Damon Hill facts for kids

Damon Hill at the 1995 French Grand Prix

Damon Graham Devereux Hill OBE (born 17 September 1960) is a British retired racing driver.

He was the 1996 Formula One World Champion. As the son of double Formula One world champion Graham Hill, he is the only son of a world champion to win the title, until Nico Rosberg, son of 1982 World Champion Keke Rosberg, clinched the title in 2016 . Despite the famous family name, Hill had an uphill struggle to reach the ranks of F1.

Damon Hill came to professional motorsports relatively late: he began racing motorcycles in 1983 at the age of 23. The following year, he won the 350 cc Clubman's cup at Brands Hatch. In 1985, he moved on to four-wheel single-seater racing with Team Van Diemen in the Formula Ford championship, before moving up into the UK Formula 3 championship in 1986. After three seasons in Formula 3, where he won four races, Hill ascended another tier of open-wheel racing by joining Mooncraft in the International Formula 3000 championship, where, although often competitive, he never won a race.

Hill started his Formula One career in 1992 with the then uncompetitive Brabham team. His debut race was at the British Grand Prix where he qualified on the back row. He took the first of his 22 victories at the 1993 Hungarian Grand Prix for the Williams team the following year. In 1994, he won the British Grand Prix, a race his father had never won in his long and successful career. During the mid 1990s, Hill was Michael Schumacher's main rival for the Formula One Driver's Championship, finishing runner-up in the German's 1994 and 1995 title seasons. The two had a series of controversial clashes on and off the track, including the collision at the 1994 Australian Grand Prix that gave Schumacher his first title by a single point. Hill took eight victories and the world championship in 1996. Despite this, Williams decided in mid-1996 not to renew Hill's contract for 1997. He went on to record the Jordan team's first ever win at the 1998 Belgian Grand Prix, and came within a few miles of being the only driver to win a Grand Prix for the Arrows team and their Yamaha engine supplier at the 1997 Hungarian Grand Prix. He retired from the sport at the end of the 1999 season, after 122 races. In 2006, Hill became president of the British Racing Drivers' Club, succeeding Jackie Stewart.

Hill's son Josh is a racing driver.

Formula One results

Races in bold indicate pole position

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	WDC	Points
1992	Motor Racing Developments Ltd.	Brabham BT60B	Judd GV 3.5 L V10	RSA	MEX	BRA	ESP DNQ	SMR DNQ	MON DNQ	CAN DNQ	FRA DNQ	GBR 16	GER DNQ	HUN 11	BEL	ITA	POR	JPN	AUS		NC	0
1993	Canon Williams Team	Williams FW15C	Renault RS5 3.5 L V10	RSA Ret	BRA 2	EUR 2	SMR Ret	ESP Ret	MON 2	CAN 3	FRA 2	GBR Ret	GER 15	HUN 1	BEL 1	ITA 1	POR 3	JPN 4	AUS 3		3rd	69
1994	Rothmans Williams Renault	Williams FW16, FW16B	Renault RS6 3.5 L V10	BRA 2	PAC Ret	SMR 6	MON Ret	ESP 1	CAN 2	FRA 2	GBR 1	GER 8	HUN 2	BEL 1	ITA 1	POR 1	EUR 2	JPN 1	AUS Ret		2nd	91
1995	Rothmans Williams Renault	Williams FW17, FW17B	Renault RS7 3.0 L V10	BRA Ret	ARG 1	SMR 1	ESP 4	MON 2	CAN Ret	FRA 2	GBR Ret	GER Ret	HUN 1	BEL 2	ITA Ret	POR 3	EUR Ret	PAC 3	JPN Ret	AUS 1	2nd	69
1996	Rothmans Williams Renault	Williams FW18	Renault RS8 3.0 L V10	AUS 1	BRA 1	ARG 1	EUR 4	SMR 1	MON Ret	ESP Ret	CAN 1	FRA 1	GBR Ret	GER 1	HUN 2	BEL 5	ITA Ret	POR 2	JPN 1		1st	97
1997	Danka Arrows Yamaha	Arrows A18	Yamaha OX11A 3.0 L V10	AUS DNS	BRA Ret	ARG Ret	SMR Ret	MON Ret	ESP Ret	CAN 9	FRA 12	GBR 6	GER 8	HUN 2	BEL 13	ITA Ret	AUT 7	LUX 8	JPN 11	EUR Ret	12th	7
1998	B&H Total Jordan	Jordan 198	Mugen–Honda MF-301 HC 3.0 L V10	AUS 8	BRA DSQ	ARG 8	SMR 10	ESP Ret	MON 8	CAN Ret	FRA Ret	GBR Ret	AUT 7	GER 4	HUN 4	BEL 1	ITA 6	LUX 9	JPN 4		6th	20
1999	B&H Jordan	Jordan 199	Mugen–Honda MF-301 HC 3.0 L V10	AUS Ret	BRA Ret	SMR 4	MON Ret	ESP 7	CAN Ret	FRA Ret	GBR 5	AUT 8	GER Ret	HUN 6	BEL 6	ITA 10	EUR Ret	MAL Ret	JPN Ret		12th	7

Images for kids

Hill's helmet
Hill's FW16 (1994) and FW15C (1993); he is one of only two drivers to have carried the number "0" in the history of the F1 world championship, and the only one to have carried it twice.
Damon Hill driving for the Williams Formula One team in Montreal in 1995
Hill demonstrating his championship-winning Williams FW18 car in 2010
At the British Grand Prix, Hill scored his first point for the Arrows team.
Hill driving for Jordan at the 1999 British Grand Prix
Hill in 2008
Hill (left) working as a presenter for Sky Sports F1