TBK-Light.com

Yes, this was obviously a comparison of clothing.

Spun on the oil from the support race which was never cleaned up. Backed up by the accident on lap 2 which caused a red flag. On the restart he started with Damon Hills spare, without changing the seat or setup. Led with ease until the wheel bearing came apart.

DC actually went off on the formation lap at Estoril too, but it was only a tiny wee off. IIRC it was barely caught on camera.

I thought the incident on lap 1 was caused by DC putting gravel all over the track following his warm-up lap off?

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BTCC Pick Em's Champion 2010
Formula Fun Cup Champion 2013
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Probably. It was Morbidelli who spun, so frankly he didn't need anything on the circuit to actually do it. But there was an engine failure in the support race and speed dry was left on the circuit. Whether or not that actually caused DCs spin or it's just a convient excuse (remember he did it twice that season) I don't know.

It's seemingly the received opinion that knocking Damon's world championship is the thing to do, when everyone forgets the fact that the world championship is a damn hard thing to win in any year and more goes into it than just on track performances.

Indeed, Mansell and Prost credit Damon's test driving as a big contribution toward why the cars they drove were so dominant.

Even as a partisan fanboy child it was clear to everyone who watched that perhaps Damon wasn't the most talented guy on the grid, particularly when Schumacher's star was just coming in the ascendancy.
I think the Damon's biggest problem was he knew this too, yet in the end he got his head down, worked hard and came out with 22 wins and a world championship. (And based on one incident alone, that should've been 2 )
Indeed at one point he had the highest wins to starts ratio in F1 history (Ok, helped by his relatively late career start

Not bad really when you consider how people slated him and how the team never believed in him.

And it's not as if Frentzen came in the next year and blew JV away is it? Indeed, you could argue that Damon would've done a much better job and took points of Ferrari due to his experience.

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RIP Birmingham Wheels: here's some of the crash videos I recorded when it was there:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIaKIE ... 5t9d5PvoHA

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Had Damon won the title in 1994 he wouldn't have been in the team by the time 1996 came along, so he wouldn't have won 2 titles.

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BTCC Pick Em's Champion 2010
Formula Fun Cup Champion 2013
http://www.the-fastlane.co.uk

Why he wouldn't be there?

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"The best decision is my decision!" - Balestre
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I think it's something to do with the fact when you win a world championship you kinda expect a pay rise and anyone who goes to Frank Williams with these kind of ridiculous notions finds themselves replaced in a heartbeat.

Eh Nige.

_________________
RIP Birmingham Wheels: here's some of the crash videos I recorded when it was there:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIaKIE ... 5t9d5PvoHA

Twitter:

http://www.twitter.com/paulhadsley

It is just my thought process knowing the details of the Williams and Hill relationship and how they split in 1996.

The simple reason is that team wouldn't have needed him anymore. Like I said on the previous page, Williams never fully supported Hill as the team leader and knew (as did he) that he was merely a stop-gap before Williams found a new top driver (i.e. Frentzen, who Williams were trying to get for 1996). Had Hill won the title in 1994 then he would have served his purpose, following 1995 Williams wouldn't have needed to keep him.

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BTCC Pick Em's Champion 2010
Formula Fun Cup Champion 2013
http://www.the-fastlane.co.uk

Thanks for clearing it up kals! That's indeed a possibility, specially as Williams never showed any kind of commitment to it's drivers in a long term. About what codename_47 said, I completelly agree, Frank is not the kind of person who pays too much for his drivers and knowing Hill's mentality, that would probably collide with Frank. We saw something similar happening for 1998, when Hill had an lower offer from McLaren, but choose to be at Jordan to be paid more, when in McLaren he would have a huge bonus for victories, which could have led him to earn much more than he did at Jordan.

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"The best decision is my decision!" - Balestre
"Halo is for little babies, not for men" - Jeha

IIRC, Mansell earned more for his four appearances in '94 than Hill did for the entire season, but still priced himself out of a seat for '95.

Hill was on something like $500,000 for 1994 and when he assumed team leadership AND was keeping the team in fight for both titles, Williams point blank refused to renegotiate his package and also wouldn't give Damon the number 1 mechanic (Dave Brown at the time). Damon did eventually get Dave Brown but not until a lot of trouble was caused within the team.

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BTCC Pick Em's Champion 2010
Formula Fun Cup Champion 2013
http://www.the-fastlane.co.uk

It was shocking the way Damon was actually treated. He gave so much to that team.

Damon isn't bitter about what happened and how he was treated. He know what he was and acknowledges that he made good use of his time with the team. Read his book, there are some very interesting details in there. The 1994 British GP collapsed suspension piece I mentioned earlier is particularly eye opening.

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BTCC Pick Em's Champion 2010
Formula Fun Cup Champion 2013
http://www.the-fastlane.co.uk

According to Maurice Hamilton, Nige received £900,000 per race, compared to £300,000 for the entire season for Hill.

Which book, out of interest?

I think it is this one:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Damon-Hill-Zero ... damon+hill

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BTCC Pick Em's Champion 2010
Formula Fun Cup Champion 2013
http://www.the-fastlane.co.uk

I remember an interview with Damon I think on Eurosport in 1996 where he said that in 1995 he put too much pressure on himself, was working out too hard & not really enjoying his driving which hurt his on-track performances.

He said that after the disaster of Suzuka '95 he went home, Started a less aggressive training regime & went into Adelaide putting no pressure on himself with the aim to just go out & enjoy himself. He said he was more relaxed that weekend as a result & had the best weekend he'd had all year & started to enjoy been an F1 driver again. He took that attitude into 1996.

Thanks - that's a payday bargain

I also remember in the press in the run up to the season that it turned out he'd actually broke a bone in his lower leg in his Nurburgring 1995 crash and was hobbled as a consequence for the rest of that season until it healed properly in the off season.
(even though that was the crash that pretty much put him out of the title race)

Looking back on it, that crash is bizarre. He slams the tyre barrier hard and not even his front wing comes off? wat?

_________________
RIP Birmingham Wheels: here's some of the crash videos I recorded when it was there:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIaKIE ... 5t9d5PvoHA

Twitter:

http://www.twitter.com/paulhadsley

That's something I've always wondered as well.

_________________
BTCC Pick Em's Champion 2010
Formula Fun Cup Champion 2013
http://www.the-fastlane.co.uk