F1 Explains: racing in the 1990s, snitching on Schumacher + unusual F1 records - with Damon Hill

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1:36Hello 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 Hugill 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 stood 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.

2:11There 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 stood 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.

3:01F1 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. 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. F1 Explains 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.

3:47Hello 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.

4:40So you won't do for now. And he'll come, don't wait, your 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.

5:03Toby, Lindsay, in the words of British legend Cilla 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. 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 traveled from Boston, landed in Heathrow. You've traveled 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?

5:44I'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. Tottenham. Tottenham. Woo! Oh, they're territorial. They're Arsenal fans. I'd say 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. It's been depressing. We should talk about Formula One at some stage. Who are your favourite teams and drivers?

6:20So Lando's my favourite driver. McLaren is my favourite team. Hang on, hang on, hang on. Sorry. That was a mention for Lando Norris. He's popular in these parts. He is. 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. Yeah. I'm hoping for an F1 Explained stand. Yeah. I sit there. Discussions are ongoing. You wouldn't sit there. I would. You wouldn't sit. You'd sit in the Lando stand. We'll get you talking to Damon Hill in a minute. Thank you. If he ever arrives. Hello, Toby. Hello, hello. Where are you from? I'm a bit more local.

6:55I'm from Manchester. Manchester! 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 you're 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 Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton, always. Charles got a big cheer here. We're recording this podcast on qualifying... Guys,

7:39everything 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 antisocial behaviour problem. I think it's part of chase and 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 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 warm, my speed.

8:15You can tell we were at the British Grand Prix, go, 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. It's Damon Hill. It'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 1.

8:57You 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 tenth 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 a hundred thousandths of a second. Yes, sure. There's a hundred thousandths. But everyone counts. But what about the crowd collectively? The collective power of everyone.

9:31The collective thing, 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'm out of general. Yeah, to be honest. But Nigel did exaggerate. He was prone to slight exaggeration. But I honestly think it does give you a lift because you feel very, very positive. You know, your state of mind is an important thing. And if you come to the race and you see everyone, and I used to come in and there'd be flags and there'd be people in the campsites and they got my name up.

10:05You 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 you go. So 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.

10:40I tell you what, let's go... As long as it's not maths, all right? I'm useless at maths.

10:48somebody's just interrupted the show to say i have a t-shirt with your face on damon well done what an accolade yeah there you go you didn't wear it today though did you it's too hot right yeah no it's just too hot anyway moving swiftly on um let's go to toby first toby would you like to put your question to mr damon hill i'm not really i'm not kidding 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 Verstappen, Antonelli, they all made their debut win. 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?

11:21And what do you think is the advantages? Well, for me, I think I would have won about four more world championships. In my 20s, I think. So I was 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. We just remember. I should wait a little bit. But I mean, honestly, if I was in F1 when I was 19, I didn't learn to talk until I was 20. so honestly I wouldn't I would have been useless honestly I've honestly I was I just walked around I was still at school I think you know and I I just 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 they're everything they're almost a complete driver aged Kimmy's just he 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?

12:14Look, you know, 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? But, you know, it's difficult to get backing if you're an older guy because your earning potential is shorter. So people go, we're not getting many years out of him. You know, he's... And so there is an element of, you know, 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. So, I mean, look at Max now. When he started, he's been at it over 10 years now.

12:51And he was... So they've had those 10 years already, and he's still got another 10 years of delivering, at least. Well, Kimi made his Formula One debut when 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, no. None of us will. Get out of us all. 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.

13:2830 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. 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.

14:06and the input that the drivers get during a race, that was never the case with me. 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 was a few pit boards that went out, which you ignored for most of the race because you were still out there until we didn't... 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 car was 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.

14:46And 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 the steering wheel. We all like hearing the team radio, don't we? 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 lucky to be alive. That's the worst thing that's ever happened to me. Get him 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 he's done that?

15:22Well, 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, 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.

16:02And then he got a black flag for ignoring the black flag. And then he basically, the whole thing. Michael, stop. But the upshot was, I won. Yay!

16:12What's the moral there? Snitching always pays, I think. You know, it's the equivalent of falling down in the penalty box, isn't it, really? Yeah, it is. And you're 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 regrets. 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? There we go! The 94ers.

16:49Back to school starts now. Get long-lasting battery life on the Dell XPS laptop powered by Series 3 Intel Core so you can work from anywhere. Now starting at$699 with exclusive student pricing starting at$599. And it's lightweight, portable and packed with enough processing power to make multitasking a breeze. So say goodbye to distractions and hello to more free time because you've finished your work faster. Complete your setup with savings on select monitors and more must-have electronics and accessories. limited-time deals, and free shipping on PCs and more await you at dell.com forward slash deals.

17:34That's dell.com slash deals.

17:41Cadillac has entered Formula One, deepening the racing pedigree behind every V-Series on the road. Discover a lineup that delivers pure adrenaline in the form of modern luxury. Experience the quickest Cadillac ever, the all-electric Lyric V, the peak performance of the CT5V Blackwing, the nimble agility of the Optic V, and the legendary roar of the Escalade V. All engineered to thrill. Find out more about Cadillac's performance story in Formula 1 and our race-tested V-Series line-up at Cadillac.com.

18:22this 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 sunoda buzzing for a bit of yuki sunoda 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.

19:04So 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. F1explains 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 a Saturday morning.

19:49There 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. Yes, so this stage thing happened actually in 94 where Eddie Jordan invited a load 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 it that that moment on was it started to build and build and then the the stage side of things has grown massively as you can tell i mean look at this thing and uh so it's become an all-encompassing event you know it's not just the cars going around on a sunday it is everything you've got blimmin ferris wheels and all sorts so yeah i mean you are 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 you didn't look uneducated.

20:48And one of the more interesting things I found out about you was that you and Jodie Schechter 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 to 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, winning constructor. And so they basically decided, you can't give me the number one because I'm not the...

21:24And they can't give the guy who's just coming into the team number one because there's no world champions. 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's 44. You didn't choose your own numbers. You were given them based on championship board. Yeah, that's right. So, yeah, I think the numbers were, I think they were constructed. They were, the constructed championship. So that got, 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?

21:54Would I add a number? Well, anything, really. You 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 that was, yeah. I mean, yeah, I was delighted for Nico to do it as well, but he did it after me. Yes. 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, but that was because they didn't do the order, the number order, so there wasn't a zero after that.

22:29There 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. Or it's nothing. It's zero a number. You know, some of the things we explain here on it. We get too profound if we're not careful. Lindsay, take us away from this niche rabbit hole we've gone down. Ask a vaguely Formula One-related question. We're drifting off. We're going off. Yeah, we've gone way off topic. I told you not to do maths. It can happen. Didn't I? You did. Okay, Damon. So you are an official ambassador for Williams.

22:58And you and Jacques 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 you know they've got incredible pace and they got the knowledge and all that stuff and and we need to find a way to give them a more competitive car at Williams and it's not so easy that the The way that the team works has been set in its ways for quite a while.

23:37And 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 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 it's an enormous task really to win in Formula 1 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 are struggling at the moment we hope they'll turn that around long term it sounds very obvious to say but it sums up how difficult it is to get to the top of this sport Yeah, it's no good.