In defence of Damon, he started racing cars at 25. He possessed natural talent inherited from his father, who also started racing very late at 29. Two outstanding races should be the title. Although it has to be said, his work ethic as a test driver and leadership in the aftermath of Senna's death earned him his success. Better prepared drivers like JV, Jenson & Nico Rosberg had more or less the same career (only Nico won more than Damon). In F1, being lightning quick is not sufficient. Race management, technical know-how and political acumen are vital. If speed was the only asset, Alesi, Grosjean & Hulkenberg would be multiple champions.

This is a little harsh, Damon was a damn good driver and he handled pressure better than most "top f1 drivers" ive ever seen

In the superb Sky F1 documentary, "The Last Team Mate," which talked about the awful events of Imola 1994, Damon Hill reflected on that tragic weekend, in a sad and tragic way, as the moment where his career began to take off, conceding: "I don't think Frank and Patrick ever saw me as a potential candidate as a number one driver," After that ill-fated weekend, he drove the most consistent that he ever did in his career. Innocent victim in Monaco collision with Hakkinen, winner in Spain, second in Canada, second again in France, winning at Silverstone, out of the points in Germany, second in Hungary, inherited the win in Belgium, then won on the road in Monza and Estoril, second in Jerez, brilliantly won in Japan and could have won in Australia if he had not collided with Schumacher (who had already made an error that resulted in potentially terminal suspension damage to the Benetton). He was voted Sports Personality of the Year in the UK for 1994 because of his performances that helped lift Williams from the dispair of Senna's death to not only just miss out on the driver's title, but help the team win the Constructors Championship for the third year in a row

He played guitar in a punk band called “Hitler, sex and endorphins”. He raced motorbikes. George Harrison gave him like a million pounds to keep his racing career going. And he became F1 champion! And come on, he had more than two “good” races. Only two “outstanding” races maybe.

To offer a different take…he helped develop some of the most dominant machinery of all time (part of how he got the opportunity at Williams in the first place). He had a couple of great races (and a lot of good races, for I don’t think you get to 20+ wins by being a mediocre driver), but perhaps his brilliance was with car development.

I don't think people are really fair to Damon. He made his debut at 31. 31! At that time, 31 was an age when drivers were already thinking about retirement. He was nearly 40 when he retired. And he was still quite fast in 97. I think he would be better remembered if he had made his debut in the 80s rather than the 90s

Like Lewis Hamilton, Jacques Villeneuve was lucky enough to join F1 in the dominant team, plus he had so many practice and test sessions, he had a reputation of being by far the most prepared rookie to ever enter F1, bashing Damon is unfair as unlike Villeneuve, Damon had a great 96 season and did actually manage to win a race after leaving Williams, if not for the hydraulic failure in Hungary 1997 he would have also won when driving for arrows, whereas Jacques post Williams career was a downward slump where he constantly failed to deliver the expected performance from the machinery he was given, this was especially highlighted when Jenson Button joined BAR and outshined Villeneuve

Preface I think Hill was a good driver. However, my arguments on his season performances is... 93- he came up against Prost who'd taken a year out in a vastly more technical car than Prost was used to and one which Hill himself helped developes and was comfortably out done. Now fair enough Prost is arguably top 3 drivers ever but still to be beat by him in a time year when most people didn't even think he did that well is damning. 94- I'd argue the Benneton was the better car at the start of the year just that Senna was making it look close. After Newey got around to fixing the car after the crash it was probably the best car. Hill beeing very lucky the FIA gave him a helping hand. Schumacher did probably turn in on him deliberately but yes there was no need to dive bomb him going into a tight right hander when you see he's just come out the previous corner slow even if he didn't see him hit the wall. 95- I mean 2015 Nico would be proud 96- Yh he finally got his head down and won a title but Villeneuve while a very good driver (joining BAR essentially a back marker damaged his reputation) And then the other 3 years much of a muchness probably would've done better than Frentzen. Still though I'd say he was a good driver if one of the weaker ones.

How to tell me you don't know what you're talking about with out telling me you don't know what you're talking about.

Some good points I think but if I remember correctly you've previously stated a dislike of Hill so I'm not sure this is the most unbiased take. In his autobiography Damon did struggle with expectation and 95 was a bad season for him, highlighted by the British GP clash with the Michael. I think 2 good races is not the case with Damon but I'll agree he underachieved in his career.

Harsh on Damon, he wasn't the best, but claiming he only had 2 good drives is bollocks, he won 22 times, you don't do that being rubbish. No, Hill had only 2 great races. Japan 1994 is for me his best.

In 2025 we will have a champion from Antarctica

I was a Hill guy back in the day and even myself thought his championship was almost a gift from the circunstances. Schumacher took himself out of 1996 contention signing with Ferrari. Benetton was a deeply tailored to his needs car that Alesi and Berger could never truly adapt to, and in the other car there was a newcomer from the US that struggled greatly with street and wet tracks. I was happy that he did it, but it didn't fooled no one that Schumacher could run circles around him and he even did that two or three times that season, with that Ferrari. I do think his performances on Japan 1994, Brazil 1996 and Hungary 1997 were above the rest, but yeah, nothing on the level of Schumacher's Spain 1996, just strong performances and nothing else.

The fact that Damon was always so good at Hungary which is said to be like Monaco (where his dad was king) without the walls, begs the question: Can a driver actually inherit particular driving skills/strengths from a parent, not just simply the ability to be quick? 🤔

Your content is always must watch!

Before i clicked on the video i thought of Phil Hill, then when you said it i laughed.

Guys, when you're talking about a former world champion with 22 wins, as many fastest laps as Senna, more poles than Raikkonen, both in far fewer races, a better win rate than Vettel and Mansell, and you're having to come up with excuses at a rate of 10 per minute to explain away every good result he ever achieved and cast the shadow of your extreme bias over these facts, you very well may be suffering from Damon Hill Derangement Syndrome.

Between 1992-1996, Michael Schumacher won 22 races. Damon Hill won 21. Fact.

Totally agree, Hill definitely had something if it could be accessed but he never really mamaged it. Suzuka 94 was a damn good drive though despite my raw hatred for Damon and the commentary team that duped people into thinking he was a world class superstar

Damon Hill, My childhood hero. Overcoming the incredible expectation on his shoulders due to his name and the horrifying circumstances after his full first F1 campaign to win an F1 Championship. All after only committing to a motorsport career at an age when many wannabees wash up as a waste of effort. I was incensed after realising this video's sensationalist title was about him...... I stand by that feeling. Your appraisal of 1994 being Hill throwing away an open goal, against a team who used illegal traction control. A very biased account. A not conclusive list of Good/Exceptional races by Damon Hill (You said good! A very broad term): Britain 1993 - Dominated Prost, cruel engine failure. Britain 1994 Japan 1994 (Experienced the same out of body, almost spiritual driving experience that Senna described in Monaco 1988. An with a worn tyre on one corner.) Australia 1995 (The birth of the future champion, refocused and imperious. I accept that 1995 was not good enough on the whole, but here winning by 2 laps. Never mind the remaining opposition.) Japan 1996 (That pressure, he smashed it) Canada 1996 (Beating Villeneuve in his own back yard.) Hungary 1997 Belgium 1998 (Never mind the team orders, he worked his way to the lead in the first place.) I get you need to be sensationalist to get views and subscribers...... But: No. I'll leave with a comment made by Jock Clear., Villeneuve's chief race engineer in 1996 and 1997. Had the pleasure of meeting him at an event about 9 years ago. In his own words, 'All world champions need a certain quality to achieve it, a focus and drive, both Damon Hill and Jacques had that, they were exceptional.' His description from hands on experience stuck with me, and rise above this opinionated version of events. Finally: I counter your argument he never met his performance ceiling consistently. This is impossible to judge due to the cars he drove at his peak. Easy to dismiss that possibility when in the best machinery. He was the ceiling at that point. And breathe, i'm done.

For he is definitely better than some of the lesser world champions The rosbergs Schekter Hunt

Was the Williams really that much better than the Benetton once they also got the Renault engine in '95?

If there was one race that differentiated Hill and Schumacher, it would be '95 Spa, where the latter held the former with slick tyres...on wet surface!

I think this is the first time this year I had to put on the subtitles on an English spoken video

Interesting video tbh, positives of Damon Hill's career; 22 wins, 20 poles of course won that title and tbf, he did well to lead a big team like Williams after such a high-profile death and challenged in 94. Negatives tbh when I think of 20+ winners usually he's the only 1 I forget and that is saying something really. In terms of tiers, I had him back of S probably around where Alboreto is.

Obviously a Schumacher fan... Not buying that statement. His racecraft wasn't the best but he was bloody quick. The stats he achieved are better than many of them. The Williams was a dog till the bspec came. Senna overcame it in qualifying , it was clearly worse than the Benetton early season. 95 Hill wasn't good. However the team dropped a lot of points through crap strategy and poor operation which put him on the back foot. The car wasn't that much better than the Benetton. I can think of way more than 2 good races. You don't win 22 by accident.

The only difference between Damon and Lewis is the time with the best car of the year, nothing else.

It surprised me that Williams kept Damon on after those loses to Schumacher. He had the best equipment on the grid and I think any other driver would have been shown the door a lot sooner. I think your assessment is fair, Damon could pull out a good drive here and there but was just to inconsistent.

Schumacher had brilliant minds Brawn and Byrne behind him. Brawn was really a genius of strategy. Patrick Head of Williams was never close to him.

Prost stalled so much in 93 it was hilarious

Williams lost the edge over other teams, first and foremost because of FIA banning active suspension, traction control and ABS were just secondary reasons.

What a load of bollocks.

Give me hill over Keke Rosberg every day of the week

Japan ‘94 was his best ever. Some other standouts would be Hungary ‘97 obviously, Jerez ‘97 fourth in qualifying, a solid second half of ‘98 with the Belgium performance (remember safety cars brought Ralf into play) and a fourth place at Suzuka with a last corner overtake on Frentzen to give Jordan 4th in the constructors for the first time. There was a fourth place at Imola ‘99 and a few good drives but otherwise that was a dire season. His career was strange and ended in a very weird way but definitely more than two good drives. I actually think Raikkonen is one of the worst world champions - very fast in the McLarens but looked like a totally different driver after that and didn’t seem to care for years at the end

It almost seems like Damon Hill was a 'trading places' (1983 movie starring Dan Aroyd Eddie murphy) kind of bet Patrick Head and Frank Williams took for Formula 1, Take a driver driving the worst car, put him in our vastly superior car and make a regular driver world champion 😄

Later starter and only 1 year at Brabham before diving into the deep end and was not too far off the great Prosts pace.

How close is prime Damon to prime jenson?

when he left williams he had raced 60 races and won 20. Jim Clark kinda statistics.

Very valid perspective, although Damon will not enjoy it...

'Mediocre' Goes from backmarker team one year, to winning a championship the next, which he did, Schumacher should never have been awarded that championship 'blah blah shouldnt have made the move' Schumacher was off line and damaged, it was a 100% intentional and calculated dick move that isnt even near to being as controversial as the crap that Senna and Prost pulled on each other which *could* have been interpreted as genuine racing incident, Schumacher vs Hill was *not* a racing incident. It was 'oh f im screwed turn in and pray the other guy isnt more damaged than me' - hell i *remember* the cameras watching the smug bastard in the stands. Schumacher proved what he was like in the years after that and ended up with plenty of other disqualifications to underline it. Anyway, then he cops the 'goat' of the time, then a reigning indy champion, then another reigning indy champion as teammates, then gets utterly shafted entirely. He isnt goat material, but he wasnt mediocre, he made plenty of slipups but sorry there was a hell of a lot of bullshit going on in the background there people downplay.

If we're to give a driver, earning a few wins and being wdc, we could line up several drivers as we could with multiple gp winners driver never crowned, we could easily say the first mentioned got lucky or earning what they long deserved while the second one would be called inconsistent because of failing in their only wdc title shot. Being wdc meant you're a good driver, the best car and got a bit more luck to edge your closest rivals. Button is a fair example of being unlucky yet consistent over the years. When he got a winning car, he got the wdc title on the bat Barrichello is the contrary as he drove the best ever car in early 2000's, being stuck as leftover driver. He got same drive as Button in 2009 and not only failed the title but even failed to rank 2nd. So Hill seized the chance he was given, who cares? A title is a bit of luck and a lot of consistency. A good driver with an incredible destiny.

Is it Max?

Yeah. It sounds like someone wasn't alive in the early 90s so didn't watch it as it happened, and is just guessing

uncomfortableness = discomfort. Sorry but that word made me uncomfortable :D

Only two good races and 22 wins, so 20 of his wins were bad races huh? Utter bollocks.

Damon’s worst race was still better than this nonsense

This is dumb. Damon had a bunch of great performances in both 94 and 96. Beating Micheal in a car with TC and launch control is no mean feat. The oddest F1 WC, would be someone like Alan Jones or Keke, who was a pretty mid driver, who had one really consistent season, winning a championship almost by luck.

Somewhat disingenuous

How many of Lewis Hamilton's wins don't count because he had the best car? Same for Prost and Senna in 88, Mansell in 92 or Verstapen in 2023?

Hill was actually almost the same good driver as Schumacher.

Id say not to talk bollocks son, but it's what most KZfaqrs do for engagement anyway. You'd be doing something useful otherwise.

Damon Hill's title in 1996 was celebrated by many because he was able to finish his story (although he isn't at a Cody Rhodes level). But yes, he was very bland and had only Suzuka 94 and Hungaroring 97 as outstanding races.

Adelaide Schumacher crashed on purpose twice, once with Hill and the following year. He was no gentleman racer. He was a cheat and dangerous driver

The problem with Damon was he had to follow in the footsteps of Mansell being the last person to inspire the British fans in a Williams. Mansell was awesome and you watched him knowing he’ll go for it and you’d be jumping out your seat and punching the air. Damon was nothing like Mansell and a lot of the time as I was watching he’d be spinning out cos he made a mistake. So his flaws showed up a lot more. That being said I still rooted for him and he was a likeable bloke. Great content btw Nedzo. You channel is really growing.