Damon Hill mentioned he would like to personal his 1996 Championship-winning automotive however is aware of he wouldn’t take adequate care of it.
System 1 drivers, particularly World Champions, proudly owning one in every of their earlier vehicles just isn’t unprecedented. Fernando Alonso was gifted his 2005 and 2006 Renault vehicles by the crew earlier than placing them in his museum whereas Michael Schumacher has an unbelievable assortment of 5 F1 vehicles.
Many of the seven-time World Champion’s vehicles are from Ferrari whereas he was additionally given the Benetton vehicles he drove to title success in 1994 and 1994 in addition to the Mercedes W03, the final automotive he raced in F1.
Sebastian Vettel additionally has an F1 automotive in his storage at house having purchased Nigel Mansell’s 1992 title-winning Williams a couple of years in the past.
Whereas Hill would love to hitch that elite group of F1 automotive house owners, he is aware of himself properly sufficient to imagine he wouldn’t take the sort of a care a automotive like that deserves.
He was requested on F1 Nation’s second “Ask Damon” particular if he had any vehicles from his profession again house within the storage.
“When my dad [Graham Hill] died, the crew [Embassy Hill] was mainly folded and the race vehicles that he had have been bought off,” Hill mentioned.
“And the opposite vehicles belong to individuals like BRM and Lotus. These vehicles are clearly very invaluable. A few of them are owned by collectors and connoisseurs of the game they usually’re superbly preserved. Some individuals have gotten a museum.
“In order that they’re all on the market being sorted by the best individuals with the cash to do it. I’m not that individual. If I owned any of those vehicles, they might sit below wraps, the tyres would go flat. They’d start to get coated in mud they usually wouldn’t work once they tried to start out them.”
Hill was then quizzed by podcast host Tom Clarkson if there was one automotive he want he did personal and it got here as no shock to see him identify the FW18 as his most popular alternative.
“From my perspective if I had my Championship-winning 1996 automotive, sure, I’d love for that. Zak Brown’s acquired one but it surely’s Jacques [Villeneuve]’s automotive I believe, it’s not mine.
Damon Hill, Williams, Monza, 1996. Foto: Paul-Henri Cahier. #F1 pic.twitter.com/AibRhYJkOR
— Demetriou Neto (@NetoDemetriou) August 12, 2022
“But when I had that I’d need to have somebody taking care of it for me. Williams Heritage, they’re on the market taking care of these issues so once in a while I get an opportunity to drive one but it surely’s such a unprecedented expertise driving that automotive once more.”
One other query put to Hill was how he felt concerning the ‘X-wings’ which have been miniature rear wings above the sidepods and featured on vehicles within the 1998 season with the concept of bettering downforce.
“They give the impression of being weird. There’s a number of appendages which have been placed on racing vehicles that don’t look good, however as a result of there’s a loophole within the guidelines, the aerodynamicists go ‘oh, we may put slightly bit extra wing right here.’
“So at circuits the place drag just isn’t an issue, let’s say Monaco, you simply need to get as a lot downforce as you may. They discover each little spot they’ll and so that you see on trendy System 1 vehicles, even the wing mirrors are used as an aerodynamic machine.
“When it comes to whether or not I felt any distinction, I believe I felt a drag. I appear to recollect feeling with the X-wings that I believe it would give me a tiny bit of additional downforce. However not completely satisfied, you’re speaking tiny quantities actually of enchancment. And any anytime you’ve put something that sticks up and out into the airflow of a automotive, you want extra horsepower to match it.”