Citizen of Hope and Glory

The problem with setting the bar high is that sometimes you actually achieve whatever it is that you've spent the past god-knows-how-long working towards.

Take the world championship as an example. Earning a Formula One title requires a minimum of a decade's all-consuming dedication, even if you are a Jacques Villeneuve, who came close in his first season and then sealed it 12 months later. You go through karts, progress through various junior formulae, hunt for money (which can be a full-time occupation in itself), build contacts, play the politics, land a test, and then eventually, if you are lucky, someone offers you a seat. Then, the really hard work starts.

So for those who do manage to become champions the sense of relief, of achievement, of having joined an exclusive club within an exclusive club, of having years of work and ambition distilled down into a single shining moment, must be indescribable. But once it has worn off, what do you do next? When you are at the top, is there any direction you can go other than down?

For some, the answer is to win another one, and F1 has a long tradition of multiple championship-winners. But not everyone is so fortunate. Damon Hill managed only one more Grand Prix win after taking the 1996 title, when he took Jordan to the top of the podium for the first time at a soggy Belgian Grand Prix in 1998. At the end of the following year he left the sport. Some drivers struggle to adapt to life in the post-F1 vacuum, but when the time came to find a way to fill the void, Hill didn't need to look far beyond his own doorstep.

"It is difficult to adapt," he says, laughing. "I think that quite apart from anything else, there is a routine, which is quite straightforward! Someone sets the dates for the races, and testing, and you just show up. And that is probably the biggest problem; suddenly there is no routine.

"But I spent quite a lot of time going around the world, so for the first few years or so - and even today - I hardly ever go anywhere on an aeroplane. I have done very little travelling, and it's been a relief. I've been at home, and able to spend time with my family, and watch the kids growing up. I know what it is like, because when my dad was a racing driver he wasn't around, and then he got killed when I was 15.

"So I feel quite strongly that while I am around, I ought to be around. Just for them, as they are growing up. And I have been able to do that, thankfully."

Winning the title means different things to different people. Villeneuve, who was Hill's teammate at Williams in 1996, has said that claiming the 1997 crown put a lightness into his step for the rest of his F1 career, on the basis that no matter what happened after he left Williams, he had proven himself capable of winning a title. Hill, on the other hand, considered himself fortunate to merely have a drive.

"I think you have to remember that I didn't get into Formula One until I was 33," he points out. "Not properly, for my first full season. So I was always very much of the view that I was quite extraordinarily lucky to be there in the first place. I did take the view that if I didn't win the world championship, well, I had gotten a lot further than it looked likely at one time.

"It's a bit like in Hungary in 1997, when I was in the Arrows. I was leading the race, and I thought, 'this is absolutely mad'. After 20 laps I thought, 'well even if it breaks down now, it has been a fantastic weekend'. And it kept on going.

"And I think the same thing applied to the F1 world championship. I wanted to win it, but you can't make things happen. A large degree of it is down to opportunities that come up, and you can work to make the best of your opportunities, but some things are completely out of your control.

"It would have been gutting not to have won it at all; that would have been very difficult. But I took the view that I tried my best, and as long as you try your best all the time, you just have to put your trust in what happens after that."

Nigel Mansell and Damon Hill © LAT

Hill's title-winning season was an interesting one. Michael Schumacher had packed up his two championship trophies and left Benetton for Ferrari, a union that was not without its growing pains. Williams, meanwhile, had produced the FW18, which frankly had no equal anywhere along pitlane - a fact that Hill freely admits.

"That was the best car!" he laughs. "And I was very grateful for it! But yes, people said that you only win because you're in the best car. Well, of course. You have got to get your hands on the best car. But you can also not achieve with the best car. And I don't think I can be accused of that."

As a result, the fight for the title was conducted not between two teams, but between two sides of the same garage - something that has not happened in the ten seasons that have passed since.

"I think that's a fascinating thing," Hill says. "If people can get their head around that - what must it be like, to be in the same garage, with the same team, fighting for the world championship. I mean, talk about a tense atmosphere in the debrief room!

"Of course, the other guy knows everything you are up to. So it is a very interesting relationship. Nelson Piquet and Nigel Mansell, when they were in the same team fighting for the championship, you always thought, 'I want to watch this, because it's going to be entertaining'."

The reference to Mansell serves as a reminder of the spotlight that Hill found himself in during the mid-1990s, arriving as he did as Britain's Next Great Hope on the back of the immense folk-hero status of 'Our Nige'. It made for a lot of scrutiny, a lot of headlines, and a relationship with the media that, even today, Hill recognises as symbiotic.

"I think motor racing is not something that most people can relate to," he reflects. "Motor racing [in the newspapers] actually gets slightly marginalised, by comparison to football and some other events.

"So someone like Nigel Mansell, he seemed like he was a fighter, and I think he drew in a lot of people who feel that they like to see someone who is out there fighting. And it's patriotic, as well. You are an individual as a racing driver.

Graham and Damon Hill © LAT

"But it doesn't happen every weekend, it doesn't happen on weekdays - you don't have weekday matches, or whatever - you don't go racing every weekend. And of course there are fewer people, so you are at the front, and all the hopes are resting on your shoulders.

"I think that it is just very difficult for the wider public to understand that there are limitations depending on what team you are in and so on. But maybe the pressure is also good. I can remember responding to pressure. I did not like it, but I also did not like being the runt. And there were times where ... I knew that if I lost the world championship in Suzuka, I was well aware that my name would be mud. And I tell you what, that is quite a big motivation! So in some ways you could say it was a help.

"It's a very complicated and tricky game that you play with the media. But you benefit from it as well, you see. You have to be very careful about criticising it, because without the press, you would not get the acclaim when things go well. And they are there to sell your achievements as much as your faults."

So a decade down the road from his championship, seven years on from retirement, Hill has had little trouble finding ways to occupy his time. There is his family, but there is also his high intelligence and acumen, which have lent themselves to all sorts of activities including businesses, forays into driver management, and more recently, presidency of the BRDC.

He says that he no longer has time to play the guitar, and it's reasonable to assume that he probably doesn't have a lot of time to reflect upon past achievements, either. But he has other people who can do that for him, be it the media or his kids.

"My son is now 15, and he has been trawling through YouTube," he explains. "This is the new phenomenal aspect to our world now. When I was young, we didn't even have my dad's racing on television. I think I saw him once. Maybe twice. And that was it. Now you can go on to YouTube, and my son has been downloading all of my bits that people have uploaded. You know, all the interesting bits that don't get shown anymore. So he gets to sit there watching me crash into Michael Schumacher!

"We were watching one last night and he said, 'Dad, I think that one was your fault!' I had to watch it and I'm going, 'um, yep, I think you're right. I didn't make a very good move on that one.'

Damon and Georgie Hill with their kids © LAT

"So do I reflect upon my career? I can't get away from it! It's being bloody shoved in my face by my kids! My own son is saying, 'look, you totally ballsed that up, you old fart'. So it's quite fun.

"We were watching Kimi Raikkonen fall off a boat on YouTube last night. And there is a brilliant one with a baby laughing. Just brilliant. That's the thing about kids, they bring all this to you. You've never got time for it, but they bring all these amazing new things going on and they shove it under your nose. It's great."

So, clearly no time for sentimental journeys back to the day when he pulled a neat overtaking move on Michael Schumacher at Hungary in an Arrows, then. But surely the championship has some resonance?

"I think that it is a ... it's like a certificate of competence. You can say, 'well, that is a Formula One World Championship there. Say what you like!' It is quite satisfying to have that."

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MG: I suppose the main thing that the 2006 season will be remembered for is the retirement of Michael Schumacher. From your point of view, was it the right time for him to go?

Damon Hill: "I think so, yes. I think there is a point where you can't see how he could have improved on what he'd done. I mean, he loves racing, I know that, but Formula One is not about whether or not you love it. It's quite demanding."

MG: How hard is it to pick the moment? To know when it is time?

Hill: "Well for me, I knew that 40 was probably a limit. I mean, I didn't like the look of the number, for a racing driver! I think 39 is already looking long in the tooth. I mean, sport is for young people at their peak. You can have quite an extended career in motorsport compared to most sports, and Michael stopped when he was 37.

"I think you recognise, at least physiologically, when you go into the gym and you start training, you realise that it is harder this year than it was last year. And you start to think, 'it's not going to get easier'.

Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill © LAT

"And you just can't afford to give anything away, so after a bit you just think, 'right, I know how hard it is to stay at the front when I've got everything going for me, so I certainly can't afford to give away anything in terms of physical fitness'.

"And there are also distractions, as well. As you get older you start to take a wider interest in things. It can be a bit like being a laboratory rat, being a sportsman sometimes."

MG: So your priorities just start to change?

Hill: "Definitely, yes. I mean, Michael mentioned his family, so it does come to everyone. You just think, 'Christ, where's the extra benefit of doing another season?' He has even admitted that he found himself asking why he was going around and around. It's fantastically exciting to drive a Formula One car, but not after you've done however many seasons Michael did, and all the karting and everything when you were a lad. Eventually, you do think, 'um ... I've done this!'"

MG: How do you think he's going to be remembered?

Hill: "I think ... he has been controversial, but I think everything eventually comes around again and people will respect him for his driving talent, which has been superlative. Really, no one came close to him in his era for that level of talent and consistency. So I think he'll definitely go down in the record books as the modern-day pinnacle of the sport; of the art of driving.

"I think it's unquestionable that he had talent in abundance when it came to driving. But he is famous for his approach to the rules, which have been, at times, controversial. In his last season he had a number of less-than-glowing reports for his attitude towards penalties that he'd received, and that was a consistent theme throughout his career. So from that point of view, there is a question over his approach to the sport.

"I think I am not alone in wanting, from the sport, a level of sportsmanship. I think that is crucial in creating that relationship, a binding relationship, between the viewer, the spectator, the fan, and the sport itself. I think once you turn a blind eye to fairness in sport, then you split the loyalty to that sport down the middle. Clearly, the people who benefit from it think it's fantastic, but those that don't tend to walk away."

Michael Schumacher crashes with Damon Hill in the 1994 Australian Grand Prix © Reuters

MG: But as someone who raced yourself, where do you think that less savoury side of him came from? How do you think he justified it to himself?

Hill: "Well, as a person, if you were to meet Michael, you would find a perfectly charming, completely nice guy. I think that he has had, through his career, advice, and he has been very closely protected by those around him. And he clearly put his faith in those people around him. So I would say that his approach has been guided, to some degree.

"Everyone has their own point of view about the way to approach life, you know? Some people have a more ... let's say fluid attitude towards rules and regulations. And some people think that if the rules are there, then that's the game and you try to play to those rules."