Fun statistic, Damon finished on the WDC podium for his first four F1 seasons (3rd, 2nd, 2nd, 1st) and also had a win percentage of 32% (21/65) from 1993-96. A highly underappreciated driver, excellent development driver, great sportsman and gentleman.
Not only that, he only started racing to save the family from financial ruin after the death of his father. It can be theorized that if Graham had lived, Damon might have never strapped himself in a racing car or would have started a lot sooner with guidance from Graham if he made the decision to race on his own.
When I was a kid I had Murray's Magic Moments on VHS (I think I might still have it actually) and that crash is included in it. I'm still not sure if Murray was confused or disappointed when DC did that! 😂
My goodness, David Coulthard smashes himself out of the Australian - I have never seen that before! He comes into pit lane and into the wall and blows his chance on win for Williams
@@Aubergineman18 Come to think of it has anyone done that since? The closest I can think of is when Hamilton rear ended Raikkonen at the pit exit during the 2008 Canadian GP... 🤔
@HammerHeart3229 Yuki at Canada 2022 But I guess I don't count since it was at Pit Exit So I have no clue But yea, I think that's the last one Actually, edit me, hi Hungary 2010 was one too between kubica and suitll
Steve matchett said the one advantage Benetton had over the Williams that year was an component relocation on the Renault engine by Benetton that Williams missed and cause multiple mechanical failures for Williams. He mentioned it on F1 decade 1995 Canada on Speed TV
more driver errors you could add to both Williams drivers that year. Coulthard got pit lane speeding penalties at San Marino and Silverstone when he was in with a chance of winning. Hill got pitlane speed in penalties in Spa and Japan. Both Williams drivers threw away so many points that year
Williams also never showed an ounce of faith in Damon outright refusing to back him as number one hence why his confidence was shot to bits in 95 Fun fact: Williams tried to sign Frentzen to replace Senna post-Imola but he turned it down. Frank had his eye on him from the start and probably signed him up for 1997 as early as the end of 1995.
well maybe it was because he wasnt inherently a number 1 driver. He was comprehensively beaten by real #1's (No match for Prost in 93, destroyed by senna in testing and 3 races he had with him, never on schumacher's level)
as far as im concerned, Hill did 3 seasons with Williams, and got 2 Championships out of it. So aside from Williams making the same dick move on him they did on Mansell (although mansell didnt help himself much) i dont know what all the whining about Hill actually was.
@@rolle8169 lol what?? ugh no he definitely wasnt, prost won the championship easily. Hill was even outscored by senna in the 2nd best car...what are you smoking son?
Interestingly on a side note Ross Brawn declared the Benetton B196 as good enough to tchallenge Damon and Jacques in 1996 but said Berger and Alesi did a rubbish job with it.
I seem to remember a story from 96 or 97 that Schumacher promised Berger he would show him how to drive/use the Benetton, when they wouldnt be Competitors anymore. Sadly that never happened...
I agree as a Hill fan. But even as a Hill fan I remember watching Spa in 95 being gutted but also in awe of Michael’s driving on slicks on a wet track. The way he held Damon off on the wet part of the track was amazing. I think it was also at the Nurburgring where he drove brilliantly too. Bare in mind that the Benetton that year really had no right winning. When he first tested the Ferrari at Estoril he was nearly a second quicker then he had been in his Benetton. He then told John Barnard that the 95 Ferrari was much better. Then when Alesi and Berger drove the Benetton they both said that Schumacher is definitely special to win in this car. They said the Benetton was very oversteer in the fast medium corners, but was very understeer through the slower to medium speed corners.
I was never a Hill fan while he was in F1, until his last couple of years, when I warmed to him. As I've aged my position has changed 180 deg. Especially after reading his autobiography.
I didnt like Michael Schumacher full stop, knew then, still know now, he was a low down dirty driver, always was.... until he retired, came out of retirement, got his ass handed to him repeatedly sitting in a lower midfield car, realised he wasnt the hero anymore and no one was going to put up with shenanigans, and actually became a chill likeable dude. if he had been pre final retirement michael (the one that didnt have everything he did covered) right at the start of his career, i would have been a fan.
I was there at Aida at turn 1 with a view up the main straight. Damon was so determined to block Michael they both went wide (Damon pushing Michael wide) and let another car up the inside and overtake. It was laughable to watch. I always thought it was the difference between someone who drove a racing car (Hill) and a racing driver (Schumacher). Edited: Damon and Michael were fighting for 2nd place at turn 1 lap 1 and Damon pushed Michael wide allowing Alesi to overtake them both.
I remember during that '95 season while shouting for Damon it felt like every race he and The Michael was getting tangled up. Damon is one of a group of drivers I would love to just sit and listen to them talk about their careers.
Patrick Head said Williams were disappointed with Hill not winning the championship in 95, which is why he lost the Williams drive at the end of 96 after winning the title.
@@marguskiis7711 Yes. He could argue they won the 97 championship anyway with Villeneuve, but the British press were angry and the race numbers 1 and 2 went to Arrows!
Aidan, love your F1 coverage, close to my time 90s/00's, and getting back into to it again, but that intro music, always has me do a little head nod, bravo sir, bravo.
I class 1995 as MSCs best season, not even Senna would have beaten him that year. I'm sure when he tried the 95 Ferrari he actually said he'd have still won the championship in it
Based on the final standings, 1995 looked like a dominant season for Schumacher, but that wasn't really the case. Hill was very much a threat for most of the season, until everything went wrong for him at the end. Hill lost a likely win in Brazil, where he was faster than Schumacher despite being on a heavier fuel-load. He annihilated Schumacher in Argentine and Schumacher then crashed out on a damp track on slicks at Imola. Hill then suffered a gearbox failure on the last lap in Spain, dropping him from second to fourth and then came the Monaco strategy disaster, although Hill's race pace was so poor that he would have finished behind Schumacher anyway. In Canada they both had gearbox issues and in France Schumacher was faster in the race once again. Then came Britain, where Hill was leading, while Schumacher was stuck behind a very slow Alesi. His 1-stop strategy somehow got him ahead of Hill, after which they had that collision. In Germany Hill had that weird crash, while Schumacher managed to beat Coulthard, despite having a worse strategy. In Hungary Schumacher's strategy got compromised by some refueling issue, and he would later retire from second, while Hill won quite convincingly. In Belgium Schumacher defended very hard from Hill and was able to win from 16th on the grid. In Italy they had their second collision. Portugal was Coulthard's first win. Hill went for an unconventional 2-stop strategy and ended up ahead of Schumacher, but was passed at the end of the race. Then at the European Grand Prix, Hill managed to overtake Schumacher, only to run wide a few corners later and lose the place again. After this, everything went wrong for him and he eventually crashed out, while Schumacher brilliantly overtook Alesi two laps before the end of the race. He then won the title at the Pacific Grand Prix, where both Hill and Schumacher lost out at the start. Schumacher managed to clear the Ferraris at the first round of pitstops, unlike Hill. Schumacher then reeled in Coulthard and beat him, despite having to make an extra stop. In Japan Schumacher won again, while both Williams drivers spun off. In the final race, Hill won in the most dominant way imaginable, lapping the field twice. Schumacher was taken out by Alesi when he tried to pass the Frenchman after his first pitstop. 1995 was possibly one of Schumacher's best and perhaps one of Hill's worst seasons, but even so, they should have been closer in the final standings.
@@Palosjav1 I never knew exactly what happened at Hockenheim. The video claimed it was a driveshaft failure, as does Wikipedia, but I don't quite see how this would pitch him into a spin.
You've forgotten one very important fact about the 95 Williams. Although it was a clean sheet of paper car, it was actually designed to suit the specifications of one Mr N Mansell. Williams had told Adrian Newey that they were signing Mansell for the 95 season, so he designed the car around what he remembered Mansell preferred, and then perfected it when Mansell had finished with his Indy commitments. It was only when everything had already been signed off, and the car was well into the production stage, that Williams then decided to change their minds and go with DC instead That was one of the major reasons why Damon took a marked step between 95 and 96, as the 96 car was the first, and only, car Damon ever had that was 100% designed around him. He and Adrian Newey spent hours with a cockpit mock up, making sure that the car fitted him like a glove, especially his rather larger than average feet which he'd had to squeeze into every other car he'd ever driven
and sadly fat ol Nige couldnt fit in to a McLaren designed around a skinny little as yet mostly unknown Mika Hakkinen so cracked it and retired. In all fairness tho, he did hold two different world championships at the same time he also had a broken neck and a hole in his back so im not going to get on his ass for taking the chance to gtfo entirely.
As a fan of "The Michael" I can say, I've always had great respect for Damon Hill and indeed Mika Häkkinen. All those glorious years would have been just sad without the rivalries. And here we are in 2024... teams now throwing points to their rivals because of some "rookie" whose feelings better not get hurt. Maybe I'm just "too old for this sh*t" (Danny Glover).
Thank you for your research and love of F1. You deserve to be one of the top F1 experts. Been a fan since Adelaide 85 as a ten year old - a story to share later.
Damon's age is something that kinda gets me a bit off-guard even now because at the time I also had no clue how old he was, to me he was just was a guy who appeared in the early 90s and thought he was in his mid 20s. It's weird to think he's not even three years younger than someone like Belloff, who I only knew from magazines from before I started watching in the late 80s and his photo on the Mega Drive game.
@@shiny9219 did he? Schumi lost his superpowers even without Rory Byrne btw. Lets see the facts. Without the help of Brawn, MS won only three GPs. And without the refueling pitstops (timing of which Brawn was a genius) MS won only 2 races. So...
@@marguskiis7711 What you are spewing is beyond idiotic. It's like saying it's more Gianpiero than Max. Look where Sergio is and Herbert was as teammates.
@@marguskiis7711 Brawn. Buys a backmarker team. Races for one year, wins both championships, sells team. I wonder whether it was more 'Win Championship in only year of competition' Ross Brawn or 'Smash into anything with more points than me an hope i get away with a verbal warning again' Michael Schumacher....
I remember the 1995 pre-season media. They'd seen the testing times and predicted Williams and Hill would walk it. Except for the frustratingly expert Jonathan Palmer, who successfully predicted Hill would lead early on but Schumacher would come through to win.
@@marguskiis7711 Full disclosure: I was in Britain before the age of social media and access to global news. The Brit-centric media bias was unavoidable. Murray Walker on the BBC was at least polite about it even if he was clearly upset at his friends struggles, whilst Palmer went for joyless analysis. Others didn't hold back.
It didn’t really dawn on me that both Hills were teammates to the G.O.A.T.s of their respective eras, ALSO both in British teams that were dominant at the time, only to end up eventually at the back of the grid!
and almost winning races in two different cars that were complete and utter junk and shouldnt have ever been that close to the front of the grid that late in a race.
Oh god too true. If Arrows weren’t such a low-standard team (or just equipped with today’s reliability) that’d been an easy 🇭🇺 GP win. Instead he must’ve been muttering in his car; “Bloody rubbish motors…….heh, my dad drove for them”
@@AidanMillward You could argue (and I believe it) that the 412T2 was the best chassis, but the Renault engine was certainly better than the Ferrari V12.
I think the real issue is one driver not one team winning. From 1950 to 1987 we had something like 22 different champions. From 1988 to now its been something like 14.
Think the Alesi Schumi Adelaide wasnt in the Pit Lane, seem to remember Alesi turned into Schumi at he Adelaide hairpin and damage both cars too much to continue.
As much as I respect Damon Hill and David Coulthard, anyone who asks “Why was Damon let go after ‘96” and “Why did Coulthard win a title?”. The answer is “1995”. HOW the FW17 won neither the drivers or constructors championship is abysmal. It’s easily the best car never to win a world championship.
You could repeat this entire video for 2003 for Williams. Possibly even 2002 but I haven’t done the maths on whether an error-free Williams would have beaten Ferrari.
Damon Hill is one of my favourite drivers - he was fast, smooth and decisive. 1995 was a hiccup for him, but 1994 and 1996 were great seasons (despite the tragedies in 1994). To put DH into perspective his race to win percentage of 19.13% is better than such legendary drivers as Vettel, Lauda, Mansell, Alonso, Hakkinen, Raikkonen, Piquet and many many others. His climb to F1 was unique but his talent is undeniable.
1995 was my first year back watching F1, started watching in 1981, lost interest in early 1988, (What? Senna is on McLaren!? Wow)....So I missed the epic Senna years, and those beautiful early 90's cars...SO ya, Senna had just died, Jacques Villeneuve was tearing it up in IndyCar (Big Gilles fan), my interest was piqued, I started watching racing again...I heard about the 1994 controversy, so I knew the context, these 2 new guys, I didn't realize Damon was over 30 until late in the season, battling out a grudge match from the previous season, Alesi won in Montreal with a #27 Ferrari, not long after Jacques won Indy, Silverstone and Monza were dramatic! Coulthard got his first win, apparently he was dating a girl from my Canadian city, cool, Mika had a bad accident and some kid named Jan Magnussen replaced him.....then Adelaide.....no Schumacher/Hill rematch this time....Coulthard blows it, well, all the top drivers/teams blow it except for Damon, who heads off in the distance and wins by a couple laps while the rest of the points positions are filled with the mid field and backmarkers.....and I was just excited that the next season a Villeneuve was in the top team.
1995 was a clear example of Micheal just being pure better. All round quicker.... Hill needed a dominant car (1996) to win a championship. Same as Button (2009) when in close championship combat these drivers just fell short? Ps.... you forgot Msc gearbox failure at Catalunya whilst stuck in 5th gear finishing 2nd... hmmm incredible
Hill choked in 95 but Williams effed up pit strategy almost every weekend. How Williams responded, by putting hh in the car, was stupid, considering how bad hh was in that car.
The big mistake Williams made is not honouring the contract that they had signed for '95 with Nigel Mansell. He was still quick, had bags of experience and Newey wanted him. Inexplicably, Williams went for DC, a driver who didn't want to be there anyway as he wanted to join McLaren. There was too much pressure on Hill, whereas Nigel would have got on with it in the true Williams mood set by Alan Jones. Even with Williams legendary adverse strategies, Mansell would have won that year.
But no doubt Hill should of finished much closer to Schumacher in the standings. Hill's attempted overtake on Schumacher at Silverstone was ridiculous.
Norris/McLaren are doing this exact thing now. They've had the fastest car almost every race since Miami. Norris has 1 lucky win, it's not good enough.
I don't think Damon Hill gets the credit he deserves on how he performed in 1993. I think he was very consistent then and got 3 wins in a row. And he was very unlucky in France, UK, & Germany. So he could have won 6 races.
1995 was the midst of a talent dark-age for F1. Yes, Schumacher was the #1 driver on the grid, but it felt still like a position he inherited rather than earned. Had Senna lived, 1995 could’ve been an interesting season with the battle between the established #1 and the guy trying to take his mantle…
Frank Williams was cheap and didn't want to sign Nigel Mansell. Even though Benetton had got Renault engines the Williams was by far the superior car but they were let down by driver mistakes and utterly woeful team strategy and management.
Tbh, Benetton had Ross Brawn, the brilliant mastermind of refueling pit strategy. Williams' pit work was sloppy like hell. As drivers, MS and DH were pretty equal (look the statistics).
Williams never backed Damon up the way they should have. He'd have been a double world champion if they had. Though in my eyes, he is one anyway. I'm an unrepentant Damon fangirl 😅
I might be in the minority but I've held Hill in High regard. For me he was nothing more that an above average driver. His Championship win was purely down to having the superior car and even then it was struggle
@@LFC4LIFEJEDI when you factor in the the came in so late compared to everyone else, he did very well. This is something not many people realise. Senna was the same age and had 9 years on him in terms of being an F1 driver.
@@AidanMillward There is a reason why he had come in later than everyone else, he wasn't good enough... I believe he started racing single seaters in 86..It took him 8 years to get his 1st Drive with Brabham. All those other drivers had more F1 experience because Teams could see their talent so they signed them.
@@LFC4LIFEJEDI yeah, started racing cars in 86. As a 26 year old. That’s like a 19 year old trying to become a pro footballer from nothing. This was the point that I made in the video. He didn’t start racing cars until he was 26. If he’d started racing as a kid like all the others he might have got further.
Schumacher to good for Hill. 95 wasn't all Hill's Fault yes he made mistakes but the team also made mistakes in strategy and put stops. Partly Hill's fault partly the teams fault. And the Car had reliability problems.
Hill could be fast... but more often than not: he wasn't. Overrated driver, mediocre talent, only won one title because the Michael moved to Ferrari and even then almost got beaten to it by a rookie! A rookie who did beat him next year, and who Michael in inferior machinery managed to compete with for a WDC. The results speak for themselves: Damon was never that good and can thank his lucky stars for the one fluke WDC he managed.
@@Foxx_33 he was 31 when he got his f1 drive. He accomplished a lot given how little experience he had compared to everyone else. It’s almost like I explained this in the video.
@@AidanMillward Yeah and whole learning curve stuff worked against him. In current F1 or 2000s Damon would've never got a shot and still be test driver at best.
@@bumblebity2902 labourer and motorcycle courier to f1 race winner in five years. Without any of the experience of any of the others who came up “properly” It’s like trying to become a professional footballer in your later teens. Damon missed out on all that early development and experience. He definitely had some of what his dad had.
Damon Hill was motocycle racer.. That is for first.. Damon nearly won with piece of shit Arrows and won for Eddie Jordan.. Michael Schumacher never had race like Damon's Hungaroring 1997..
The number of times Williams had their pants pulled down by Benetton on pit strategy in 94 & 95 is a video in itself.
Fun statistic, Damon finished on the WDC podium for his first four F1 seasons (3rd, 2nd, 2nd, 1st) and also had a win percentage of 32% (21/65) from 1993-96. A highly underappreciated driver, excellent development driver, great sportsman and gentleman.
That’s a brilliant statistic, thanks for sharing.
And gentleman was the key word like Hamilton never a dirty driver , no need to say more
@@lucybarney1 Good one.
Mr Hill Jr = class
Not only that, he only started racing to save the family from financial ruin after the death of his father. It can be theorized that if Graham had lived, Damon might have never strapped himself in a racing car or would have started a lot sooner with guidance from Graham if he made the decision to race on his own.
Still remember Dc binning it at Adelaide in the pit entry. Murray: "Ooooooooooooooooohhhhh!!!!!"
When I was a kid I had Murray's Magic Moments on VHS (I think I might still have it actually) and that crash is included in it. I'm still not sure if Murray was confused or disappointed when DC did that! 😂
I remember that but also him running wide into the gravel at the exit of Ascari on the formation lap.
My goodness, David Coulthard smashes himself out of the Australian - I have never seen that before!
He comes into pit lane and into the wall and blows his chance on win for Williams
@@Aubergineman18 Come to think of it has anyone done that since? The closest I can think of is when Hamilton rear ended Raikkonen at the pit exit during the 2008 Canadian GP... 🤔
@HammerHeart3229 Yuki at Canada 2022
But I guess I don't count since it was at Pit Exit
So I have no clue
But yea, I think that's the last one
Actually, edit me, hi Hungary 2010 was one too between kubica and suitll
Even with rule changes, the cars looked great in 95
they looked wider
Steve matchett said the one advantage Benetton had over the Williams that year was an component relocation on the Renault engine by Benetton that Williams missed and cause multiple mechanical failures for Williams. He mentioned it on F1 decade 1995 Canada on Speed TV
more driver errors you could add to both Williams drivers that year. Coulthard got pit lane speeding penalties at San Marino and Silverstone when he was in with a chance of winning. Hill got pitlane speed in penalties in Spa and Japan. Both Williams drivers threw away so many points that year
Didn't DC go into the gravel on the formation lap at the exit of Ascari that year and also hit the pit wall at the entrance to the pits in Adelaide?
@@simonkevnorris That Monza spin was voided because of red flag.
@@simonkevnorris classic DC
@@bumblebity2902 I believe DC did it again.
@@simonkevnorris this time mechanical failiure
Williams also never showed an ounce of faith in Damon outright refusing to back him as number one hence why his confidence was shot to bits in 95
Fun fact: Williams tried to sign Frentzen to replace Senna post-Imola but he turned it down.
Frank had his eye on him from the start and probably signed him up for 1997 as early as the end of 1995.
well maybe it was because he wasnt inherently a number 1 driver. He was comprehensively beaten by real #1's (No match for Prost in 93, destroyed by senna in testing and 3 races he had with him, never on schumacher's level)
Senna wanted Frentzen as teamate..
as far as im concerned, Hill did 3 seasons with Williams, and got 2 Championships out of it. So aside from Williams making the same dick move on him they did on Mansell (although mansell didnt help himself much) i dont know what all the whining about Hill actually was.
@@1greenMitsi Hill was nearly as good Prost in 1993!
@@rolle8169 lol what?? ugh no he definitely wasnt, prost won the championship easily. Hill was even outscored by senna in the 2nd best car...what are you smoking son?
Interestingly on a side note Ross Brawn declared the Benetton B196 as good enough to tchallenge Damon and Jacques in 1996 but said Berger and Alesi did a rubbish job with it.
@@TheSt1092 alesi got some utterly mammoth starts in that thing. Several races he went from like 5th to 2nd before the first corner.
@@AidanMillward Hmm, a Benetton having excellent launch characteristics, you say? Very interesting 🤔
I seem to remember a story from 96 or 97 that Schumacher promised Berger he would show him how to drive/use the Benetton, when they wouldnt be Competitors anymore. Sadly that never happened...
@@AidanMillward Monza he went from 6th on the grid to 1st
@@dl5270 that one was a straight up video game start.
12:59 Hill also suffered a last lap car failure in Spain, he crossed the line but dropped from 2nd to 4th
Schumacher did pull off some awesome drives in 95, but what a hugely frustrating year that was to watch as a Hill/Williams fan.
Hill actually did pretty good outside of Italy and the British gp, but the williams had few more unreliability problems than the benetton.
I agree as a Hill fan. But even as a Hill fan I remember watching Spa in 95 being gutted but also in awe of Michael’s driving on slicks on a wet track. The way he held Damon off on the wet part of the track was amazing. I think it was also at the Nurburgring where he drove brilliantly too. Bare in mind that the Benetton that year really had no right winning. When he first tested the Ferrari at Estoril he was nearly a second quicker then he had been in his Benetton. He then told John Barnard that the 95 Ferrari was much better. Then when Alesi and Berger drove the Benetton they both said that Schumacher is definitely special to win in this car. They said the Benetton was very oversteer in the fast medium corners, but was very understeer through the slower to medium speed corners.
Most of the times it was Brawn's brilliance.
@@marguskiis7711 a lot more easy to be brilliant when you’ve got one of the greatest ever drivers at your disposal
@@arthurguitar "The greatest driver" got only three (3) wins without Brawn. Hmm...
I was never a Hill fan while he was in F1, until his last couple of years, when I warmed to him. As I've aged my position has changed 180 deg. Especially after reading his autobiography.
I didnt like Michael Schumacher full stop, knew then, still know now, he was a low down dirty driver, always was.... until he retired, came out of retirement, got his ass handed to him repeatedly sitting in a lower midfield car, realised he wasnt the hero anymore and no one was going to put up with shenanigans, and actually became a chill likeable dude. if he had been pre final retirement michael (the one that didnt have everything he did covered) right at the start of his career, i would have been a fan.
I was there at Aida at turn 1 with a view up the main straight. Damon was so determined to block Michael they both went wide (Damon pushing Michael wide) and let another car up the inside and overtake.
It was laughable to watch. I always thought it was the difference between someone who drove a racing car (Hill) and a racing driver (Schumacher).
Edited: Damon and Michael were fighting for 2nd place at turn 1 lap 1 and Damon pushed Michael wide allowing Alesi to overtake them both.
and which one had to destroy the other to get their 'first championship' - yeah i dont know why we keep giving the michael free passes. he was a dick.
With 1995 too, it could be argued actually that the 412T2 had the best chassis on the grid that year. Michael said it handled very, very well.
shame that beautiful V12 was always blowing up
Built especially for MS
Thanks Aiden.
This is a really nice video, I enjoyed every second.
So many distant memories.
I remember during that '95 season while shouting for Damon it felt like every race he and The Michael was getting tangled up.
Damon is one of a group of drivers I would love to just sit and listen to them talk about their careers.
Thanks dude. I enjoyed this 'thing'. 👍 Keep up the good work.
Patrick Head said Williams were disappointed with Hill not winning the championship in 95, which is why he lost the Williams drive at the end of 96 after winning the title.
Head himself was a lousy boss of Williams pitcrew which caused a lot of trouble for the team.
Why they didn't fire Hill before 1996 then?
@@peterfighter Because Hill was under contract up to the end of 96. Williams had lined up Frentzen to replace him.
@@gra326 it was an idiotic decision and shows whatta m.ron Head could be.
@@marguskiis7711 Yes. He could argue they won the 97 championship anyway with Villeneuve, but the British press were angry and the race numbers 1 and 2 went to Arrows!
Aidan, love your F1 coverage, close to my time 90s/00's, and getting back into to it again, but that intro music, always has me do a little head nod, bravo sir, bravo.
Hungaroring 1995 - Michael retired due technical issue and DC lost engine in finish line..
Ooh option 13 is my favourite story... If you make a video on 3 more times we will still watch it
I class 1995 as MSCs best season, not even Senna would have beaten him that year.
I'm sure when he tried the 95 Ferrari he actually said he'd have still won the championship in it
He did, he liked that car a lot
Based on the final standings, 1995 looked like a dominant season for Schumacher, but that wasn't really the case. Hill was very much a threat for most of the season, until everything went wrong for him at the end. Hill lost a likely win in Brazil, where he was faster than Schumacher despite being on a heavier fuel-load. He annihilated Schumacher in Argentine and Schumacher then crashed out on a damp track on slicks at Imola. Hill then suffered a gearbox failure on the last lap in Spain, dropping him from second to fourth and then came the Monaco strategy disaster, although Hill's race pace was so poor that he would have finished behind Schumacher anyway. In Canada they both had gearbox issues and in France Schumacher was faster in the race once again. Then came Britain, where Hill was leading, while Schumacher was stuck behind a very slow Alesi. His 1-stop strategy somehow got him ahead of Hill, after which they had that collision. In Germany Hill had that weird crash, while Schumacher managed to beat Coulthard, despite having a worse strategy. In Hungary Schumacher's strategy got compromised by some refueling issue, and he would later retire from second, while Hill won quite convincingly. In Belgium Schumacher defended very hard from Hill and was able to win from 16th on the grid. In Italy they had their second collision. Portugal was Coulthard's first win. Hill went for an unconventional 2-stop strategy and ended up ahead of Schumacher, but was passed at the end of the race. Then at the European Grand Prix, Hill managed to overtake Schumacher, only to run wide a few corners later and lose the place again. After this, everything went wrong for him and he eventually crashed out, while Schumacher brilliantly overtook Alesi two laps before the end of the race. He then won the title at the Pacific Grand Prix, where both Hill and Schumacher lost out at the start. Schumacher managed to clear the Ferraris at the first round of pitstops, unlike Hill. Schumacher then reeled in Coulthard and beat him, despite having to make an extra stop. In Japan Schumacher won again, while both Williams drivers spun off. In the final race, Hill won in the most dominant way imaginable, lapping the field twice. Schumacher was taken out by Alesi when he tried to pass the Frenchman after his first pitstop. 1995 was possibly one of Schumacher's best and perhaps one of Hill's worst seasons, but even so, they should have been closer in the final standings.
Hockeinheim - Hill lost on oil from his gearbox.. Spa - Williams had silly strategy..
@@Palosjav1 I never knew exactly what happened at Hockenheim. The video claimed it was a driveshaft failure, as does Wikipedia, but I don't quite see how this would pitch him into a spin.
@@mrdraw2087 I am think Patrick Head said it.. Car lost oil and Damon spun off on own oil from his car..
You've forgotten one very important fact about the 95 Williams. Although it was a clean sheet of paper car, it was actually designed to suit the specifications of one Mr N Mansell. Williams had told Adrian Newey that they were signing Mansell for the 95 season, so he designed the car around what he remembered Mansell preferred, and then perfected it when Mansell had finished with his Indy commitments. It was only when everything had already been signed off, and the car was well into the production stage, that Williams then decided to change their minds and go with DC instead
That was one of the major reasons why Damon took a marked step between 95 and 96, as the 96 car was the first, and only, car Damon ever had that was 100% designed around him. He and Adrian Newey spent hours with a cockpit mock up, making sure that the car fitted him like a glove, especially his rather larger than average feet which he'd had to squeeze into every other car he'd ever driven
@@stewartbailey1653 didn’t forget anything.
and sadly fat ol Nige couldnt fit in to a McLaren designed around a skinny little as yet mostly unknown Mika Hakkinen so cracked it and retired. In all fairness tho, he did hold two different world championships at the same time he also had a broken neck and a hole in his back so im not going to get on his ass for taking the chance to gtfo entirely.
As a fan of "The Michael" I can say, I've always had great respect for Damon Hill and indeed Mika Häkkinen. All those glorious years would have been just sad without the rivalries.
And here we are in 2024... teams now throwing points to their rivals because of some "rookie" whose feelings better not get hurt. Maybe I'm just "too old for this sh*t" (Danny Glover).
Similar story to 2022, dominant car vs incompetent title contending car
For some reason I find the 95 season fascinatig, I think those cars were the most balanced chasis-engine-electronics ever
Thank you for your research and love of F1. You deserve to be one of the top F1 experts. Been a fan since Adelaide 85 as a ten year old - a story to share later.
Damon's age is something that kinda gets me a bit off-guard even now because at the time I also had no clue how old he was, to me he was just was a guy who appeared in the early 90s and thought he was in his mid 20s. It's weird to think he's not even three years younger than someone like Belloff, who I only knew from magazines from before I started watching in the late 80s and his photo on the Mega Drive game.
Which Mega Drive game?
@@fernandomanzanares5555 the 1993 published by Domark, I think on the starting positions screen.
It was the difference between Michael and everyone else on the grid, nothing more nothing less.
No, it was Brawn.
Both but I'd say Michael made more of a differance
@@shiny9219 did he? Schumi lost his superpowers even without Rory Byrne btw.
Lets see the facts. Without the help of Brawn, MS won only three GPs. And without the refueling pitstops (timing of which Brawn was a genius) MS won only 2 races.
So...
@@marguskiis7711 What you are spewing is beyond idiotic. It's like saying it's more Gianpiero than Max. Look where Sergio is and Herbert was as teammates.
@@marguskiis7711 Brawn. Buys a backmarker team. Races for one year, wins both championships, sells team.
I wonder whether it was more 'Win Championship in only year of competition' Ross Brawn or 'Smash into anything with more points than me an hope i get away with a verbal warning again' Michael Schumacher....
I remember the 1995 pre-season media. They'd seen the testing times and predicted Williams and Hill would walk it. Except for the frustratingly expert Jonathan Palmer, who successfully predicted Hill would lead early on but Schumacher would come through to win.
After 1994 it was still very stupid not to predict MS/Brawn/Briatore/Byrne success
@@marguskiis7711 Full disclosure: I was in Britain before the age of social media and access to global news. The Brit-centric media bias was unavoidable. Murray Walker on the BBC was at least polite about it even if he was clearly upset at his friends struggles, whilst Palmer went for joyless analysis. Others didn't hold back.
Hill & Coulthard in 1995 were very very inconsistent.
Whole team were very very inconsistent..
@@Palosjav1
They were
1:06 that fw14 with Rothmans colours is killing me
It didn’t really dawn on me that both Hills were teammates to the G.O.A.T.s of their respective eras, ALSO both in British teams that were dominant at the time, only to end up eventually at the back of the grid!
and almost winning races in two different cars that were complete and utter junk and shouldnt have ever been that close to the front of the grid that late in a race.
Oh god too true. If Arrows weren’t such a low-standard team (or just equipped with today’s reliability) that’d been an easy 🇭🇺 GP win. Instead he must’ve been muttering in his car; “Bloody rubbish motors…….heh, my dad drove for them”
I DID start watching in 1999 (aged 10), and that's exactly what I always thought about Hill
Just one correction. Jim Clark wasn’t in the top 3 or 4 best of all time. He was in the top 1
@@hugoagogo9435 yeah, but I have to say it the way I did because I want to visit Brazil at some point.
10:13 and people though that he was an “arrogant piece of work.”?!
9:47 that 1986 & 1987 Williams looked the part. Absolutely stunning!
Schumachers 1996 season explained exactly why Ferrari didnt win more. Ferrari and Williams equally messed up great opportunities in 1995.
"We'll get to that in a little bit." No we won't, piss off with that.
Can you do a video on 96?
Hill should of finished much closer to Schumacher in the standings.
It was a combination of Hill's mistakes Poor team strategys pit stops bad decisions poor Reliability
And Schumacher being a genius
He didn’t because Hill is a basic bitch compared to Michael
I hear Alesi Canada 95 win. I like video
Well done as ever, Mr Millward!!
The Benetton was a good car and suited Schumacher driving style.
Even more humiliating fact that Schumacher beaten Williams with 3rd fastest car. Ferrari was also faster than Benetton.
@@bumblebity2902 third fastest is a stretch.
Nah the michael said so himself after testing the ferrari (that it was better than the benetton)
@@AidanMillward I mean 3rd fastest but close to Ferrari and Williams
@@AidanMillward You could argue (and I believe it) that the 412T2 was the best chassis, but the Renault engine was certainly better than the Ferrari V12.
Bullshit. Rory Byrne design -- why it should be "3rd fastest"?
I think the real issue is one driver not one team winning. From 1950 to 1987 we had something like 22 different champions. From 1988 to now its been something like 14.
Think the Alesi Schumi Adelaide wasnt in the Pit Lane, seem to remember Alesi turned into Schumi at he Adelaide hairpin and damage both cars too much to continue.
Michael was just something else
Damn it, the bots beat me to it.
They always will.
It wasn't all Hill's Fault it was partly Hill's fault he said he wasn't enjoying what he was doing so wasn't able to perform to his best ability.
@@tristanwhite3472 having seen his dad lose so many friends doing the same job probably had an effect on him.
@@AidanMillward Hill Sometimes messed up the Team Messed up on Stragerity pits stops and bad reliability
As much as I respect Damon Hill and David Coulthard, anyone who asks “Why was Damon let go after ‘96” and “Why did Coulthard win a title?”. The answer is “1995”. HOW the FW17 won neither the drivers or constructors championship is abysmal. It’s easily the best car never to win a world championship.
Williams bottled it. Just like McLaren in 2005, 2007, 2012.
You mean the fw17
@@classicsportclassictiyl8547 Oh yes very true. Thank you for pointing that out👍👍
AMAZING ❤ THANKS
The main difference between the Williams and the Benneton was the component betwrrn the wheal and the seat
Cool Walsall kit!!
That was the year they started showing the full season live on Irish TV. So that was when f1 overtook soccer as my favourite sport to watch.
I member! And it kind of took over from football for me too.
God. by the end of the first race I was already sick of Peter Collins explaining the rip off visor covers.
You could repeat this entire video for 2003 for Williams. Possibly even 2002 but I haven’t done the maths on whether an error-free Williams would have beaten Ferrari.
13:38 sounds familiar
Damon Hill is one of my favourite drivers - he was fast, smooth and decisive. 1995 was a hiccup for him, but 1994 and 1996 were great seasons (despite the tragedies in 1994). To put DH into perspective his race to win percentage of 19.13% is better than such legendary drivers as Vettel, Lauda, Mansell, Alonso, Hakkinen, Raikkonen, Piquet and many many others. His climb to F1 was unique but his talent is undeniable.
Damon couldn't be as aggressive as Michael and make it stick. Sounds like a certain Mclaren F1 driver.
Poor Williams stragerity Pit Stops Reliability bad decisions by the team.
execelent video
1995 was my first year back watching F1, started watching in 1981, lost interest in early 1988, (What? Senna is on McLaren!? Wow)....So I missed the epic Senna years, and those beautiful early 90's cars...SO ya, Senna had just died, Jacques Villeneuve was tearing it up in IndyCar (Big Gilles fan), my interest was piqued, I started watching racing again...I heard about the 1994 controversy, so I knew the context, these 2 new guys, I didn't realize Damon was over 30 until late in the season, battling out a grudge match from the previous season, Alesi won in Montreal with a #27 Ferrari, not long after Jacques won Indy, Silverstone and Monza were dramatic! Coulthard got his first win, apparently he was dating a girl from my Canadian city, cool, Mika had a bad accident and some kid named Jan Magnussen replaced him.....then Adelaide.....no Schumacher/Hill rematch this time....Coulthard blows it, well, all the top drivers/teams blow it except for Damon, who heads off in the distance and wins by a couple laps while the rest of the points positions are filled with the mid field and backmarkers.....and I was just excited that the next season a Villeneuve was in the top team.
1995 was a clear example of Micheal just being pure better. All round quicker.... Hill needed a dominant car (1996) to win a championship. Same as Button (2009) when in close championship combat these drivers just fell short? Ps.... you forgot Msc gearbox failure at Catalunya whilst stuck in 5th gear finishing 2nd... hmmm incredible
that was 94 when the gearbox failed
So in other words, The Michaels only DNFs were KARMA
Fantastic
Hill's problems sounds similar to Norris
Could you please do a clip on Colin Chapman. Lord, I think Chapman and Lotus deserve a movie TBH.
But Hill made mistakes the Benatton also had good race pace.
Reminds me of Vettel and Ferrari in 2018
Hill choked in 95 but Williams effed up pit strategy almost every weekend. How Williams responded, by putting hh in the car, was stupid, considering how bad hh was in that car.
The big mistake Williams made is not honouring the contract that they had signed for '95 with Nigel Mansell. He was still quick, had bags of experience and Newey wanted him. Inexplicably, Williams went for DC, a driver who didn't want to be there anyway as he wanted to join McLaren. There was too much pressure on Hill, whereas Nigel would have got on with it in the true Williams mood set by Alan Jones. Even with Williams legendary adverse strategies, Mansell would have won that year.
But no doubt Hill should of finished much closer to Schumacher in the standings. Hill's attempted overtake on Schumacher at Silverstone was ridiculous.
Norris/McLaren are doing this exact thing now. They've had the fastest car almost every race since Miami.
Norris has 1 lucky win, it's not good enough.
I don't think Damon Hill gets the credit he deserves on how he performed in 1993. I think he was very consistent then and got 3 wins in a row.
And he was very unlucky in France, UK, & Germany. So he could have won 6 races.
1995 was the midst of a talent dark-age for F1. Yes, Schumacher was the #1 driver on the grid, but it felt still like a position he inherited rather than earned. Had Senna lived, 1995 could’ve been an interesting season with the battle between the established #1 and the guy trying to take his mantle…
Norris is modern day Damon Hill
Frank Williams was cheap and didn't want to sign Nigel Mansell. Even though Benetton had got Renault engines the Williams was by far the superior car but they were let down by driver mistakes and utterly woeful team strategy and management.
To be fair, the Michael gave it back in 1997
Tbh, Benetton had Ross Brawn, the brilliant mastermind of refueling pit strategy. Williams' pit work was sloppy like hell. As drivers, MS and DH were pretty equal (look the statistics).
Williams never backed Damon up the way they should have. He'd have been a double world champion if they had. Though in my eyes, he is one anyway. I'm an unrepentant Damon fangirl 😅
Damon was great, could have won ome more tittle in Williams
Yup ...😂one of those I am and happy . Sir 44 to Ferrari. Nice vid. Perfect amount of spice!!
Goddamit youtube ....do something about your spambots
Hill drove like garbage all year, sadly, and I do like the guy.
I might be in the minority but I've held Hill in High regard.
For me he was nothing more that an above average driver.
His Championship win was purely down to having the superior car and even then it was struggle
@@LFC4LIFEJEDI when you factor in the the came in so late compared to everyone else, he did very well. This is something not many people realise.
Senna was the same age and had 9 years on him in terms of being an F1 driver.
@@AidanMillward There is a reason why he had come in later than everyone else, he wasn't good enough...
I believe he started racing single seaters in 86..It took him 8 years to get his 1st Drive with Brabham.
All those other drivers had more F1 experience because Teams could see their talent so they signed them.
@@LFC4LIFEJEDI yeah, started racing cars in 86. As a 26 year old. That’s like a 19 year old trying to become a pro footballer from nothing.
This was the point that I made in the video. He didn’t start racing cars until he was 26. If he’d started racing as a kid like all the others he might have got further.
@@LFC4LIFEJEDIResearch the facts before typing absolute rubbish. Hill wasn't interested in 4 wheeled motor sport in his early days.
@@weallfollowmanutd first off stop being so angry, secondly, I never said otherwise.
2 more,2 more...Lewis Hamilton.
Reliability, poor pit stop strategy, a few unforced errors
Best car best driver won. Williams didn't hand Bennetton anything.
Schumacher to good for Hill. 95 wasn't all Hill's Fault yes he made mistakes but the team also made mistakes in strategy and put stops. Partly Hill's fault partly the teams fault. And the Car had reliability problems.
Senna would have won the championship in this car had Imola 1994 not happened.
Hill could be fast... but more often than not: he wasn't. Overrated driver, mediocre talent, only won one title because the Michael moved to Ferrari and even then almost got beaten to it by a rookie! A rookie who did beat him next year, and who Michael in inferior machinery managed to compete with for a WDC.
The results speak for themselves: Damon was never that good and can thank his lucky stars for the one fluke WDC he managed.
@@Foxx_33 he was 31 when he got his f1 drive. He accomplished a lot given how little experience he had compared to everyone else.
It’s almost like I explained this in the video.
@@AidanMillward Yeah and whole learning curve stuff worked against him. In current F1 or 2000s Damon would've never got a shot and still be test driver at best.
@@bumblebity2902 labourer and motorcycle courier to f1 race winner in five years. Without any of the experience of any of the others who came up “properly”
It’s like trying to become a professional footballer in your later teens. Damon missed out on all that early development and experience. He definitely had some of what his dad had.
Damon Hill was motocycle racer.. That is for first.. Damon nearly won with piece of shit Arrows and won for Eddie Jordan.. Michael Schumacher never had race like Damon's Hungaroring 1997..
@@Palosjav1 thinking about it, Michael never had worse than the third best car on the grid. 🤔
A lot of BS revisionism going on here. Typical english "fans".
@@Slackboy72 26 hours before something like this was said. I’m actually impressed.
Yup ...😂one of those I am and happy . Sir 44 to Ferrari. Nice vid. Perfect amount of spice!!