F1 Explains: racing in the 1990s, snitching on Schumacher + unusual F1 records - with Damon Hill
F1 Nation
F1 Explains: racing in the 1990s, snitching on Schumacher + unusual F1 records - with Damon Hill
F1 Nation · Jul 9, 2026
Annotations will appear as you listen
0:00
29:09
Place
British Grand Prix
The British Grand Prix is one of Formula 1’s biggest races, held in the UK. It’s a full weekend event with practice, qualifying, and the main race.
Topic
Formula One paddock
The paddock is the team-only area at an F1 race weekend. It’s where teams work on the cars and where you can see the sport’s “behind the scenes” activity.
Place
Silverstone Main Stage
Silverstone is the famous Formula 1 track in the UK. The “Main Stage” is the big central area where fans go for live entertainment during the race weekend.
Person
Damon Hill
Damon Hill is a former Formula 1 driver who won the World Championship in 1996. In this episode, he’s there to help explain what racing in the 1990s was really like.
Topic
1996 Formula One World Champion
This phrase means the driver who won the Formula 1 championship in 1996. In this episode, that driver is Damon Hill.
Term
extra 10th
In racing, an “extra 10th” means improving by 0.1 seconds. That’s a big deal in F1, where cars are often separated by tiny time gaps.
Concept
regulations change
Regulations are the rules of Formula 1. When the rules change, it can change how cars are built and how races are run.
Term
pit boards
Pit boards are messages the team holds up for the driver during the race. They can tell you things like what to do next or how you’re doing compared to others.
Term
refueling
Refueling means adding fuel to the car during the race while it’s stopped in the pits. It used to be a strategy tool in older F1, but today races are run without topping up mid-race.
Term
change tyres
Changing tyres is when the team swaps the tires during a pit stop. Tires wear out and lose grip, so teams time these stops to keep the car fast.
Concept
strategy
In racing, “strategy” is the plan for how you’ll run the race. It includes decisions like when to stop and what to do to stay fast until the end.
Term
radio silence
F1 teams talk to the driver using a radio. “Radio silence” means there’s basically no talking during the race, so you don’t hear lots of messages.
Term
team radio
During a race, the driver can talk to the team through a radio. The team uses it to give instructions and updates while you’re driving.
Term
steering wheel
In an F1 car, the steering wheel isn’t just for turning—it has lots of buttons. The driver uses it to change settings while racing.
Person
Michael Schumacher
Michael Schumacher was one of the most famous F1 drivers ever. In this story, Damon Hill says he reported Schumacher because he thought something unusual was happening during the race.
Term
grid
The “grid” is where the cars line up before the race starts. Your position on the grid depends on qualifying results.
Term
restart
A “restart” is when the race stops and then starts again. Cars line up and go again, and the situation can reset in a way that affects overtakes.
Term
pole position
“Pole position” means you start first on the grid. It’s given to the driver who was fastest in qualifying.
Term
10-second penalty
A 10-second penalty is basically a punishment measured in time. If a driver breaks the rules, officials add 10 seconds to their result, which can cost them positions.
Term
black flag
A black flag is a serious warning from race officials. It means the driver has to stop what they’re doing and usually return to the pits right away.
Person
Jody Schecter
Jody Schecter is a driver who raced in Formula 1. In this episode, he’s brought up because he’s one of the very few drivers who competed with the car number 0.
Term
constructors
In F1, “constructors” means the teams. Teams can win their own championship, and in this case the team’s status affected how car numbers were assigned.
Person
Alan Prost
Alain Prost is one of the greatest F1 drivers ever and won multiple world championships. In this story, his car number is used to explain how the numbering system worked when number 1 wasn’t available.
Concept
team dynamics
In racing, “team dynamics” means how the team behaves and communicates while working on the car and planning races. If you switch teams, you may need time to learn their way of doing things.
Concept
teams do have a culture
“Team culture” is basically the team’s personality—how they work and what they expect from each other. In F1, that can change how comfortable a driver feels when they join a new team.
Topic
underdogs
An underdog is the team or driver that isn’t expected to be the best. In F1, that often means the car isn’t as quick, so they have to make the best of every opportunity.
Brand
Aston Martin
Aston Martin is a racing team in Formula 1. The hosts are talking about whether Aston Martin will be strong soon, especially after an update before the summer break.
Place
Hungary
Hungary is where one of the Formula 1 races is held. They’re saying an update could be ready by that race and we’ll see what changes.
Brand
McLaren
McLaren is one of the famous Formula 1 teams. In this part, they’re saying McLaren currently look like the team to beat.
Brand
Ferrari
Ferrari is one of the biggest Formula 1 teams, with a huge number of fans. They’re talking about how the crowd’s team support changes over time.
Term
livery
A livery is the car’s paint job and graphics—its look on the track. They’re talking about a new design and whether it’s easy to spot.
LIVE
Hello, everybody, and welcome to F1 Explains, the official Formula One podcast that lives
and breathes to answer your questions on the wonderful world of Formula One.
My name is Christian Hugel, and I'm talking to you from last weekend's British Grand Prix,
and usually if we speak to you at a race, we're at the heart of the Formula One paddock,
but not today.
I'm Studs, smack bang in the middle of the fan zone, and if you've never been to a Formula
One Grand Prix before, every race has a fan zone, sometimes a few, and it's basically
a place where fans can come, buy merch, chill, have a drink, get some food.
There are big screens where you can watch the racing, and there are also big screens where
you can watch fun events, so there's shows, there's music performances for massive acts,
and sometimes there are live podcasts, you know where I'm going with this, don't you?
And at this year's British Grand Prix, we Studs on the massive Silverstone Main Stage.
It can't just be me, but I think it gets bigger every single year.
Me and producer Jamie have walked quite a distance away from it, and are now further
back in the fan zone, and looking at it over there, it is absolutely enormous, and just
a short time ago, myself and some wonderful F1 Explains listeners spoke to a legend of
the sport, the 1996 Formula One World Champion, Damon Hill.
F1 Explains at F1.com is the email address to send your questions, and two lovely, wonderful
listeners who sent messages to that email address ended up coming on stage with us,
and you can do just that.
We'll be doing more live shows before the end of the season, at Austin, Texas, definitely,
for example.
So if you're going to be at a Formula One race, drop us a message, and you're a listener
to F1 Explains.
F1Explains at F1.com, we might be able to make you part of the show.
That's what happened for Toby and Lindsay, as they joined myself and the 1996 Formula
One World Champion, Damon Hill, on the Silverstone main stage.
Hello Silverstone!
What an insanely big crowd!
This is amazing!
Hello everybody, and welcome to the British Grand Prix!
My name is Christian Hugill, this is the official Formula One podcast, F1 Explains, coming
to you live and direct from the British Grand Prix.
Welcome along, this is the official F1 podcast that exists to answer your questions on the
sport.
You email F1Explains at F1.com, and we find the best people in this mad, busy world of
Formula One to answer them.
Would anybody like to meet our special guest?
The 1996 Formula One World Champion, Damon Hill!
Well, I'm glad you're enthusiastic, but this screen in front of me says, Damon Hill not
here yet.
So, you won't do for now, and he'll come, don't worry, he best do, it's going to be
a long 20 minutes for me if he doesn't.
But, we have some F1 Explains listeners to introduce you to, who are going to help me
put your questions to a world champion.
Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, please welcome Toby and Lindsay!
Toby, Lindsay, in the words of British legend, Silla Black, what's your names and where
do you come from?
Lindsay, you start.
Hi everyone, I'm Lindsay Anderson, and I travelled from America, I'm from Maine.
From the US, everybody!
It's 4th of July, so happy 4th of July!
I'd love to say that this podcast was professional enough to have planned an American guest on
the 4th of July, but regretfully it isn't, but welcome.
How far or how long did it take you to get here?
It's about a six hour flight, we travelled from Boston, landed in Heathrow.
You've travelled from Boston, well I understand there's another sporting event going on, but
this is the best sporting event to be at in the world, right?
I'm not biased, it's just a fundamentally better sport than football, isn't it?
That's what it is.
I'm a fan of both.
I'm a fan of both too.
I did go to a World Cup game.
You did go to a World Cup game, do you support a British football team?
I do, taught them.
Taught them!
Woo!
Oh, they're territorial!
They're arsenal fans.
Don't boo them, don't boo them, considering the tragic state of Spurs in the last couple
of years, I mean not that I can talk, I'm a Leicester City fan.
Anyway, we should be doing, don't cheer if it's been depressing.
We should talk about Formula One at some stage, who are your favourite teams and drivers?
So, Lando's my favourite driver, McLaren is my favourite team.
Hang on, hang sorry, that was mentioned for Lando Norris.
He's popular in these parts, you know.
I'm in the Lando stand this weekend.
He has his own grandstand.
He does.
That's the levels of fame I'm hoping for.
It's incredible.
I'm hoping for an F1 explain stand.
Yeah, I sit there.
Discussions are ongoing, you wouldn't sit there.
I would!
You'd sit in the Lando stand.
We'll get you talking to Damon Hill in a minute.
Thank you.
If you ever arrive.
Hello Toby.
Hello, hello.
Where are you from?
I'm a bit more local.
I'm from Manchester.
Manchester!
It's saying words like Manchester, gets a cheer from a British Grand Prix crowd.
You just have to say random place names and you get cheers.
Coventry.
I could do this all day.
Boston Lincolnshire.
That's where I'm from.
That's where I'm from.
Up Boston.
Toby, you've got a Ferrari cap on, but where do your allegiances in Formula One lie?
Charles Claire and Lewis Hamilton, always.
Charles got a big cheer here.
We're recording this podcast on qualifying...
Actually, yeah.
Guys, everything okay?
At the stage, yeah?
Nothing's caught fire.
For those listening on the podcast feed, a load of smoke just appeared next to the burnt-out
car that's on the main stage.
We've not got an anti-social behaviour problem.
I think it's part of chasing status as set, but yeah.
Anyway, where were we?
Yeah, Ferrari fan.
Toby, how have you enjoyed the season so far?
It's been great.
Got to go to Barcelona, so I saw his first Ferrari win, which was very nice.
His first Ferrari win, everybody.
What a moment that was.
Yeah, and what have you preferred?
Spain or Silverstone?
Spain's too hot.
This is a bit more my speed.
You can tell me what the British Grand Prix goes.
It's a bit warm.
It was a bit warm for me.
Excellent.
Toby, you're very welcome.
Now, I've got good news, everybody.
Who would like to meet a world champion?
Ladies and gentlemen, please go mad.
For the 1996 Formula One World Champion, Mr Damon Hill.
He doesn't look old enough to have been world champion in 1996.
Look at him.
Give him a cheer, everyone.
Damon Hill.
He's a world champion.
Damon, how are you?
I'm very well.
Everyone's looking great, and it's going to be a beautiful day.
Damon, these guys have got some questions for you,
but firstly, I want to ask you about an urban myth in Formula One.
You know what it's like to drive around here as a British driver.
Our fans in Silverstone are amazing.
Absolutely amazing.
There's been a lot of talk this weekend about whether it does give you
that extra 10th when you're in the car.
The cheers from the grandstands.
What are your views?
Yeah, well, I don't want to kind of run you down that much at all,
but if every single person here is a tenth of a second,
then you're only about 100,000ths of a second.
Yes, you're right.
But everyone counts.
But what about the crowd collectively?
The collective power of everyone.
The energy, I believe in this.
I believe that there is a cosmic force, and we tap into it,
and that if we all get together and think positive thoughts,
positive things happen.
Because wasn't it Nigel Mansell, your old mate,
who said it was worth two tenths?
Two tenths? He said it was a second.
I think that's generous.
Yeah, to be honest.
Nigel was prone to slight exaggeration,
but I honestly think it does give you a lift
because you feel very, very positive.
You know, the state of mind is an important thing.
And if you come to the race and you see everyone,
and I used to come here and there'd be flags
and there'd be people in the campsites and they got my name up,
you just get that kind of extra boost.
And I think you're able to go further than you ever went before.
So the crowd energy, the crowd magic is a real thing.
There goes to get cheering today, guys.
You do make a difference.
Right, Damon, you've been on this podcast before.
You're a veteran of it.
Our listeners from all over the world,
email f1explains at f1.com.
Usually we read those out, but we've got two listeners here
with us live and direct.
So I think you're well qualified to answer their questions.
Would you agree?
Yeah, well, try me. I mean, go on.
Literally, won it. You know, 1996 Formula One World Champion.
I tell you what, let's go.
As long as it's not mass, all right?
A dumb use of that mass.
So many, so many just interrupted the show to say,
I have a t-shirt with your face on, Damon.
Well done.
Well done.
There you go.
Did we have it today, though? Did you?
It's too hot.
Anyway, moving swiftly on, let's go to Toby first.
Toby, would you like to put your question to Mr. Damon Hill?
I'm not reading. I'm looking. Go on.
You made your F1 debut when you were in your 30s,
but as we all know, a lot of the current drivers like Stappen and Tinelli,
they all made their debut when they were in their late teens.
What do you think the benefits are of starting your F1 career
when you're a little bit older?
Well, for me, I think I would have won about four more World Championships.
At least.
In my 20s, I think, I saw a little bit of a late starter.
My dad was a late starter as well.
He didn't get to Formula One until he was in his 30s,
so I don't know what it is about the hills,
but we don't get going until late in life.
Just remember, I should have waited a little bit.
Honestly, if I was in F1 when I was 19,
I didn't learn to talk until I was 20.
Honestly, I would have been useless at 19.
Honestly, I just walked around.
I was still at school, I think.
I just don't know how they do it. They're amazing.
They're so well-prepared and they're ready for it.
They're almost a complete driver.
Kimmy knows how to deal with the media. It's incredible.
Could it happen today?
Could a driver...
I mean, the likes of Lewis and Fernando going well into their 40s,
do you think it could happen today, a driver making their debut in their 30s?
Look, if there's someone out there
and they want to start having a go at racing cars when they're 24,
which is what I did, and they can get good enough
to get through all the junior formulas,
then why not have a go?
It's difficult to get backing if you're an older guy
because you're earning potentially shorter.
People go, we're not getting many years out of him.
So there is an element of these teams,
they want to invest in a driver,
and they want the driver to be there for them for a long period of time.
I mean, look at Max now.
When he started, he's been at it over 10 years now.
So they've had those 10 years already,
and he's still got another 10 years of delivering, at least.
Well, Kimmy made his Formula One debut,
and he was nine and three-quarters,
so he could be going, you know, for 50, 60 years, it seems.
Yeah, easily, easily.
I won't be here.
No, none of us will.
If I'm here, I want a prize for that.
We'll be wheeling you down the stage, Damon.
Yeah, excellent.
Lovely work.
Lindsay, I believe you also have a question for Mr. Damon Hill.
Yes, so Damon, it's the 30-year anniversary of your F1 World Championship.
30 years, everybody. 30 years.
What are the biggest differences and similarities between F1 now and back when you were racing?
Well, it's the same thing. You're racing.
That is fundamentally that part of it hasn't changed at all.
It's guys and girls who want to go out there and race, and the teams they want to race,
they want to win, they love the technical side of the sport,
they love the teamwork, and they love racing,
and so that has not changed one bit.
The way in which you can use the cars now is different.
Obviously, the regulations change,
and the complexity of what the driver does is also different.
It's changed the input that the drivers get during a race.
That was never the case with me.
I would literally, they would say goodbye to me on the grid, and I'll see you at the end.
That was it, you know, off you go.
And there's a few pit boards that went out, which you ignored for most of the race,
because you were still out there until we had refueling at one time.
So the only thing was we did change tyres, but honestly, there was no strategy whatsoever.
So, you know, I got told once to slow down a bit,
because they could see one of the bits of the cars getting hot, and that was it.
So if you broadcast the radio in my era, it would have been very dull,
because there would have been complete silence, radio silence for the whole race.
And now it's chatter, chatter, chatter.
And I think that's the biggest difference, is they've got so much more to do.
It's so complex, you need a team of engineers to say what button to press, you know,
and what number to put it on, steering wheel.
We all like hearing the team radio, don't we?
Yes!
One of my favourite things about it, Damon, is that any overtake can happen anywhere.
And any of the drivers will go, that was outrageous.
I'm looking to be alive.
That's the worst thing that's ever happened to me.
Getting banned. I want a season ban for him.
Did that happen in your day?
Okay, we didn't hear it, but were you being overtaken going,
I can't believe you've done that?
Well, I must confess, I did snitch on Michael Schumacher.
Did you?
Well, and that was in 94, because what happened was we went onto the grid,
and the way you're supposed to do it is the guy on pole position, which was me,
is supposed to lead the pack around, and every time he kept overtaking me,
and then we had a restart, and he did it again.
So I thought, there's something fishy going on.
So I went on the radio and went, guys, just in case, you didn't notice,
he's overtaking me again.
Anyway, that went into a protest during the race,
and that's why he was given a 10-second penalty, which he ignored,
and then he got a black flag for ignoring the black flag,
and then he basically ran the whole thing.
Michael, stop!
But the upshot was, I won!
Yay!
What's the model there? Snitching always pays, I think.
You know, it's the equivalent of falling down in a penalty box, isn't it, really?
Yeah, it is.
And you were ahead of your time with the snitching that goes on now.
They love it.
I don't feel good about it.
No, I do, actually.
I think you probably feel good about it when you look at that trophy, don't you?
I don't think there's too many.
Well, yeah, it's the one and only British Grand Prix I won, so it worked.
Which year, remind me?
It was 94.
Anybody here in 94 for that race?
Can you see that?
There we go!
The 94ers.
This is F1 Explains, and there's more from Damon Hill in just a moment,
but as I mentioned at the start,
we are doing more F1 Explains live shows this season,
and the next one is soon, very soon.
The Belgian Grand Prix, and our special guest is, I'm buzzing for this,
Yuki Sonoda.
Buzzing for a bit of Yuki Sonoda on F1 Explains, what a man.
Of course, not racing this season, but still part of the Red Bull family,
so it will be great to catch up with him,
and if you will be at the Belgian Grand Prix, you can come and watch.
It's included in the price of the ticket.
It's a very reasonable deal.
It's on Friday, the 17th of July, at 10.25 in the morning.
So that is the Friday of race weekend, 10.25 in the morning.
If you've got a question for Yuki about racing in F1, anything really,
Formula One related, send it to the usual place, you know it by now.
F1 Explains at F1.com.
If you're at the track as well, let us know.
We might be able to make you part of the show,
as our wonderful listeners in this very episode are.
We hope to see you in Belgium, but for now,
let's get back to our most recent live show.
There's so many of them.
It's hard to keep up with Damon Hill at Silverstone.
We were asking what's changed about the sport and what's similar,
and I think that's part of the magic of F1.
Part of it, looking at the old pictures, it feels like it did then.
But the people, the crowd, the size of the sport,
we're recording this podcast on the Saturday morning.
There are so many people in front of us.
As far as the eye can see,
you must have watched it grow immeasurably over your time in the sport.
Yeah, so this stage thing happened actually in 94.
Eddie Jordan invited a lot of his friends over from Ireland.
They had a truck, and it basically folded over into a stage,
and we had a little bash on the guitar,
and it was probably just around there in the powder,
which was all grass in those days.
And that was the start of the post-race gig.
Yeah, basically.
That's from that on.
That moment on was it started to build and build,
and then the stage side of things has grown massively,
as you can tell.
I mean, look at this thing.
And so it's become an all-encompassing event.
You know, it's not just the cars going round on a Sunday.
You've got blooming ferris wheels and all sorts.
Yeah, I mean, it's overwhelming, isn't it?
It's grown massively.
Absolutely, and we absolutely love it for it.
Toby, question two from you.
So I had to do a bit of research before I came on here
to make sure it didn't look uneducated.
And one of the more interesting things I found out about you
was that you and Jody Schecter are the only two drivers in F1 history
to have raced with the number zero on your car.
So for the people who don't know, why did you have that number?
And if you could hold any other weird or wonderful record in F1,
what would it be and why?
Well, on the zero thing, the problem was that
the world champion decided to leave
and left the championship, didn't come back and compete.
So they didn't have a number one in the competition.
And the team I drove for was the constructors,
the winners, winning constructor.
And so they basically decided you can't give me the number one
because I'm not the...
And they can't give the guy who's just coming into the team number one
because there's no world champion.
So they had to come up with zero.
So I was zero and Alan Prost was two.
And this was in an era where you didn't, like, Lewis is 44.
You didn't choose your own numbers.
You were given...
No, you weren't. You were given...
Yeah, that's right.
So, yeah, I think the numbers were...
I think they were constructed...
They were the constructed championship, yeah.
So basically Nigel left and I was zero.
So, you know, zero to hero, as they say.
Is there a niche record you'd like to hold, like your number zero?
Would I add a number?
Anything, really.
Pick what you like. You're a world champion.
What record would you like to hold that's fairly niche?
Do you think you already hold one?
Let me think.
I think I'm the first driver to son of a world champion
to become world champion himself.
That's worth a round of applause.
I think I was, yeah.
I mean, yeah, I was delighted for Nico to do it as well,
but he did it after me, so I was first.
Naturally. Naturally got in there first.
And he was, of course, another world champion that packed up and left afterwards.
Yeah, he did. He left, so...
But that because they didn't do the order and number order,
so there wasn't a zero after that.
There wasn't a zero after that.
But I wonder if you could choose zero.
I mean, is there ever a driver that wants to choose zero?
I mean, it's a bit of an old number.
It's not even a number, is it? It's infinity, where it's nothing.
It's zero and number, you know.
Some of the things we explained here are too profound.
We're not careful.
Lindsay, take us away from this niche rabbit hole we've gone down.
Ask a vaguely Formula One-related question.
They're drifting off. We're going off.
I told you not to do maths, didn't I?
You did?
Okay, Damon, so you are an official ambassador for Williams,
and you and Jack Villeneuve are still the most recent drivers for Williams
to win world championships.
What excites you the most about the current driver lineup at Williams
and what do they need to do to take the next step and fight for titles again?
Well, I think they're doing everything they have to do.
I think they're both brilliant drivers.
They've got incredible experience.
They've got incredible pace, and they've got the knowledge and all that stuff.
And we need to find a way to give them a more competitive car at Williams,
and it's not so easy.
The way that the team works has been set in its ways for quite a while,
and James has gone in there.
James Vowles has gone in there to try and change it,
but it also means changing the infrastructure, way of working,
and also the machinery that is used as well to do all the measurements.
So a big task, and it's going to take time,
but you hear this story now quite a lot with other teams, Aston Martin.
To win in F1, you need the state-of-the-art machinery
and measuring equipment in the factory and the team to understand how to use it.
So it's an enormous task, really, to win in Formula One and stay at the sharp end.
And I think it's showing, isn't it, despite teams like Aston Martin,
their base is just over the road from us.
Massive great big base, hired fantastic people,
and of course they're struggling at the moment.
We hope they'll turn that round long-term.
It sounds very obvious to say, but it sums up how difficult it is to get to the top of this sport.
I mean, look at McLaren. They won it last year.
They are now having to fight again to get to the front.
So you can't stay still.
And honestly, I don't know how they find the energy.
It's a relentless sport.
So if you win, everyone in the factory has played their part.
It's astonishing, really.
David, I'm going to do something I've never done on an F1 Explains live show,
and I don't fully know if I'm allowed to do it,
but I'm going to pick somebody from the crowd to ask a question to you.
Who would you like to pick?
Hang on, I'll put my glasses on.
Put your glasses on.
Put your readers on.
Yes, sir.
This lady here was...
Oh, this lad here.
Yeah, okay.
Alright, let's go to this young gentleman at the front.
Hello, sir.
What's your name and where do you come from?
Dublin, in Ireland.
And what's your name?
Rory.
Rory from Dublin in Ireland.
Rory, would you like to ask David Hill a question?
We're here supporting Alex Dunn,
and what are his chances of getting into F1?
And, David, just explain for our listeners who aren't to wear who Alex Dunn is.
Alex Dunn is an Irish driver.
Is he from Dublin as well?
Awfully.
And between you and Mum?
Yes, sir.
Hello, Mum, what's your name?
Joanne.
Joanne.
Yeah, so I lived in Dublin for five years,
and last year, I think it was...
Oh, it's difficult to know.
Maybe it was this year.
But it was...
I got awarded the Eddie Jordan Lifetime Achievement Award,
and they also gave one to Alex Dunn as well.
So he's already got...
He's been awarded, and obviously the whole of Ireland is right behind him,
so it would be brilliant, wouldn't it, to see him up there.
And he's doing very well in F2 at the moment.
So the question is, there's 22 drivers,
and they don't move.
You know, they stay in F1 for a long time,
but it's not impossible that he'll get through.
They don't move as in move teams.
They move as in a move.
They don't retire.
That's true.
Look at Fernando.
They stay there forever.
67 now.
Yeah.
Yeah, absolutely.
I think Damon did a wonderful job of answering your question.
Do you?
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
Give him a round of applause, guys.
Nice question.
Hello there.
What's your name and where do you come from?
My name's Anna, and I'm from Southampton.
And what's your question for Damon Hill?
The last time I was at Silverstone was in 1997,
when Damon was driving for Arrows,
and you got your first points at Silverstone.
Obviously, it was because I was there.
How does it feel when you go from racing one team
to another team?
How do you adjust those team dynamics?
Great question.
Well, in the case of Arrows, the question,
you all heard the question,
so was it like when you changed the dynamic?
I mean, teams do have a culture.
They have a way of working.
Obviously, if you've been running at the front like Williams had,
they're a particular kind of team,
and the Arrows were always looking up.
Arrows never won a Grand Prix.
Underdogs?
They're underdogs.
So they know they've got a lot to achieve.
But from my point of view,
I went from looking at maybe an empty track in front of me
to looking at all the cars in front of me
when I lined up on the grid.
So a slightly different experience from my point of view.
The view was different.
And there were drivers on the grid who will have experienced that.
I mean, we don't say it with any pleasure,
but Fernando Alonso, who's fought at the front,
who is now, is one World Championships, who's now at the back.
How does that change as a driver?
What do you have to change mentality-wise
when you have got everyone ahead of you
as opposed to keeping the pack behind you?
I think it's a measure of Fernando's phenomenal competitive spirit
that he has managed to keep motivated
when he's clearly in a car that is not capable of doing much.
But he never shortchanges anyone.
He always delivers 100% of himself.
So he's just a phenomenal competitor.
It would be great to see him running at the front,
maybe Aston Martin, maybe Adrian Nui's got something up his sleeve
and it's coming out in Hungary and we'll see what happens then.
Yeah, the belief is there's a major update coming before the summer break.
Hungary is what's being rumoured, so we hope so.
We'd like to see Aston Martin up there. Won't we, guys?
Some Aston fans at the front.
I think, Damon, I don't know about you,
it seems in front of us that McLaren are the favourite team.
We've got a lot of Ferrari fans, do you see that change over the years?
The team fandom, the dynamics, the look of the colour,
of the merch in the crowd?
No, I think it's great that the teams have histories and people are loyal
and of course the papaya sticks out quite a lot, doesn't it?
Doesn't it, Jess?
But what do you think of this new livery?
I can't even see the car.
I thought it was an Aston Martin, it's got green on the front.
Damon, I've signed in front of me that says wrap up with Damon.
You've been an absolute joy to talk to.
Thank you for taking the time on a busy race weekend
to come and speak to our F1 Explains listeners and fans.
Thanks for having me. Enjoy your weekend.
We also give a round of applause to our amazing listeners as well.
Ladies and gentlemen, thank them all. It's Damon Hill.
Thank you very much to Damon. He was absolutely brilliant.
I absolutely adore Damon Hill.
He's a lovely, wonderful man, a really nice, generous man with his time,
an excellent talker.
One of our listeners, I think it was Toby, said to me after the show,
I bet he's got some stories.
Oh, does Damon Hill have some stories from times gone by?
Of course, he's still such a regular in the Formula One paddock.
You can see him on F1 TV a lot as well.
So stories from yesterday and stories from right here, right now, Damon Hill.
So yeah, great to speak to Damon on the show.
We absolutely enjoyed that.
Coming up in future weeks on F1 Explains,
we are going to be talking to Mr. Carlos Sainz,
fresh from having his cousin, his older cousin,
and his manager on the show a couple of weeks ago.
We're doing one of our Ask a Driver episodes where Carlos will be answering your questions.
We might have just spoken to him as well about what Carlos Sonoro,
Carlos's manager, all the Carlos's,
said about Carlos at the end of the show.
If you don't know what I'm talking about, go back and listen.
It's on this feed a couple of weeks ago.
Carlos Sonoro talking to us about explaining the role of a Formula One manager.
So it's a brilliant listen.
It was one of the most popular shows we've done in recent times.
I really, really enjoyed talking about that.
Also coming up, Jolyne Palmer talks us through the intricacies
of racing at high speed and low speed circuits.
That is an absolutely fantastic episode.
And I'm sure you enjoyed, at the British Grand Prix, the LEGO race.
The second time we've had a LEGO race in Formula One after Miami last year,
we went behind the scenes of that to find out how those amazing little LEGO cars got built.
I mean, I say little LEGO cars.
They're little in the sense that they're smaller than Formula One cars.
But for a LEGO car, they are absolutely huge.
They're unbelievable.
And as a LEGO geek myself, sports fans,
as someone who can be found of an evening with a cup of tea building LEGO to de-stress,
I particularly enjoyed that one.
That's all coming up in future weeks.
Of course, if you haven't had your reaction feel of last weekend's British Grand Prix,
don't forget on this feed, there is F1 Nation with Tom Clarkson and his guests.
Of course, there is Beyond the Grid as well, where it would feel wrong
not to mention that Lando Norris, of course, our last British World Champion,
has been a recent guest on Beyond the Grid.
Feels appropriate to say that stood here at the British Grand Prix.
Lando is on talking to Tom.
Just search Beyond the Grid wherever you get your podcast.
What a joy it was to be at the British Grand Prix.
It's always a fantastic event. Wonderful fans.
We'll be back on the ground at the Belgian Grand Prix in a couple of weeks' time.
We look forward to speaking to you on F1 Explains every Friday when we have new episodes.
So, until then, for me, Christian Hugel at Silverstone.
Bye for now.
About this episode
Damon Hill joins F1 Explains live from the British GP fan zone to field questions on racing culture and F1 history. The chat kicks off with a “crowd gives you extra tenth” myth, where Hill credits crowd energy and mindset. He then discusses starting F1 later in life, arguing older debuts can work if drivers progress through junior ranks—though funding can be tougher. Hill also reflects on 30 years since his 1996 title, noting the core of racing is unchanged, while modern car use, regulations, and race-day driver inputs have evolved.
Original notes
How has F1 changed since Damon Hill won the World Championship? What happened to make him report rival Michael Schumacher to the stewards? Why does he share an unusual car number record?
30 years after his title-winning season, Damon joins Christian Hewgill on stage at the British Grand Prix to answer these questions and more from F1 Explains listeners.
Lyndsey from Maine and Toby from Manchester ask Damon about making his F1 debut relatively late in life, and what his former team Williams need to do to return to the front of the grid.
F1 Explains LIVE at the Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix
Special guest Yuki Tsunoda, Red Bull Racing Reserve Driver
F1 Fanzone Stage | 1025 am | Friday 17th July
Send questions to [email protected] - we could make you part of the show
Listen to more official F1 podcasts
In-depth interviews on F1 Beyond The Grid - including Damon Hill
Expert race previews and reviews - right here on the F1 Nation podcast feed
F1 Nation
Formula 1
0:00
29:09