craft. High quality content and truly fast output, really rare!
Yeah he’s really on it all the time, and his videos are well researched and thoughtful.
Damon’s exit from Williams is one of the biggest what-ifs of F1 for me.
His exit was one of the biggest things that prompted Adrian Newey to walk away from Williams and eventually contribute to their back marker status of today.
If Hill had stayed, I think Newey would’ve stayed into the 2000s, and that would’ve completely changed the outcome of those years.
Imagine what the grid would’ve looked like in the 21st century if The Michael had to go up against a Williams team that had BMW engines, in Adrian Newey designed chassis’s, with the likes of Jenson Button and Juan Pablo Montoya driving them.
I think Michael would have not had so easy time winning titles, more than likely would not have the 7 titles, maybe 6 or 5, depends on how things would change
Adrian leaving wasn't *because* Damon left it was the manner in which it happened. If Frank and Patrick involved Adrian in the process it may not have stung so much. I believe Adrian had itchy feet and had been talking to others since the end of 95 regardless so Damon departing was a good excuse regardless of what his novel says.
@@MattMoran66 spot on. I didn’t really express it properly in my original comment, but you’re right. Hill’s departure, or more specifically, the way he was booted from the team, wasn’t THE reason Newey left, but it was definitely the straw that broke the camel’s back.
If Williams and Head had swallowed their pride and given Newey a proper seat at the table, then things would have turned out much differently for them.
Williams have all the What ifs in F1
What if Alesi, what if Senna and so forth
@@nickypoundtown9568 What if they _hadn't_ signed Senna, even. Would Prost have been there for another three years, and where would Senna have ended up? Might Prost have ended up with another 2-3 championships?
Damon holds a special place in the history of F1 because of his story. Incredibly likable ( not that I've ever met him) going against the arch enemy, recovering from 94. Recovering from losing his dad. A good man.
I met him at the Silverstone GP in 93 and again during testing in 94 and he was very humble and nice but a little shy, though I was only in my teens and quite shy myself! He seemed a lovely bloke overall to be honest 😊
If DH had won in the Arrows his career would be next level. Winning in 3 different cars is special
Hungary 1997 was up there with Japan 1994 as Damon's best race. He might not have been on the level of a Schumacher, Senna or Prost but he is a lot better than people give him credit for. I'd argue Damon leaving was the beginning of the end for Williams. The brutal reality is they replaced a World Champion with someone who was nowhere near and getting rid of Damon hacked Adrian Newey off because he wasn't consulted.
Hungary 97 was the first race I really remember watching live, was so upset as a 10 year old when Damon lost the lead right before the end 😢
I wasn’t a Hill fan at all but the 97 Hungarian GP was probably one of the best drives I had seen. As a kid, I couldn’t be bothered with the commentary team gushing over him while The Micheal was the bad guy and the young Scottish guy was ignored… so Mika was my hero! 🤷♂️😂
As I grew up, I started to appreciate the situation going on behind the scenes with Hill, it’s a miracle he even bothered. Losing AN ruined Williams, looking back it was such a stupid situation for Williams to get themselves into considering all the options they had. It was so out of character the way they treated Hill and Newey and they’ve paid for it ever since
@BW_87 it was the first race for 12 year old me. I 'knew' Damon from playing Grand Prix 2 on my computer. I was gutted. Had Damon won that day, Schumacher could've finished 2nd in Jerez and still win the WDC.
On the Williams thing, I'd say sort of but not really. In my opinion at least, Williams' demise was out of their heartless attitude towards EVERYONE that ever set foot into any of their cars, which eventually caught up with them. Even at their peak, their biggest problem was that there was never any stability with drivers in that team to develop the car and team relationship, just a constant hire-n-fire and treating drivers like inanimate objects. Mansell was the only driver that stayed with Williams for a consistent period of time. I dare even suggest that Williams would only ever have been known as another garagista midfielder if Mansell hadn't stuck with them for years.
Williams should have committed to SOMEBODY after Mansell left. They should've told Senna and Prost respectively at the end of 1992 that unless they're going to be committed for at least 3 seasons and not entertain the idea of retirement, then they can gtfo and make way for new talent that will. If not Senna or Prost 1993-1996+, then Hill or Barrichello or Alesi or Hakkinen or any of the HEAPS of promising new talent of the early/mid 90s, take your pick. On that note as well, they shouldn't have taken the piss with that Alesi contract keeping him in the dark for months until he signed with Ferrari out of frustration. I think essentially being the 'Renault factory team' in the 90s masked their mismanagement, exactly how being the 'BMW factory team' in the 00s masked their mismanagement.
I know I sound like I'm slagging off Williams here, but I say all this out of frustration towards their stubbornness and the resulting decades of flying backwards that could have been prevented with team management that wasn't deluded with granduer. I've always been a Williams fan, but with time and being in this era of endless extended podcasts of drivers and team members looking back retrospectively and opening up about what went on behind the scenes, I just feel embarrassed for the mentality Frank Williams and Patrick Head have. Even the Martini/Massa-resurgance era had potential if handled better, and now they are somehow worse than Minardi ever was!
@@solitaryclusterofneurons598 This is an interesting and well considered point. Franks Williams and Patrick Head were very much men of their time - and their inability/refusal to change is ultimately what did for them. They were very much a 'pull yourself together and get a backbone' sort of a motivator, whereas modern thinking accepts that the human mind is somewhat more nuanced than that. The trouble is they never moved with the times, and managed to suck the spirit out of Hill, and alienated the best designer they were ever going to have because they simply could not bring themselves to work in a way that wasn't how they had always done it.
Rather than pondering 'what ifs' about single decisions like the sacking of Damon, I think we need to accept that this was probably always going to happen, simply because the management had been out-evolved, and we never going to be the sort to catch up. It was inevitable
Damon's intelligence and sensitivity were on show at the end.
Betty, his mum, actually remortgaged her house to pay for his car racing lessons in France. Given the bankruptcy, that was a brave thing to do. He's got a fantastic family; his sisters and mum, and his wife and kids, and he took over the responsibility for his mum & sisters after his dad died.
He's a way better racer than many give him credit for. He's a real gent. His sense of honour and duty is comparable to any mediaeval knight: maybe greater because he had a better understanding of the world around him. I'm still a Damon fangirl and proud of it!
If I remember rightly George Harrison had a hand in it as well.
@@AidanMillwardGeorge Harrison has proved to be a financial angel, first Monty Python then the Hill's.
@@AidanMillward😮😮😮wow❤
His mum died seven years ago.
The red light comment was really eye-opening and the whole situation is very interesting. It's one of the rare occasions that a (world class) racing driver just... stops being a racing driver in an instant with his mind saying ''I cannot do it anymore''. Not in the ''I'm fed up'' sense, but in the ''I cannot cope with driving at that speed'' one. It's like he never was a racing driver.
I don't know if I'm making mych sense here, it just hit me in a strange way.
Urm not really?😅
Damon is my personal all time favourite F1 Driver, he may not have the records of Schumacher, Hamilton, Senna, Verstappen etc. But he was The guy at the time when I was growing up and staying up to see him win the 1996 Title will always stick with me. I would also see him regularly at BTCC Meetings when his son was racing in Ginetta Jrs.
I remember staying up for Suzuka 96 too, a memorable race!!
No matter who he drove for, they never were really confident in his abilities and he accomplished a whole lot more in a short span than a lot of drivers have in 20 years
thanks to him being a Hill
Finally some Damon hill Content. He's the only driver who gives me hopes of becoming a racing driver as after all 🌝
I must admit that I was really puzzled when Damon went to Arrows, but then Hungary 1997 came along and I almost cried when he didn't take the win, he deserved to win that race, he really did. I always liked him and after what I've seen and read about him I even more respect for him for what he accomplished. Excellent video!
Hill is difficult to place. Sometimes he was absolutely brilliant, like in Hungary 1997, but he could be mediocre as well. Like Frentzen, his mood and motivation played a big role in how well he performed.
I feel like Damon Hill is the Dave grohl of racing. You can't hate the guy you have to almost feel a little bad for him. And his achievements seemed that much more impressive because you know what he's been through
Good analogy
I was crestfallen when he signed for Arrows. I knew he would be lucky to score a point. The opening race was horrendous. Hungary was heroic! With hindsight Williams really didn’t do well by him by leaving him in the dark re ‘97 until it was too late to get another drive.
1999 was disappointing and with hindsight he maybe should have retired at the end of ‘98… but easy for me to say, it wasn’t my contract.
The last race at Suzuka really touched me. Takes an incredibly brave person to see beyond their own fears…
Interesting fact:
Alan Jones (1980-1981), Keke Rosberg (1982-1983) and Jacques Villeneuve (1997-1998) were the only Williams drivers to defend their titles in a Williams.
Nelson Piquet defended his 1987 title at Lotus in 1988.
Nigel Mansell didn't defend his 1992 title, defecting to America and CART.
Alain Prost didn't defend his 1993 title after retiring at the end of that year.
Damon Hill defended his 1996 title with Arrows in 1997.
Jacques is a single world champion, Hakkinen won 98, 99
edit: was your post a troll?
Actual fact: Frankie Bastard never gave a sh*t about his drivers. He always thought his cars had no stink and any half trained hominid could win because....
@@jordanclark4635 It shows in which year they defended the title.
@@jordanclark4635 ... It shows the year they won the title and the following year in which they defended it.
e.g. Alan Jones won in 1980, defended it in 1981
Its not hard to understand.
@@Holden308 yeah Williams had a habit of letting champions go
Was never a fan of his. But calling him chicken forgetting out while he achieved what he did no way. Thinking of his family first full respect to him.
That year at Arrows and the first season at Jordan, Damon showed how good he really was, Hungary '97 remains one of the best drives I've ever seen. He admits that he mentally checked out before the '99 season started and in this game, that's obviously going to drastically affect performance.
There was a time, I believe, Frank Williams liked to discard drivers because in his mind whomever drove his car would win. Then he made a massive blunder by "discarding" Adrien Newey (the goose that laid the golden eggs for him) by not treating him as he should have been treated, so he chose to leave, marking the beginning of the end for Williams, with a mild revival under Pat Symonds. Regardless, I feel Damon Hill got the short end of the stick with FW, and he deserved a lot more respect from him, as Newey did as well. Sadly, the end for Frank Williams and his team was very melancholic and depressing, with back of the grid cars and pay drivers that were just awful.
What a sad contrast from the early 1990s, when drivers were treated like secondary items from his cars. Talk about "complicated career end..."
Mika didn't hit the wall of champions.
He won that race. Which was the first time a grand prix had finished behind the safety car after Frentzens accident.
Ps love your videos, always watch
My red light came on on a fire in Nothern California in August 2014. I had been hanging my ass out for almost 40 years and it was getting worse, not better. I got back to the hanger, turned in my cards, hung up my spurs (I had actually bought a pair years before for just this situation), and drove home. Haven't missed it one day since.
Villeneuve came close to the Triple Crown finishing runner up in LeMans with Peugeot in 2008.
and now he's back, though that Vanwall is way behind the factory-backed Hypercars.
@@MinusMOD98 I thought Vanwall fired him?
He forgot to mention Mario andretti as someone who won 2 of the three for the triple crown by winning the 69 Indy 500 and the 78 world championship. And like JV, he also finished second at lemans in 1995 by finishing first in class which is somewhat of a win, but second overall.
I love his quote on his first Williams test, he took some laps and when Patrick asked what he thought he just said "is brilliant, best car I've ever driven". That wasn't what Patrick Head wanted to hear haha
When DC did his, he asked Patrick which way he had to turn to get out the pits 😅
Hill’s time at Brabham is interesting. He technically drove for the last single car team, and also drove in the last pre-qualifying session to date. I wonder how it must have been going from the FW14B to the BT60B.
He did allow Brabham to go out on a high, qualifying for their last race in Hungary.
He was already putting in a lot of hours at Williams by then, so it must have been odd to go from the most technically advanced car on the grid to a manual gearbox back marker. Still, a drive's a drive, and he probably enjoyed himself.
Great guy... always a Fan will always a fan.. na sayers can do one..
To be fair, I think Hunt drove as well if not better in 1977 compared to 1976. By 1978 he seemed to have given up though
Other examples I can think of are Alan Jones in 1981 and Jenson Button in 2011. Both were excellent seasons despite their respective title winning campaigns being behind them.
@reichsfuhrermonika6469 Oh I disagree, it's inconceivable how he failed to win the 2005 championship in the rapid MP4-20 and his incredible Japan victory the same year as well makes '05 for me Kimi's best.
I got the book the moment it was released. Along with Brundle's Working the Wheel it's one of the best autobiographies in racing. Crazy that, but for Michael being Michael, Damon could've been double WC and still shipped off to Arrows. I don't think he got enough credit at all. He was fast, but not tippity-top tier, and was successful through hard work and diligence. It's not like Villeneuve or HHF were better options either. Hey ho. Racing is not a meritocracy.
Yeah the age thing is highly underrated. If Graham lives Damon gets the same entry point as say Nico does and he probably has a vastly different career.
I was thinking this Just after the video finished, what could have been if he was able to race in single seaters some years earlier, the many hours more of practice specially without restricted testing would do wonders, he might have left early over the trauma of seeing many drivers his father raced with dying but would still be completely different
That photo at 2:50 could be an early prototype of the 94 Rothmans livery.
at the time damon wasn't rated all that highly in the f1 circle. but looking back and in context, the guy is amazing. starting racing cars so late and winning in the way he did. fantastic talent and person.
Covering Damon's F3000 stint could be an interesting video. You say his junior career was checkered but in F3000, and in particular when at the Middlebridge team, Damon was one of the fastest drivers in the series but also suffered some of the worst luck in the series too, whether it was unreliability, getting involved in someone else's accident etc etc
yeah his name took him places - from racing motorbikes to landing a test role with williams in 2 seconds
To be honest, international F3000 was hardly ever an accurate barometer of how good/not good an F1 driver would be. Really bizarre results there.
Damon was pretty fickle, and Williams with the likes of Frank and Head most certainly wasn't the place for him. Which firing him two years in advance and not letting him know about it proved, a ghoulish move.
Yeah make you feel quite a bit less sympathy for Williams...
Frank was a bit erm different
It wasn't the driver it was him that won
@@mets137781a team that deserves zero sympathy from anyone the way they used to treat drivers then ran the team into the ground ( while the family managed to pocket a tidy sum for their own safe keeping).
@@jamsstar2010
except it WASN'T him it was Newey that made the difference. Newey leaving had alot to do with how frank treated Damon.
So he decided to turn mclaren into winners again, basically turning Williams into the backmarker team they are today. Karma 😂
The Arrows contract will no doubt have had bells and whistles on it… it was Tom Walkinshaw after all.
It probably also made him the Head of Catering for a V8 Supercar team with addition payments to soften the blow of driving a shtbox 😂
What you said towards the end about watching your dad's friends and himself die really makes sense. I grew up surrounded by bike racing and my dad died racing in the TT at the Isle Of Man and when I say the fact that I can't count on two hands how many dead racers I know lives rent free in my head, I mean it. I love motorbikes and racing more than anything, and I was genuinely keen and working up the courage to start until a couple years ago when I crashed my first little learners bike on my way to work. It was not a bad crash at all, I just slid along the road and tore my ACL, but lying on the tarmac I was genuinely frozen with fear with all the thoughts of my dad.
It might have meant nothing to someone else, and it definitely hasn't put me off owning and riding motorbikes, but it really just made me think, do I want to feel that terrified every time I crash? It takes a lot of courage to get on a bike and race it but I definitely have a huge respect for anyone who calls it quits because they're just not feeling it anymore.
I would love to see you cover Piquet. Given that he is a 3 time WC, he feels very overlooked among his peers. Yes, he is a dick, but from the little I know he had an interesting career and was clearly very talanted
Early/mid 80es Piquet was a menance and from all the 3 times champions, he and Brabham are probably the ones talked about least. He got overshadowed by the Prost Senna rivalery and the laters death in the end, and being an absolute ass about everything certainly doesn't help.
@@Edelweiss1102 People don't remember that Piquet was regularly mentioned among the all-time greats (with Fangio and Clark) after his second championship win.
It is not talked about much that he had neurological problems after his accident at tamburello. He kept it a secret. He carried it for years.
Good call, he's probably the most underrated triple WC in any sport. Don't get me wrong, he talks some utter tosh, but he was one hell of a driver.
My dad loved F1, but I was a bit young to get it. I really took notice when Ayrton died. That weekend is etched into my soul. Damon Hill quickly became my first hero in F1.
Thanks for this great video. I read bits of these stories before, but there was also a lot I didn't know before. ❤
the addiction of adulation is a hard thing to let go of.
Damon is one of the most humble and chilled out people ive ever met.
It's funny you mentioned running off with his girlfriend as that's what Schumacher did to Frentzen.
Michael's wife used to be Heinz-Harold's girlfriend.
what an absolute legend.. the fact that he witnessed his dad's career and still decide to drive, I don't think anyone can tell him to grow a pair.
Why have not you got the 100k,
Snowballing.
the number of factual mistakes in this made it painful to watch. Along with the ill-informed supposition of motives. I worked at Didcot as a Laminates Technician 1993-1998.
Awesome video, thank you Aidan! Damon was my favorite driver of the era and he proved he was an amazing driver in Hungary '97 when he nearly won in an absolutely horrible car! Thanks again mate, awesome stuff 👍🏻❤
I always thought Damon's 1997 & 1998 proved he was a worthy world champion
From a motorsport history perspective, there must be some moments in Damon's old family photo albums that are absolutely epic!
How is what Damon doing considered chickening out?! Look back at history! Many drivers, world champions in fact, chickens out or have the thought to.
Lauda got back for the fight with Hunt after his massive death stare at the Nurburgring and when the final race was at Fuji in Japan where he's just one podium away from the whole title against Hunt, he felt that it was just too stupid to relive all the pain he had received in the same conditions as before in Germany thus he bailed and let Hunt win, knowing for a fact that he can get it back next year and also, he gets to live another day. Senna prior to his death also had that situation and Senna one was much worse.
Senna saw Barrichello nearly losing his life before him during the qualifying session of that unfateful event during the San Marino GP in 1994 and then actually saw Roland Ratzenberger being killed the following next qualifying shook Senna alot as he was reported to have been crying uncontrollably by the chief medic of F1 at that time, Sid Watkins who then told Senna to leave the sport but Senna replied that he had that thought but he can't stop racing as he loved it too much despite the sheer danger it has. If he was to follow what Sid had proposed, he might not have died and the irony of it was he even got back on good terms with his rival, Alain Prost who at this point had retired, to talk about setting up a new safety organization to push for a more safer environment and equipment for drivers in the sport towards the FIA. This proved he too was sacred as he was known to be ballsy as fuck and having no qualms at all at taking others and himself out just to retain points and if he has to set a group up like that, you know he's suddenly turning weak after watching one near death and an actual death right infront of him.
What Damon did was justified. Not all drivers are fearless and if you're not ahead, time to get out and not kill yourself and anyone else.
If that 97 ARROWS had a different engine then the Yamaha like a Ford or even Mugen-Honda Damon Hill would have been able to defend his 96 Title a lot better than he did!
The first F1 race i attended was the last race his dad won in an F1 car.
Daily Express International at Silverstone in 1971.
probably the reason i have been a Hill fan ever since.
Wurz: comes into F1, finishes third, leaves.
When it comes to drivers, Frank Williams was kind of a prick wasn't he?
Was he? Or did he have to look at the bottom line of running a privateer team while also trying to keep a pilot who asked for more than his team could afford to pay.
@@Dan-fx7qy thing is, Damon never had a conversation with Frank about money in 1996.
Yes and no. IIRC Frank thought it wiser to place money on car development, instead of paying enormous sums to drivers.
If you look at the drivers who came and went at Williams, you can say the majority probably didn't end in a good way
Piquet leaves because he feels betrayed (but then again, he was a bit of a dick)
Mansell leaves because they sign Prost behind his back and only make a token effort to resign him
Hill obviously is covered here
Coutlhard leaves because he's had enough of the team and then is forced to stay rather than signing the guy who wanted to be there
Frentzen leaves because of Patrick Head
Not to mention dicking Michele Alboreto around in 1988 which resulted in him going back to Tyrrell in 1989
In the same way as Ferrari and Umbrella, everyone was disposable to Williams
@@Dan-fx7qyCome on they were only a privateer team technically speaking. Williams had massive money behind them, they were the most successful team in the early 90’s. They had what was basically a works partnership with Renault and a lucrative deal with Rothmans. The way they dealt with drivers and team personnel was a big part of their downfall.
Brilliant commentary 👏👍🏻 How refreshing to hear Damon’s ego free honest account of himself. Nice bloke.
Frank Williams was just as cut throat with his drivers as modern day Red Bull.
The book is fascinating to read. I admired Damon before as I knew some of his background but the book really does explain a lot of his thinking. His trials and tribulations as a courier rider whilst trying to stringing together a racing career is inspirational. He was not the best racer of his time but he was smart and seemed to know a thing or two from test driving cars
Admittedly, I'm not his most ardent fan but anyone accusing Damon Hill of lacking in the balls department better be worried about their own lack in the brains department.
Were his later career moves driven by "monetary incentives"? Oh, most certainly! Just like Nando didn't sign up with a third-rate team to become World Champion at the tender age of 40-sumtin', nope, he's just making bank and padding his "pension fund". (Hope I didn't burst too many bubbles)
I'm stunned that he didn't go into sportscars after F1. Much safer cars, and I think it would have suited his driving style a lot more. Or even Touring Cars if he didn't want the 200mph speeds anymore.
He was done with racing completely. He could have easily have been injured at Le Mans or Thruxton
It's a pity that moment of Damon lobbing it up the inside of Frentzen at the final corner in Japan was not captured on broadcast. The funny thing is he didn't actually have to do that to secure 4th in the championship as the team would have still beaten Benetton on countback anyway. Probably the last time that Hill really showed determination and still had "the muse"
He was on one that whole race. First with him and JV holding up Michael with pure shithousery and then the divebomb.
Hungary 1997 still heart-breaking to watch, 11 year old super fan of Damon i was gutted
2:07 speaking of triple crown, did anyone see the q3 laps between Alonso and Max? Alonso had triple crown in his hands for majority of lap and max slipped ahead .00something seemingly against the laws of physics. So close. Breaks my heart
I think people who say he was a coward for quitting like he did really do not understand what it must take to be an F1 driver. Also, why was Damon quitting any worse than Hakkinen, Vettel, Schumacher or whoever else quitting? If they come out with the "he parked a perfectly good car" as their answer, well so did Niki Lauda when he thought his life was at risk. Damon knew he was no longer the driver he was because his heart was no longer in it. He did not want to put himself or others at risk.
Eddie Jordan has to take a lot of responsibility for the way it all ended. Yes Damon had a contract, but any team owner with any ounce of decency or just common sense would realise it is better to end the contract, instead of forcing their driver to stay or threaten legal action. Firstly because he should realise if a drivers heart isnt in it their is now risk, and also because it will affect that drivers performance. If Eddie had let Damon go and replaced him with another driver, ,maybe they could have taken second in the constructors championship which would mean more money.
I wonder if Mick Schumacher is in connection with Damon Hill.
I see similarities.
Not only a great driver, a superb human being too.
Damon, was and is massively underrated. World champ, unlucky not to have done it twice.
Well, Damon was the oldest driver in 1999, but not so much much older than for example Jean Alesi and Johnny Herbert who both were just four years younger than him.
As a life long Williams fan - at least in their original guise - there has always been a certain level of criticism of how Frank and Patrick with 'driver selection'. Much I believe stems back to Alan Jones. For many Jones' was Williams and in Mid 1981, Jones was having thoughts of retiring, but eventually told the team and the factory that he would be staying... He didn't. Throwing Carlos' eventual retirement in the mix, I think Williams wanted to be in control and not be caught out again. Frank was generally the guy in charge of drivers and money, with Head in charge of the technical side.
The brilliant Keke Rosberg may be lauded upon now, but Frank tried to trade him to another team mid way through his Championship Year in 1982, though Frank never told him. Keke found out from a team member 18 months later and felt betrayed. That is the main reason why Keke left in '85 at the end of his contract. The team and driver has never been made public, other than Keke stating it would not do his reputation to say who this was.
Moving forward to Hill, Damon's massive underperformance was understandably a concern and where Frank went wrong is if they wanted to go with Heinz, he should have brought in for '96, not '97. Obviously the biggest mistake of all was losing Newey. Frank and Patrick had previously breached an agreement with Adrian regarding being consulted on drivers and engines. Mansell's contract had been torn up in favour of Coulthard - Newey said Nigel would have won the WDC in '95 - Jacques had also been signed without notifying him and then they did it again with Damon. It was the final straw for him and one the team never recovered from.
What you did not say here , and quite rightly as out of this video's subject , is that if Damon ever had accepted Dennis's offer, we would have then seen a Hill-Coulthard duo at Mclaren in 1998 , Hakkinen being dropped by Mclaren in the process.
I believe Dennis purposely proposed Hill something Dennis thought Hill would never have accepted. ( between the lines, never had the intention to get Hill to Mclaren.)
a great career short but sweat
Love the content but please change the music! Awful...like a cheap cocktail bar.
Mario Andretti worked with Lotus for YEARS to get the championship. Aside...it's 3am here why am I awake watching this?
on "Life at the Limit": I read the Sid Watkins book when I was about 10 (an aunt was treated by him after a fall, and got a signed copy). Kind of extraordinary with hindsight; it sort of alternates between graphic descriptions of medical interventions trackside and the party stuff. I should revisit that. "If (possibly?) Nigel needs to go, will you put out a brown flag?" sticks in the memory.
Mate, paying 17% on your mortgage in the late 70s and early 80s wwas a breeze compared to today. 17% of a small number is much less than 5% of a big number. 3:27
By 3 minutes Andretti almost won LeMans in a WSC car, not an LMGT1, car in 1995. I don't know how many lower-class cars won the overall title at LeMans, if any.
it might be a bit disrespectful, but a movie about damon hill's life would be fucking aamzing
I was talking to someone at a Star Trek convention of all places a few years ago and the subject of Damon came up. He said that the Jordan mechanics (he was a B&H rep) didn't like working with DH and felt he was there to get the money. i thought that was a bit unfair, esp if you read Damon's book and he was fighting depression at the time.
Hill drove the same number of fastest cars as Schuey… just put things in perspective doesn’t it.
I saw Damon at Magny Cours in 199?, at the hairpin he had a haze off his tyres, no locking, no letting it open up and get wide. I just when "that is skill"
Is there anyway to verify of Bob Mortimer's tale about the scotch egg is true..? He said it is but...its Bob Mortimer.
I wonder if Hill has ever talked to Kevin Harvick in any detail - Harvick being the one who had to take over Dale Earnhardt's car after he died. Nascar and F1 are very different, but I bet they could relate to each other in some ways.
Damon Hill is my #1 favorite driver.
I named my cat after him.
Greta video, I am also a Damon Hill fan. Agree about the how it seemed odd him going to Arrows at the time. I have the book and i need to read it, i would be particuarly interested in how one of his sons having Downs Syndrome worked with being and F1 driver, and laterly BDRC heaveyweight and pundit as when he wa not racing and not doing the new things he was and perhaps still is a carer
Up there with the replacement of 'Our Nige with that slippery Alain Prost
or...
he f-d up with his last choices?
yes, he saw death in all his life, but bit strange that THAT efected he's decision do end then and there and not before.
Your video helped me to understand and respect a driver I did not understand and respect. 👍🏽🙌🏽👏🏽
Damon Hill was the second best driver of the post-Senna 90s. Fight me. 😉
Most people would say "Hakkinen." Hill had more wins in far fewer starts with two teams and within one lap of that being three. He came within one point of being a 2x champion. He fought Schumacher and Villeneuve, two WDCs. He never had the full support of his team, and actually was practically undermined by them. Hakkinen won two WDCs, but only barely against Eddie Irvine who's probably the worst long term driver in a top two team I've ever seen. He had more than the full support of McLaren, where he only won any races. And Hill got under Schumacher's skin, not Hakkinen. Plus he started when he was remarkably 32, whereas Hakkinen was almost ten years younger and was far more experienced once he had his WDC chances.
Was Hill as talented as Hakkinen? Probably not, but I think his similar accomplishments in another Newey team were far more impressive.
There is a problem in that "fear theory" because i remember few times when Damon Hill was really fast, aggressive and didn't hesitate to take risks. More like sometimes the other drivers feard him.
It takes a lot lf courage to look in the mirror and say "I can't do this anymore".
Damon really is one hell of a person and a worthy Champion
EJ was a business man that made his money pissing people off professionally! 😂
He also looks like a wizard
Damon really bares his soul in his book. I doubt you could get much emotionally deeper into his head if you were his therapist. He lets us all the way in.
Turning down McLaren was a mistake.
Yeah you can say he has no balls for retiring but put yourself in these cars yeah they are more safer then ever doesn't mean that the driver is 100% safe. Sometimes you need to look at your life and go yeah in done
Weirdest career tbh. Only started racing cars at 24 with brief motorcycle experience, never won a junior title (except Max V) and started F1 at 31 years old. After a short stint at Brabham, he was given a race seat at Williams due to his impressive test
Yeah he gets his first title two after Lewis gets his last. If he came up in modern F1 times with his pedigree I would love to see what he could do.
He started racing (at least in age terms) after Vettel, Alonso and Lewis had a championship. Crazy.
Still makes you wonder what could've been if Alesi had actually driven for the team, or if Mansell had stayed or if Prost hadn't vetoed Senna. Damon felt like a bit of a stopgap, and let's be honest, would he have gotten that opportunity if his last name wasn't Hill?
If Hill had singed for McLaren, that would've probably meant Hakkinen would've been out of a drive, cause IIRC, Coulthard extended his contract before Mika did, won more races and finished ahead in the championship in 97. Had Hill driven for McLaren, surely Schumacher would've won the 98 title.
Can somebody confirm me if 98 tyres were wider than 97 tyres? cause, even addin 3 groves to the tyres, if they were wider maybe the contact surface was almost the same...
Same size.
I wonder if we can put Kimi in this category as well.
Great video, ‘bostin’ as you might say 👍
Shtt. Don't ever eat japanese jerk mochi sweet.
My first job in F1 was with Arrows 1996. Damon was our No1 driver. He never said hello to any of us in the factory. Was just rude.
I have always respected Damon Hill when hearing his story and this video made me respect him even more.
Damon is a class act.
His son is impaired? I think
His eldest child has Down’s syndrome, yeah.
He's got three others IIRC. His wife Georgie is awesome btw.
I loved it when he would play his guitar