Fitting departure at British Grand Prix

Damon Hill will undoubtedly have thrilled his legion of fans with his decision to race one more time at the circuit that has given him mixed fortunes.

Silverstone was the venue where Hill first qualified for a Grand Prix, when he was driving for Brabham in 1992. It was not a great race for the 31-year-old, but he passed the line in 16th place.

Since then he has won the race just once, in 1994 when driving for Williams, the year he finished second to Michael Schumacher in the World Championship.

However, Silverstone also gave him and many others something to cheer about when he finished a brilliant race in 1997 to come in sixth and earn his first points for the Arrows team, the year after he had won the championship and been dumped by Williams.

Whether or not he can put in a performance to remember this year remains to be seen, but if anyone apart from Hill wins the race next Sunday, they will undoubtedly have to cope with second place as far as headlines go.