Autosport Plus

Citizen of Hope and Glory

Ten years after winning the Formula One World Championship and seven years after his retirement, Damon Hill finds that you never quite get away from your glorious past, especially when your kids trawl through YouTube and have a thing or two to say about their dad's driving... Mark Glendenning talked to the 47-year-old about his memories from Formula One, and life without it

Mark Glendenning Jan 10, 2007, 1:18 PM

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.