Damon Hill

Hill at the launch of Williams FW15C in 1993

**Damon Graham Devereux Hill** (born 17 September 1960) is a British racing driver, currently competing for Williams in Formula One. He is the son of former Formula One World Champion Graham Hill and has been involved in motorsports with motorbikes since 1981.

## Early life and career

Hill was born in Hampstead, London, to Graham and Bette Hill. Graham Hill was a racing driver in the international Formula One series. He won the World Drivers' Championship in 1962 and 1968, and became a well-known personality in the United Kingdom. Graham Hill's career provided a comfortable living. Bette (née Shubrook) was a former rower and medallist at the European Rowing Championships. By 1975, the family lived in a "25-room country mansion" in Hertfordshire and Damon attended the independent The Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School. Attending the school at the same time as fellow Formula One competitor, Joey Davies. The death of his father in an aeroplane crash in 1975 left the 15-year-old Hill, his mother, and sisters Samantha and Brigitte in drastically reduced circumstances. Hill worked as a labourer and a motorcycle courier to support his further education.

Hill started his motorsport career in motorcycle racing in 1981. He used the same simple, easily identifiable helmet design as his father: eight white oar blades arranged vertically around the upper surface of a dark blue helmet. The device and colours represent the London Rowing Club for which Graham Hill rowed in the early 1950s. Although he won a 350 cc clubman's championship at the Brands Hatch circuit, his racing budget came from working as a building labourer. He also worked as a dispatch rider for Apollo Despatch in London, then later Special Delivery, a London motorcycle dispatch company and was provided TZ350 racing bikes by them. His mother, who was concerned about the dangers of racing motorcycles, persuaded him to take a racing car course at the Winfield Racing School in France in 1983. Although he showed "above-average aptitude", Hill had only sporadic single-seater races until the end of 1984. He graduated through British Formula Ford, winning six races driving a Van Diemen for Manadient Racing in 1985, his first full season in cars, and finishing third and fifth in the two UK national championships. He also took third place in the final of the 1985 Formula Ford Festival, helping the UK to win the team prize.

For 1986, Hill planned to move up to the British Formula Three Championship with title-winning team West Surrey Racing. The loss of sponsorship from Ricoh, and then the death of his proposed teammate Bertrand Fabi in a testing accident, ended Hill's proposed drive. Hill says:

> "When Bert was killed, I took the conscious decision that I wasn't going to stop doing that sort of thing. It's not just competing, it's doing something more exciting. I'm at my fullest skiing, racing or whatever. And I'm more frightened of letting it all slip and reaching 60 and finding I've done nothing."
>
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Hill borrowed £100,000 to finance his racing and had a steady first season for Murray Taylor Racing in 1986 before taking a brace of wins in each of the following years for Intersport. He finished third in the 1988 championship.

In Europe in the 1990s, a successful driver would usually progress from Formula Three either directly to Formula One, the pinnacle of the sport, or to the International Formula 3000 championship. However, Hill did not have enough sponsorship available to fund a drive in F3000. He says:

> "I ended up having to reappraise my career a bit. The first thing was to realise how lucky I was to be driving anything. I made the decision that whatever I drove I would do it to the best of my ability and see where it led."
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He took a one-off drive in the lower level British F3000 championship and shared a Porsche 962 at Le Mans for Richard Lloyd Racing, where the engine failed after 228 laps. He also competed in one race in the British Touring Car Championship at Donington Park, driving a Ford Sierra RS500. Midway through the season, an opportunity arose at the uncompetitive Mooncraft F3000 team. The team tested Hill and Perry McCarthy. Their performances were comparable but according to the team manager, John Wickham, the team sponsors preferred the Hill name. Although his best result was a 15th place, Hill's race performances for Mooncraft led to an offer to drive a Lola chassis for Middlebridge Racing in 1990. He took three pole positions and led five races in 1990, but did not win a race during his Formula 3000 career.

At the start of 1991, Hill was taken on as test driver for Williams, but he would soon enter the sport with a full time drive for the Brabham team.

## Formula One

### Brabham (1991)

Hill would have an inauspicious start to his Formula One career after he was forced by illness to pull out of the 1991 United States Grand Prix weekend after pre-qualifying. Hill would qualify for the next race at the Brazilian Grand Prix and would see the chequered flag placing 15th. However, it would prove to be a difficult season for Hill and the Brabham team, as he and team mate Mark Blundell would regularly fail to qualify or pre-qualify. Hill did manage to make more regular appearances on the grid than his more experienced team mate, but he only once secured a top ten finish with 10th at the French Grand Prix. Still, but Hill and Blundell would fail to score any points and they would not place in the championship.

### Jordan (1992)

For 1992 Hill would move to Jordan to partner Formula One debutant Heinz-Harald Frentzen; Hill had previously driven for Eddie Jordan in junior formulae and he was keen to bring in a talent he recognised. Despite the optimism in the team and the arrival of works Ilmor engines for 1992, the team were still unable to break into the points scoring positions in the first half of 1992. The highlight of the first half of the season was an impressive 7th at Monaco, just missing out on his first points scoring position. While contracted for Jordan for 1992, Hill was still under contract at Williams and they had an option to recall him to take up a race seat. The poor performance by Jean Alesi would see Williams call up Hill to take over the seat from the British Grand Prix onwards.

### Williams (1992–present)

Hill was immediately successful in his first race, getting his first points scoring finish at his home race with 6th place. Hill would continue to regularly score points and podiums in the rest of the season, his highlight being 2nd at the Portuguese Grand Prix. The season would end with Hill securing 10th in the standings 22 points and 4 podium finishes.

## Personal Life

Hill is married to Susan "Georgie" George and they have two sons Oliver (b. 1989), and Joshua (b. 1991). Hill is a family friend of Davies, with their fathers having raced together in the '60s. They would both attend The Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School and it is rumoured that the older Hill gave Davies the diminutive nickname 'Joey'.

## Formula One Statistical Overview

### Formula One Record

Notes

* \* – Season still in progress.

### Complete Formula One results

(key) (Races in **bold** indicate pole position; races in *italics* indicate fastest lap)

Notes

* \* - Season still in progress.