Damon Hill
Damon Hill
Damon Graham Devereux Hill, OBEis a British former racing driver. He is the son of Graham Hill, and is the only son of a Formula One world champion to win the title. He started racing on motorbikes in 1981, and after minor success moved on to single-seater racing cars. But although he progressed steadily up the ranks to the International Formula 3000 championship by 1989, and was often competitive, he never won a race at that level...
NationalityBritish
ProfessionRace Car Driver
Date of Birth17 September 1960
being-single athlete thinking
The British tend to shy away from the spotlight. We don't like being singled out in any way, and I think that is something which is important for me to learn to do.
athlete thinking might
I think at times I appear to be miserable when I am not... I might be having quite a good thought at that moment, but it seems I look miserable. I am not.
taken athlete thinking
I had a lot of time to think, and that is not good for your mind. And when it actually happened, it was not so much a celebration but the relief. It was an exorcism anxiety. After each race there is a procedure in which you get taken off to the podium and the TV interviews.
character athlete thinking
To be honest, I think for part of my late teens my character didn't really develop very much. I was in a state of cold storage.
anyone believes england factor football hype papers people pick plan report
People don't want to pick up their papers and see that everything went to plan and this was what was expected. So there is a hype factor because the journalists have to make more of it. I find it amusing. Look at the way they report on the England football team... I don't think anyone really believes all of it.
assessment best bound felt given knew looked might places rely season sheer start win
At the start of the year, I felt that given the machinery, there were bound to be places where I would win because of sheer chance. I didn't want to rely on that because I knew I had to show my ability. So I looked at the season and made an assessment as to where my best opportunities might come.
generally operating stations sure
Compressor stations are generally safe. We have requirements to make sure the communities these are operating in are safe.
enjoyed great happier happiness happy race slow
I was happy in Hungary, but I would have been happier if it had been a great race where I'd come out on top-like at Spa, where I enjoyed myself. I really didn't enjoy myself in Hungary. It was more like slow torture.
changes everywhere f1 good hurt interests opportunity people possible pushing safety spectators work
You have to do everything possible for the safety of the competitors, spectators and the people who work in F1. But we mustn't emasculate it. We mustn't take away the spectacle. At the moment, we have a good balance, but I will never give up working and pushing the FIA to make changes in the interests of safety. Everywhere you look, there is an opportunity to hurt yourself and we don't want F1 to be marred.
ability badly best bit cars difficult driver drivers feeling fun motor offers pack problem racing suffer
When you get into a pack of cars, then you feel the problem worst, handicapping the driver and handicapping our ability to race. When there's a crosswind, the cars suffer badly as well, which makes them even more difficult to control. They are always fun to drive, but motor racing should be about the best drivers racing the best cars, which offers the best challenge, and my feeling now is that we have come to a bit of a cul-de-sac.
believe equation good last starting time whereas
There is a lot to be said for self-belief. It is a good part of the equation and I don't think that it was with us this time last year. There was more self-doubt then, whereas now we are starting to believe that we should be up there at the front.
ending failure rather spending weeks
Failure should be nothing more than an embarrassment, like ending up in a gravel trap, rather than spending weeks in hospital.
creating crushed involved kids people possibly push rather shove sign start worked worries
It worries me sometimes the way some people get so worked up that they have to push and shove to get an autograph. If they are there, I will try and sign as many as I possibly can, but when people start pushing, you have little kids being crushed and I'd rather not be involved creating that kind of trouble.
athlete allowing carried-away
I am not allowing myself to get carried away.