From world champion to backmarker

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.

The other top teams were already full, leaving Hill little option but to scrabble around for a seat on the '97 grid - all while needing to maintain focus on his title tilt.

"It was a curious mix of emotions," Hill tells Autosport, prompted to reflect on his career by the 20^th anniversary of his greatest achievement as a driver. "I had various approaches, but whatever you look at is going to be second or third best.

"They were all new teams or teams with no previous success, so I knew I just had to get into a holding pattern in case another drive came up later."

Salvation arrived in the form of a deal with the midfield Arrows team, recently bought by Tom Walkinshaw, the ambitious former engineering chief of mid-'90s title rival squad Benetton.

Hill examines his '97 machine at the Autosport Show after Walkinshaw (right) convinced him to join Arrows © LAT

"It was a gamble, but there was definite potential, which I think was brought out by what happened in Hungary [where Hill qualified third and almost won].

"Tom Walkinshaw was very hungry to get me on board," recalls Hill. "It was a good offer, and possibly something different with the Bridgestone tyres.

"We thought we'd be ahead of the game if Bridgestone came on. John Barnard coming on board [mid-season] as well...

"Tom was a very aggressive business person, in terms of getting whatever he needed to win, so it wasn't totally mad to move to Arrows.

"The 1997 car was actually a really nice car, apart from the engine."

The outfit launched its plans for world domination at the '97 Autosport show in Birmingham's NEC, and Hill was paired alongside Brazilian 'pay driver' Pedro Diniz.

"He was a really, really sweet guy, and could be quick - he outshone me a few times," says Hill. "Some people need to win and need to race, and I don't think he wanted to find out whether he could.

"He got to Formula 1, which is pretty good. He was a nice guy. He's now doing yoga in the Brazilian rainforest! He and his manager [Daniele Morelli, who also looked after Robert Kubica] were probably too nice for F1..."

Things didn't start particularly well for the reigning world champion in '97. Hill qualified 20^th of the 22 cars that made the grid for the opening race in Melbourne, scene of a Hill victory 12 months earlier, while Diniz brought up the back of the field.

From champion to backmarker in one fell swoop. But Hill wouldn't let it get him down.

Woes in Australia were to set the tone for 1997 - but Hill remained upbeat © LAT

"You've got to do the best you can, and if other people think it's horrible and embarrassing that's their problem," he argues. "You don't want to be there obviously, but I wasn't bothered as long as we'd done our best - and there's masses more room for improvement if you're at the back!

"I'd already done all the running around at the back in shit-boxes, so I wasn't learning anything new, but I had faith in John Barnard to be able to see through that.

"I've always enjoyed working with engineers; there are key people in the sport who bring success, and if we'd had the budget he could have done it I think.

"Tom did make some wild claims, and had some wild expectations, but I liked that. He wasn't realistic; he was very ambitious, and I think you have to be slightly pie-in-the-sky - we're not here to make up the numbers, we will get there... somehow.

"There was that optimism. There was a possibility [of success] with Arrows. It could have happened. Look at the story of Red Bull. It could have been like that.

"From the view of '96 it was all uncertain, but I would rather be involved with a project that has big plans to go places and could possibly work out. I couldn't do the other ones, because they were completely hopeless."

It was a tough season, but not without its bright spots. As well as that near-win in Hungary, Hill also scored a point at the British Grand Prix, and came within 0.058 seconds of taking pole for the season finale at Jerez, proving the Yamaha-powered A18 was a very capable car in the right circumstances.

"The balance of the car was good, and I think that was partly down to the tyres as well," adds Hill. "Working with Bridgestone was good; they had a bit of magic in their compounds.

Despite missing out on victory, Hill's Hungary podium sparked jubilant scenes at Arrows © LAT

"It was a nimble car. It didn't have a lot of power, but in certain places it was well balanced and the tyre compound choice from Bridgestone probably gave us a big advantage, which meant we could get up the sharp end.

"I've probably never had a car as well balanced as I did in Hungary that year. It was fantastic; I could really throw it around. I wish I could have been in the garage when Jackie Oliver thought he was going to win his first race after 300-odd attempts!"

The reigning champion enjoyed his time at Arrows, but still harboured hopes of returning to the front of the grid with one of F1's bigger teams. There were talks over a potential McLaren deal for '98, but that move failed to come to fruition.

"When Adrian Newey left Williams it was obvious McLaren was going to be the place to go, but there was a slight obstacle in my path, with the initials 'RD'," Hill explains. "I am a big admirer of Ron; he's a giant with what he's achieved, but he has a curious way of communicating.

"If I'd been a bit wiser I would probably have said yes, but I felt I'd done my groveling for most of my career. I thought winning a world championship had established my credentials, but Ron didn't play it quite like that. You are naught in the eyes of McLaren.

"I've always seen the sport as a way of expressing yourself, so to me it's important that free expression is allowed - because that is what people want. I felt McLaren was a team that found that uncomfortable, and preferred to have all the success accrued returned to them. The driver was simply a servant of the team.

Hill spoke with McLaren about a '98 drive, but eventually joined forces with Jordan © LAT

"I could see their point of view, but that's not how the public see it. I felt those were the conditions under which I'd be living my life, and I got to the point where I didn't think I could swallow that anymore. You make your choices, and I'm not unhappy with the choice I made."

Hill would eventually opt to sign a two-year deal with Eddie Jordan's team, scoring the final grand prix victory of his career at the '98 Belgian GP, before retiring at the end of the following season.

"I think things happen the way they are supposed to happen," says Hill philosophically. "After I'd won the championship I decided to do what I wanted to do, the way I wanted to do it, and go racing the way I wanted to go racing.

"I felt like I was free to choose what I wanted to do. I took my own path, and it's probably not what a career advisor would have suggested I do, but I've got one reply to the career advisor, which is, 'It's not your life; it's my life, and I'll do what I like!' That's how I approached the rest of my career."

A short but highly successful career as it turned out, ultimately defined by that '96 title success, rather than the slim pickings that followed.

This week's issue of Autosport, on which 1996 Formula 1 world champion Damon Hill graces the cover, is now available in stores and online.

BEN ANDERSON's special interview with Hill is an insightful account of what the '96 title winner had to do to rebuild himself after being "destroyed" by Michael Schumacher, how he adapted to being further down the grid the following season with Arrows and what he views as his place in F1 history.

Among other features and regular contributors, DAVID EVANS provides an in-depth report of the World Rally Championship opener in Monte Carlo, GARY WATKINS tells the full story of Ford's racing return ahead of its competitive debut in the Daytona 24 Hours and SCOTT MITCHELL talks to a man who has worked with the Spanish Prime Minister, met US presidents, run a football club and is now the driving force behind the Formula E revolution.