Why Damon Hill was the unlikeliest of F1 World Champions

Growing up as the son of two-time World Champion Graham Hill, Damon grew bored of hanging around in the paddocks of race circuits. He wasn’t particularly interested in cars, and his father never intended to push him into becoming a racing driver.

Hill himself admits that he doesn’t really have a particular interest in the four-wheeled machines that many motorsport fans spend their lives revering. It’s the sensation of driving, and being on the edge, that he enjoys.

Following the tragic death of his father which left him and his family in turmoil, Hill began to satisfy his love of the thrill by racing motorcycles in his early 20s, and it was on two wheels that he initially sought to forge a career.

He followed his passion for two years before his mother was finally able to encourage him to give it a try in a car.

Travelling to France, he was set to join the world-famous Winfield Racing School in 1983, but while he proved himself capable behind the wheel, he was no more enthused by the idea of racing cars.

That was until he found himself getting increasingly competitive out on track and learning to love the experience of driving on the limit of adhesion.

Hill’s journey to becoming a World Champion began in the most unassuming of circumstances, his eventual decision to make the switch from bikes to cars was based entirely on the vastly improved career prospects of racing on four wheels rather than two.

He was met, however, by wave after wave of doubt. Judgements about his age threatened to wipe out any hope of success before he’d even started. He had a chance meeting with Ken Tyrrell, who pulled no punches in his claims to Hill himself that he was too old to make it to F1.

Indeed, Hill made his car racing debut at the age of 24. There are modern Grand Prix drivers racing today who had nearer 100 Grands Prix starts under their belts at the same age.

His was a steep uphill struggle from the very first moment he climbed into the cockpit, yet he made his way into the junior echelons of motor racing. First in Formula Ford, and then into Formula 3, where he competed alongside fellow British hopefuls like Johnny Herbert and Martin Donnelly.

But Hill’s path to that point had been very different to the drivers he was racing against. In the case of Herbert and Donnelly, both were four years younger, and had benefitted from far more substantial junior racing careers.

By 1989, Hill, now 28 years old and married with a young son, found himself at a crossroads: would he carry on trying to make it as a racing driver, or go out and, find as he called it, a ‘proper job’?

Hill stuck to his guns and carried on racing, making it into Formula 3000. As fate would have it, he caught the eye of a certain Patrick Head, who invited him to test a Williams F1 car.

Inconceivable though it may be, 30-year-old Hill was handed the role of test driver for one of the great F1 teams of the era. With still incredibly limited knowledge and experience of top-level motorsport, Hill was required to learn on the job, but his innate ability shone brightly enough to convince Head and the rest of the Williams team that he was worthy of his place.

An aligning of the stars saw him promoted into a full-time race seat in 1993, and suddenly Hill, with barely 18 months of experience at the pinnacle of motorsport, found himself lining up on the grid as team-mate to one of the greatest racing drivers of all time.

It’s rare that a rookie with such little experience is given an opportunity to race for a team capable of winning the World Championship; it’s rarer still that they survive the volatility of competing under such relentless pressure, especially when faced with direct comparison with someone as esteemed as Alain Prost.

Hill succeeded where many others who were far more prepared than he was had failed.

A man who preferred bikes to cars, didn’t start racing until he was 24 and was regularly challenged with the notion that he was too old to make it to F1, proved the world wrong and succeeded against the very best.

Damon Hill’s World Championship triumph in 1996 is perhaps the most remarkable of them all. Even when those around him continued to doubt him, he achieved what so many claimed was impossible. His story is unlike any other, and we can’t wait to celebrate with him when he comes to the 2026 Goodwood Festival of Speed.

Tickets for the Festival of Speed are now on sale. Saturday and four-day passes are now limited and Friday tickets are selling fast. If you’re not already part of the GRRC, joining the Fellowship means you can save ten per cent on your 2026 tickets and grandstand passes, as well as enjoy a whole host of other on-event perks.

Images courtesy of Getty Images.