Losing his Williams-Renault drive in the summer of 1996 gave Damon Hill virtually no chance of retaining the world championship title he would ultimately win that season.
Sir Frank decided not to renew Hill's contract, opting instead to replace him with Sauber star Heinz-Harald Frentzen.
That decision ended a fruitful six-season relationship between Hill and the iconic British team, which began with testing duties in 1991, eventually led Hill to a race seat (when Nigel Mansell left the team to go IndyCar racing at the end of 1992), and culminated in that famous title victory 20 years ago.