Hill documentary
Discussion
Jayho said:
Adrian W said:
I watched it last night, I did get the impression that he feels he got the WDC despite Williams and not because of them
I get where you're coming from. It seemed like no matter how well he did and how good of a driver he was, Sir Frank just saw him nothing more than a journeyman and was always looking for the next Prost / Senna / MS. Like chasing the girl on the pedestal when you've got a wonderful girl already there.One thing which struck me was how much S***housery Michael was able to employ and the sheer presence of the man at that stage of his career. It's both amazing and despicable at the same time.
when he was a bit of a success they couldn't shift the mindset they had toward him. Must have cost him a lot of money and career.
Even after he was winning,Rod Dennis would only offer some sort of pay for a win contract.
A WDC going to Arrows is just plain wrong. Like this years WDC going to Cadillac in 2026.
Press were w
kers as well .I would guess he is still pleased with what he acheived over any expectation he had.
Its the rest of us annoyed lol.
Thanks for highlighting this was on, I had seen it but thought it was probably an old one I'd already seen that was just being promoted because the British GP was coming up, I'm glad I saw this post.
A really great reminder of it all and it all got a bit unexpectedly "chopping onions" at the end.
The Benetton stuff that was briefly discussed would make a whole new documentary in itself (if there isn't one already), I had forgotten it took 20 years before the traction control stuff was actually confirmed and had forgotten about the other bits...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allegations_of_cheat...
Jayho said:
Adrian W said:
I watched it last night, I did get the impression that he feels he got the WDC despite Williams and not because of them
I get where you're coming from.hondajack85 said:
I think they initially gave him a chance as some sort of favour and sympathy for his story.
when he was a bit of a success they couldn't shift the mindset they had toward him. Must have cost him a lot of money and career.
Even after he was winning,Rod Dennis would only offer some sort of pay for a win contract.
Williams gave him a chance for a couple of reasonswhen he was a bit of a success they couldn't shift the mindset they had toward him. Must have cost him a lot of money and career.
Even after he was winning,Rod Dennis would only offer some sort of pay for a win contract.
1. It was quite late on in 1992 when the Mansell-situation came to a head and it was clear he was off to Indycar instead of staying for 1993.
Prost wouldn't have Senna alongside him, Schumacher had just started out and Berger had signed for Ferrari so all the top drivers were taken.
2. Damon had been testing for Williams for a long time so knew the active car very well and was fast in it. He wouldn't get in Prost's way and was a known quantity.
They also had the ingrained Williams 'lightbulb' theory - i.e the car is the challenge in F1, get that part right and the driver is just something to plug in, like a lightbulb......
When Damon was ousted from Williams, Ron didn't really want him as he had Hakkinen and Coulthard signed up. But he saw the commercial appeal of having the reigning WDC.
He therefore made him a no-risk offer.
In hindsight, Damon should have taken it - I think he admits that. But at the time, he was 36 years old and needing to secure his future financially. He couldn't afford to risk driving for McLaren and ending up with nothing
Watched this last night and really enjoyed it- lots of emotion on show, and great archive material of both Damon and his father. I enjoyed reliving Hill's title fights, from what was 'my' era of F1. It does end a bit abruptly though- no mention of Arrows or Jordan, or of anything since 1996.
Very much a highlight reel rather than a dicu for me, and really just about him and the way he dealt with Dad going and the like, not enough detail really.
Some great stuff in there, especially the Mansell stuff like why the hell is he here, and echoes the Prost docu in that in that era Frank and Patrick were pretty hard nosed about drivers, to their detriment eventually
Not sure Frentzen was hired at the end of 95 due to BMW.
But the better stuff is the clear strength Georgie gave him, a man in a lesser relationship would perhaps have crumbled more, but that 95 season was enough to really put anyone off him
Some great stuff in there, especially the Mansell stuff like why the hell is he here, and echoes the Prost docu in that in that era Frank and Patrick were pretty hard nosed about drivers, to their detriment eventually
Not sure Frentzen was hired at the end of 95 due to BMW.
But the better stuff is the clear strength Georgie gave him, a man in a lesser relationship would perhaps have crumbled more, but that 95 season was enough to really put anyone off him
732NM said:
It's very good, now live on sky documentaries.
It's amazing how good my memory is from that era of F1, I knew absolutely every on track moment and a lot of the off track.
I've always liked Georgy, she is a class act.
There is an enormous amount more they could have covered about his career and life, easily enough for a sequel.
Williams and Head come over as stbags again.
I thought it was a well judged piece of telly, for me the central theme was his relationship with his dad, I got the feeling it s still a struggle, the clip with Bruce Forsyth was pretty telling I thought. It's amazing how good my memory is from that era of F1, I knew absolutely every on track moment and a lot of the off track.
I've always liked Georgy, she is a class act.
There is an enormous amount more they could have covered about his career and life, easily enough for a sequel.
Williams and Head come over as s
tbags again.I fully agree about Georgie, he got lucky there and though Frank and Head come over as t
ts, surely that s par for the course in F1, something similar going on with Russell, Wolf and Verstappen right now. The other take away for me was Schumacher, a great driver but possibly more flawed than any of them, his insecurities shone through and I was left in no doubt that he was a tt long before the Barichello incident in Hungary. Overall a good watch, Damon is likeable and fragile, a very different WDC to the norm.
Edited by Blue62 on Tuesday 8th July 22:15
No other comments from people around at the time featured so obviously a Hill approved project but none the worse for that in my opinion. I really enjoyed it.
It was the psychological drama that kept it interesting - just like today really. Having lost a successful father at a relatively young age (in my early 20s rather than 15) I can definitely relate.
Schumacher was a massive arse at times but my goodness the cars sounded so much better.
A shame there wasn't a coda, particularly the Jordan Spa win.
It was the psychological drama that kept it interesting - just like today really. Having lost a successful father at a relatively young age (in my early 20s rather than 15) I can definitely relate.
Schumacher was a massive arse at times but my goodness the cars sounded so much better.
A shame there wasn't a coda, particularly the Jordan Spa win.
DSMSMR said:
I watched that race were Schumacher rammed damon off.....He should have been banned for the next season but the gutless bds at the FIA gave schumacher the title
I’ve always wondered why Hill didn’t wait until there was more space, Schumacher had a damaged car and was a sitting duck, though Hill hadn’t seen him go off he knew there was a problem and also knew Schumacher was a ds at the FIA gave schumacher the title.I imagine it’s covered in his book (which I haven’t read), but at the time I felt Hill was naive in giving Schumacher the opportunity to drive across him, but it’s easy from the comfort of your armchair. In many ways Hill was lucky to be in that position at all and he did have a habit of making mistakes under pressure, but he was quick and a very decent person, which shines through in the film.
I was struck by his relationship with his dad more than anything else, the public display of giving him his first motorbike and the awkward footage with Bruce Forsyth were quite hard to watch. I got the sense that he’s always struggled to just be himself, maybe not carrying on with his dads helmet design would’ve helped, though I readily accept that forming these views on the basis of a 90 minute documentary is hardly scientific.
Blue62 said:
I ve always wondered why Hill didn t wait until there was more space, Schumacher had a damaged car and was a sitting duck, though Hill hadn t seen him go off he knew there was a problem and also knew Schumacher was a .
Oh come on,there isn't a single racing driver who wouldn't have tried a pass at that point, it's instinct,see an opportunity,go for it..bergclimber34 said:
Very much a highlight reel rather than a dicu for me, and really just about him and the way he dealt with Dad going and the like, not enough detail really.
Some great stuff in there, especially the Mansell stuff like why the hell is he here, and echoes the Prost docu in that in that era Frank and Patrick were pretty hard nosed about drivers, to their detriment eventually
Not sure Frentzen was hired at the end of 95 due to BMW.
But the better stuff is the clear strength Georgie gave him, a man in a lesser relationship would perhaps have crumbled more, but that 95 season was enough to really put anyone off him
This for me. I was left me a little disappointed, as his book (Watching the Wheels) gave that detail. But guess with a documentary you need to end with something punchy.Some great stuff in there, especially the Mansell stuff like why the hell is he here, and echoes the Prost docu in that in that era Frank and Patrick were pretty hard nosed about drivers, to their detriment eventually
Not sure Frentzen was hired at the end of 95 due to BMW.
But the better stuff is the clear strength Georgie gave him, a man in a lesser relationship would perhaps have crumbled more, but that 95 season was enough to really put anyone off him
Honestly I didn't have high hopes of this as I was already familiar with Hill's book. What was insightful and revealing was Damon's personality during that time.
I remember him being the plucky underdog in '93, having to be thrust into the limelight in '94 and being on edge in '95, but I never got the sense that he was uncomfortable being in the limelight. I did have Eurosport at the time with wall-to-wall coverage of F1 but I was also a teen and perhaps missed those things?
The abrupt ending on clinching the WDC jarred with me because the story is incomplete (the motions of retiring is just as interesting in the Hill story IMHO). But it has only just occurred to me the film is called Hill for a reason. Not just by name but by winning the WDC he endeavoured to reach the top.
I remember him being the plucky underdog in '93, having to be thrust into the limelight in '94 and being on edge in '95, but I never got the sense that he was uncomfortable being in the limelight. I did have Eurosport at the time with wall-to-wall coverage of F1 but I was also a teen and perhaps missed those things?
The abrupt ending on clinching the WDC jarred with me because the story is incomplete (the motions of retiring is just as interesting in the Hill story IMHO). But it has only just occurred to me the film is called Hill for a reason. Not just by name but by winning the WDC he endeavoured to reach the top.
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