Formula One Legend Damon Hill: Truly His Father’s Son
On September 17th, 1960, in London, Britain, Damon Graham Devereux Hill was born to British Formula One ace Graham Hill, who would go on to become World Champion twice after Damon’s birth. Enjoying a privileged upbringing in the sprawling Hill abode in London, young Damon grew up amidst regular visits from his father’s friends in the Formula One community that included the likes of Jim Clark, Stirling Moss, John Surtees and Jackie Stewart. However, little Hill remained uninspired by the profession of his father’s high profile comrades, focusing instead on motorbikes. Damon regarded with relish the miniature motorbike his father purchased for him when he turned 11. However, four years down the road, his comfortable lifestyle was to take a serious blow when Hill’s father died in a plane accident along with a few other members of the Formula One community. Insurance claims left the family bereft of much of its savings and Bette Hill had to raise her three young children in a significantly straitened financial situation.
To fund his education, the persevering Damon took up several odd jobs, including that of a motorcycle courier. By 1981 he was contesting on self- prepared bikes and in 1985, aged 25, Damon bagged just enough sponsorship money to fund a year in single-seater Formula Ford series, where he displayed talent, but did not overly impress. Similar was the story of his foray into Formula Three, where Hill scored three victories in three seasons. Although the Englishman’s following three year stint at Formula 3000 went without a win, his impressive work ethic was sufficient in convincing Williams to offer him a test driving post in 1991. Hill’s rookie Formula One year with the embarrassingly incompetent Brabham squad in 1992 proved highly disappointing when out of eight starts, he was able to qualify only twice. At the same time the Englishman’s test driving job with Williams bore fruit when Nigel Mansell raced to be crowned the 1992 World Championship title in the car Hill had assisted in modelling. Damon Hill was richly rewarded for his role in the triumph, for when Mansell exited Williams at the end of 1992 season, the Englishman was elevated to the position of a permanent race driver at the squad.
Paired alongside Alain Prost, Hill attempted to reap the most of his deal with Williams, whose 1993 machine was the class of the field. Hill ultimately managed to secure himself an aggregate third position after sealing three championship wins. In 1994, the Englishman came into his own after giving Benetton’s Michael Schumacher a tough run for his money, and although he was narrowly beaten to the World Championship title by the German at the season’s end, some pundits cried foul over Schumacher’s less than gentlemanly on-track antics on course to his triumph.
The following year when Hill once again ended runner up behind Michael Schumacher in the run for the drivers’ title, he was universally panned for not winning in a car that was palpably superior to all others on track. Hill’s 1995 championship winning German rival implied the Englishman was a second-class racer and some members of the Williams squad felt their protagonist had little excuse not to have taken the ultimate title.
Yet when Damon Hill did land the 1996 World Championship trophy after triumphing at 8 events out of 16, and outperforming his novice team mate Jacques Villeneuve, the Williams squad felt it could no longer entrust the Englishman with their future fortunes. Towards the end of the 1996 campaign, Hill was informed by the Williams team that he would be substituted by Heinz-Harald Frentzen when the year’s run came to an end. The Englishman then embarked on a move to the less than competitive Arrows team for 1997, and then switched to the Jordan squad, where he gave the team its first taste of Formula One triumph at the 1998 Belgian event. By the conclusion of the 1999 season, Damon Hill’s passion for his profession had shrunk considerably, and he decided to hang his gloves for good. He has since embarked on several fruitful entrepreneurial ventures and in 2006 took up the role of president at the British Racing Drivers’ Club.
Tags: