Hill Reveals Schumacher’s Ruthless Psychological Games on Track’s Edge
Nov.14 - Damon Hill says the great Michael Schumacher convinced him he was "useless". Wednesday was the 30th anniversary of Schumacher's first of a record seven world..
Damon Hill F1 stats & info
| Name | Damon Hill |
| Country |  United Kingdom |
| Height | 1.82 meter / 5 feet 12 inch |
| Place of Birth | London |
| Date of Birth | Sep 17th 1960 - 64 years old |
| Season Entries | 8 |
| Car Number | 7 |
| First Race | 1992 British F1 GP |
| Last Race | 1999 Japanese F1 GP |
| First Pole | 1993 French F1 GP |
| Last Pole | 1996 Portuguese F1 GP |
| First Win | 1993 Hungarian F1 GP |
| Last Win | 1998 Belgian F1 GP |
| First Win from Pole | 1994 British F1 GP |
| Last Win from Pole | 1996 German F1 GP |
| First Hat-trick | 1994 British F1 GP |
| Last Hat-trick | 1996 German F1 GP |
| F1 Teams History | Brabham (1992) Williams (1993-1996) Arrows (1997) Jordan (1998-1999) |
Damon Hill F1 Stats | |
| Drivers' Titles | 1 |
| Grand Prix Entries | 122 |
| Grand Prix Starts | 115 |
| Total Points | 360.00 |
| Avg. Points per GP | 2.95 |
| Grand Prix Wins | 22 (18,0%) |
| Wins from pole | 7 (5,7%) |
| Pole Positions | 20 (16,4%) |
| Front Row Starts | 47 (38,5%) |
| Avg. GP Grid | 5.8 |
| GP Podiums | 42 (34,4%) |
| GP Fastest Laps | 19 (15,6%) |
| GP Points Finish | 56 (45,9%) |
| Avg. GP Position | 4.5 |
| Hat-tricks | 5 (4,1%) |
| GP Retirements | 48 (39,3%) |
| GP DNF's | 37 (30,3%) |
| Total GP Laps | 5.847 |
Biography
Damon Hill Biography
Damon Hill (2011)
Damon Hill was the first son of a former F1 champion that also won an F1 drivers' title.
What would be the logical path into racing for the son of a two-time Formula 1 World Champion? Exactly the path Damon Hill, the 1996 Formula 1 World Drivers’ Champion, did not take. The son of two-time F1 champion and motorsport’s Triple Crown winner, Graham Hill, started his motorsport life in two wheels, unpredictably.
Early Life
Born in London on the 17 of September of 1960, Damon Graham Devereux Hill grew up around Formula 1 and seeing many of the best drivers of the 1960s walking in and out of his house very often. However, Damon was interested in bikes and no other form of motorsport.
Of course, the comfortable way of life the Hills were enjoying was shocked when the Great Graham Hill died in an aircraft crash with other members of his team, Embassy Hill, including driver Tony Brise. Damon was 15 years old at the time. Years later, Damon said to the Motorsport Magazine that his father’s death was like “having your head chopped off”. Prior to that tragic loss for the family and the entire racing world, Damon often attended races with his father and enjoyed the sport.
His father had bought him a bike when he was 11 years of age and the motorcycles were still his passion. Damon even worked as a motorcycle courier. His entrance into the actual motorcycle racing was mainly for his own effort, Damon bought his own motorcycle and even fixed it to be able to compete. John Webb helped him and he got off to a good start to his racing career, though on two wheels and not on four, which was going to become his successful niche.
Racing Life & Career
Hill had several performances on bikes and even won a clubman’s title at Brands Hatch, Hill himself said he had a great 1984, winning “just about everything”. However, he quickly turned to cars, with advice from his mother and help from Webb, again. Hill entered the 1985 Formula Ford Championship having had no experience in car racing apart from a racing car course in France, in the Winfield Racing School, and some small races two years before.
Damon Hill driving the Brabham BT60B Judd at Monaco (1992)
During his first year in Formula Ford, driving for Manadient Racing, Hill became a race winner and had decent results considering a background which did not involve any kind of competition on karts. Hill finished inside the top five in the two most recognizable tournaments in Britain, the Esso Championship and the RAC Series.
Hill moved to Formula 3 for 1986 and he was a part of West Surrey Racing. However, he could not race for the team as WSR withdrew after the driver who was going to be Hill’s teammate, Bertrand Fabi, tragically lost his life in a test at Goodwood. Hill competed for another team, behind the wheel of a Ralt RT-30 VW, and had a difficult year, though he had a podium at Snetterton.
For 1987, Damon moved to the Cellnet team and drove a Ralt RT-31 powered by Toyota. He was solid and achieved Pole Position in the second race of the season and then won at Zandvoort and Spa-Francorchamps and, again, positioned his name in the top five of a competitive series.
Hill won a couple of races in 1988 with the team and finished third overall, which earned him a place in the F3000 with GA Motorsport and driving a Lola T88/50 with a Cosworth engine for the last two races of the year at Zolder and Dijon-Prenois.
Damon’s 1989 season started with a different look, as he had no drive for F300 and participated in the 24 Hours of Le Mans for Richard Lloyd Racing but could not finish the iconic race with his Porsche 962C.
He landed a five-race drive for Footwork in the F3000, but he only finished three of the five races and did not score points. Middlebridge Racing and another Lola chassis gave Hill the first chance to score points in the F3000 and a podium at Brands Hatch was good enough to finish the year with six points and three Pole Positions.
Formula 1 Career
In 1991, Hill earned a place as a Williams F1 Test Driver while still racing in F3000. His 1991 team in the F3000 was Eddie Jordan’s squad and he achieved a couple of fourth paces with a Lola T91/50 and a sixth place. He was able to drive the best chassis on the field, the Reynard 91D, during the last race if the championship and finished third. Hill finished his last F3000 season in seventh place overall.
For 1992, Hill made his F1 debut at 31 years old for Brabham. Unfortunately for him, the team was not what it used to be and qualifying for races was both extremely difficult and a good achievement if it happened. Hill failed to qualify in his first five attempts until he finally made the grid of a Grand Prix at Silverstone in 1992. He then qualified for the 1991 Hungarian Grand Prix and finished 11th, four laps off the pace in what was the last race of the Brabham team.
The big opportunity to join a big team arrived in 1993 when Hill’s progress as a test driver for Williams earned him a spot alongside Alain Prost. Of course, Nigel Mansell leaving to race in Indycar due to Prost arrival and Riccardo Patrese’s departure for Benetton opened the door for Hill.
First F1 Podium
Damon Hill driving the Williams FW15C Renault in Spain (1993)
His first podium arrived quickly, at the second race of the year, at Brazil, where he also led for more than 10 laps, ultimately finishing second behind Ayrton Senna. Another second place behind the Brazilian driver came at Donington Park in the following race, the 1993 European Grand Prix. Podiums at Monaco and Canada preceded his first Pole Position, at France.
Hill led the first 26 laps of the 1993 French Grand Prix but ultimately finished second, three-tenths of a second behind Prost.
Then, Hill led his home race at Silverstone for 41 laps before his engine blew up. At the following race, at Germany, Hill again suffered a heartbreak while leading the race, this time due to a puncture at the penultimate lap.
The 1993 Hungarian Grand Prix became Hill’s breakthrough. He qualified second behind Prost, but as the Frenchman stalled his car on the warm-up lap, Hill led from the first lap and won the race by more than a minute, finally achieving his first victory. He became the first son of a World Champion to win a Grand Prix.
Damon Hill wins his first Grand Prix in Hungary in the Williams FW15C
Hill followed up his first win with consecutive victories at Belgium and Italy, both with some luck and from P2 on the grid. Damon became the first driver to win his first three races consecutively and to date is the only one to do it in the same year (Mika Häkkinen did it afterwards, but it included the last race of 1997 and the first two of 1998).
He finished 11 races in 1993 and 10 of those were on the podium and the other one was a fourth-place finish. Ultimately, Hill finished third in the WDC behind his teammate Prost and Senna.
Teammate of Senna in 1994
After Prost retired, another three-time World Champion (at the time of signing with the team) arrived at Williams to partner Hill. Ayrton Senna was the clear number one within the team, and though the new FW16 was not easy to drive after the ban on many of the electronic aids the team had successfully displayed in previous cars, the Brazilian was on Pole Position for each of the first three races.
Hill achieved a podium in the first two races of the season. During the tragic 1994 San Marino Grand Prix, two fatal accidents in qualifying and the race took the lives of Roland Ratzenberger and Hill’s teammate, Senna.
Hill and the Williams team were left on despair due to the events at Imola. Damon, just like his father Graham did about a month after Jim Clark’s tragical death, went to Spain and took an emotional victory for the team and Senna’s fans.
In 2007, he told the Motorsport Magazine that he “never went into this seeing myself as a number one driver. I thought this is great, I’m team-mates with Alain Prost, and then, great, I’m team-mates with Ayrton Senna. And then Senna died, and suddenly I was thrown into the deep end. I had to raise my game. And I don’t think I was prepared for that. It was horrible: his clothes still hanging up in the changing room, everyone in shock”.
In fact, Hill became the team’s lead driver and had to mount a title challenge to the comfortable championship leader and who would become his biggest rival, Michael Schumacher.
Williams FW18 Renault driven by Damon Hill in Canada (1996)
Two second-place finishes followed his win at Barcelona and then Hill took the victory in the British Grand Prix. Schumacher was second at Silverstone, but he was later disqualified for failing to serve a stop-go penalty when instructed to do so. The German driver won at Hungary and in Spa but was disqualified from the race at Belgium due to excessive wear on his car’s skid block.
For his actions in the British Grand Prix (serving the penalty after the three laps given to him to do it and ignoring a black flag), Schumacher was given a two-race ban, but he competed in the following races due to an appeal by Benetton. After the disqualification at Spa-Francorchamps, the two-race ban for Schumacher stood and he was set to miss the action at Monza and Estoril.
Hill duly won at Italy and Portugal and then added a stunning win on aggregate at Suzuka to head to the final round just one point behind the German driver. On his victory on the rain at Japan, Hill told Simon Taylor of the Motorsport Magazine it was “the most intense race” he ever had and that winning it “was an experience which lived with me for a very long time”.
In the final round at Adelaide, Schumacher led from the start with Hill closely behind. On lap 36, the German driver made a mistake and went off on turn 5, hitting the wall. Schumacher returned to the track as Hill made it round turn 5, the Englishman tried to overtake Schumacher (who let the door open on the inside), but the German quickly turned in and the two crashed and Schumacher’s car spectacularly went up in the air, though at low speed, of course.
The German retired immediately, while Hill was able to continue but had to retire due to front suspension damage. Many years later, he said that the team could have at least tried to fix the suspension and get back in the race looking for the points they needed.
Character Building in 1995 & Champion in 1996
Damon Hill on the podium joined
by HRH Diana, Princess of Wales.
British Grand Prix, Silverstone, 10 July 1994
The following year, 1995, was quite difficult for Hill. The English driver made several mistakes during the year and was involved in various collisions with Schumacher, which even gave both drivers (suspended) race bans. Hill had started 1995 strongly with Pole Position in the first race and two wins in the first three races.
Though he managed to start from Pole Positions six times in the remainder of the season, Hill could only win two other races in 1995, while Schumacher won the title easily.
Hill himself believed Williams had made the decision to get rid of Hill after the 1996 season due to his struggles in the previous season. The 1996 car, the FW18 was the class of the field and Hill and his new teammate, the 1995 Indycar champion Jacques Villeneuve, fought for the WDC during the year.
Damon won the first three races of the year and started off the year amazingly. He went on to win five more races -at San Marino, Canada, France, Germany and the finale at Japan-.
He held off the charge of Villeneuve in the latter stages of the season and sealed the championship with a solid drive at Suzuka to become the first son of a World Champion to replicate his father success at the age of 36 (only Nico Rosberg, son of the 1982 champion Keke Rosberg, has repeated the feat since Hill did it).
Almost Winning for Arrows in 1997
Damon Hill in the Arrows A18 on the Hungaroring (1997)
Hill left Williams and arrived at Arrows for the following year after considering many other options (Sauber and Stewart Racing, amongst others). The 1997 season was tough with Arrows-Yamaha and the Bridgestone tyres.
The Bridgestone tyres, though, were impressive in the 11th race of the year, while Damon had only scored one point in the previous ten races. The 11th race was at Hungary and Hill started third, behind championship contenders Schumacher and Villeneuve.
Hill took the lead of the race on lap 11 and led the race by more than 35 seconds over the Canadian until lap 76 when a hydraulic failure hindered his chances. Damon finished the race in second and gave the team their only podium of the season.
Driving for Jordan in 1998 & 1999
For 1998, Hill had the chance to go to McLaren, but the team’s offer was not was he expected and he signed with Jordan instead.
With Jordan, Hill only finished four of the first ten races but did not score points. Then, Hill ended the season with five top-six finishes in the last seven races, including leading a stunning 1-2 for Jordan in the extremely wet 1998 Belgian Grand Prix. Hill strongly suggested the team to tell his teammate Ralf Schumacher to hold station, otherwise, the team would risk losing it all in a fight for the lead.
The win at Spa was Hill’s 22nd, the last of his career and Jordan’s first in F1.
Eventually, the run of good results to end the 1998 season was good enough to put Hill in sixth place in the World Drivers’ Championship.
For 1999, Hill stayed with Jordan. He recognized in 2019 that he wanted to retire after the 1999 British Grand Prix due to many factors, including “hate” for the grooved tyres, which were made mandatory for all teams in 1998.
Damon Hill driving the Jordan Mugen-Honda EJ9 (1999)
Hill’s last season was quite unimpressive as his head had seemingly checked out of the sport. He scored only seven points during the year and finished 12th in the championship, while Heinz-Harald Frentzen, his teammate, won two races and fought for the title until the last rounds of the season.
His last race was the 1999 Japanese Grand Prix, in which he started 12th but had to retire on lap 21.
After retiring, his involvement with cars was evident. He had a BMW dealership, among other businesses related to cars and became the president of the British Racing Drivers’ Club.
He appeared as part of ITV coverage of some Formula 1 races and has been a part of Sky coverage of Formula 1 since 2012.
Hill’s helmet design during his career was the same as his father, adorned with the insignia of the London Rowing Club.
Damon’s wife is Susan George, better known as Georgie Hill and they have four children -Oliver, Joshua, Tabitha, and Rosie-.
“I think what we’re capable of mentally is way beyond what we think it is. If you’re a racing driver you choose to put yourself in an unnatural situation. Most people don’t want to put themselves under that stress: it makes sense to avoid it rather than pursue it. But if you do put yourself there, it can start to become sublime”, Hill told the Motorsport Magazine about the mindset of racing drivers.
Seasons
Damon Hill Final Championship Results
| 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 26th | 3rd | 2nd | 2nd | 1st | 12th | 6th | 12th |
Damon Hill F1 Seasons Summary
| Year | Team | Engine | GP | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Pod | Pole | Laps | FL | Avg Pts | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 |
 Jordan | Mugen-Honda | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 521 | 0 | 0.44 | 7 |
| 1998 |
Jordan | Mugen-Honda | 16 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 858 | 0 | 1.25 | 20 |
| 1997 |
Arrows | Yamaha | 16 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 757 | 0 | 0.44 | 7 |
| 1996 |
Williams | Renault | 16 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 9 | 841 | 5 | 6.06 | 97 |
| 1995 |
Williams | Renault | 17 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 9 | 7 | 953 | 4 | 4.06 | 69 |
| 1994 |
Williams | Renault | 16 | 6 | 5 | 0 | 11 | 2 | 885 | 6 | 5.69 | 91 |
| 1993 |
Williams | Renault | 16 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 10 | 2 | 904 | 4 | 4.31 | 69 |
| 1992 |
Brabham | Judd | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 128 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 |
Cars
Latest Damon Hill F1 Cars
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- Damon Hill driving the Jordan Mugen-Honda EJ9 (1999)
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- Damon Hill driving the Arrows A18 Yamaha at the Hungaroring (1997)
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- Damon Hill driving the Williams FW18 Renault on Circuit Gilles Villeneuve (1996)
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- Williams FW17 Renault presentation with Damin Hill, David Coulthard, Adrian Newey & Patrick Head (1995)
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- Damon Hill driving the Williams FW15C Renault in Spain (1993)
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- Damon Hill driving the Brabham BT60B Judd at Monaco (1992)
Races
Damon Hill F1 GP Race Classifications
| 1st | 22 Times |
| 2nd | 15 Times |
| 3rd | 5 Times |
| 4th | 7 Times |
| 5th | 2 Times |
| 6th | 5 Times |
| 7th | 3 Times |
| 8th | 7 Times |
| 9th | 2 Times |
| 10th | 2 Times |
| 11th | 2 Times |
| 12th | 1 Time |
| 13th | 1 Time |
| 15th | 1 Time |
| 16th | 1 Time |
| 17th | 1 Time |
| DNF | 37 Times |
| DSQ | 1 Time |
| DNQ | 6 Times |
| DNS | 1 Time |
Damon Hill F1 GP Race Results
Wins
Damon Hill F1 Wins
Podiums
Damon Hill F1 Podium Finishes
Poles
Damon Hill F1 Pole Positions
| Year | Race | No | Team | Engine | Grid | Pos | Retired | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 | 1996 | 1996 Portuguese F1 GP | 5 | Williams | Renault | 1 | 2 | 6 | |
| 19 | 1996 | 1996 Italian F1 GP | 5 | Williams | Renault | 1 | DNF | Spun off | 0 |
| 18 | 1996 | 1996 German F1 GP | 5 | Williams | Renault | 1 | 1 | 10 | |
| 17 | 1996 | 1996 British F1 GP | 5 | Williams | Renault | 1 | DNF | Wheel | 0 |
| 16 | 1996 | 1996 Canadian F1 GP | 5 | Williams | Renault | 1 | 1 | 10 | |
| 15 | 1996 | 1996 Spanish F1 GP | 5 | Williams | Renault | 1 | DNF | Spun off | 0 |
| 14 | 1996 | 1996 European F1 GP | 5 | Williams | Renault | 1 | 4 | 3 | |
| 13 | 1996 | 1996 Argentine F1 GP | 5 | Williams | Renault | 1 | 1 | 10 | |
| 12 | 1996 | 1996 Brazilian F1 GP | 5 | Williams | Renault | 1 | 1 | 10 | |
| 11 | 1995 | 1995 Australian F1 GP | 5 | Williams | Renault | 1 | 1 | 10 | |
| 10 | 1995 | 1995 Hungarian F1 GP | 5 | Williams | Renault | 1 | 1 | 10 | |
| 9 | 1995 | 1995 German F1 GP | 5 | Williams | Renault | 1 | DNF | Spun Off | 0 |
| 8 | 1995 | 1995 British F1 GP | 5 | Williams | Renault | 1 | DNF | Collision | 0 |
| 7 | 1995 | 1995 French F1 GP | 5 | Williams | Renault | 1 | 2 | 6 | |
| 6 | 1995 | 1995 Monaco F1 GP | 5 | Williams | Renault | 1 | 2 | 6 | |
| 5 | 1995 | 1995 Brazilian F1 GP | 5 | Williams | Renault | 1 | DNF | Gearbox | 0 |
| 4 | 1994 | 1994 British F1 GP | 0 | Williams | Renault | 1 | 1 | 10 | |
| 3 | 1994 | 1994 French F1 GP | 0 | Williams | Renault | 1 | 2 | 6 | |
| 2 | 1993 | 1993 Portuguese F1 GP | 0 | Williams | Renault | 1 | 3 | 4 | |
| 1 | 1993 | 1993 French F1 GP | 0 | Williams | Renault | 1 | 2 | 6 |
Comparison
Damon Hill Teammate Comparison
| Year | Team | Team Mate | Best Pos | Points | Wins | Poles | Pos | Quali | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | Brabham | Eric van de Poele | 16 | 27 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 1993 | Williams | Alain Prost | 1 | 1 | 69 | 99 | 3 | 7 | 2 | 13 | 6 | 10 | 2 | 14 |
| 1994 | Williams | Ayrton Senna | 2 | 13 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| David Coulthard | 1 | 2 | 62 | 14 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 8 | 0 | ||
| Nigel Mansell | 1 | 1 | 22 | 13 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 | ||
| 1995 | Williams | David Coulthard | 1 | 1 | 69 | 49 | 4 | 1 | 7 | 5 | 11 | 6 | 9 | 8 |
| 1996 | Williams | Jacques Villeneuve | 1 | 1 | 97 | 78 | 8 | 4 | 9 | 3 | 8 | 8 | 13 | 3 |
| 1997 | Arrows | Pedro Diniz | 2 | 5 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 7 | 14 | 3 |
| 1998 | Jordan | Ralf Schumacher | 1 | 2 | 20 | 14 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 6 | 6 | 10 |
| 1999 | Jordan | Heinz-Harald Frentzen | 4 | 1 | 7 | 54 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 14 | 2 | 14 |
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