Damon's challenge to Lewis

By Damon Hill

30th June 2008

Silverstone expects, but can Lewis Hamilton deliver? With the British Grand Prix days away, that’s the question on the lips of thousands of Formula One fans. So who better to ask than Damon Hill – Britain’s last world champion and the man the 23-year-old McLaren star is trying to emulate?

“There’s so much support for Lewis and admiration for what he’s done so far. Everyone wants the opportunity to be at Silverstone to celebrate what would be a very emotional victory,” says Damon.

“He is energising people’s excitement. We all want someone to get behind, someone we think has a real chance of victory, and Lewis clearly has.”

Without wanting to raise home hopes too high, Hill clearly believes Hamilton could be on the way to ticking off another important career landmark on Sunday. This season, Lewis has already won the prized Monaco Grand Prix, and a maiden Silverstone success would be another significant step towards true greatness.

“He’s collecting all the good cards you have to have in your hand, and the British Grand Prix would be another important milestone,” continues the 1996 champ. “It should be a great race, but the result is very difficult to call.

“Ferrari seems to be stronger on fast tracks like Silverstone, although McLaren has recovered a bit and BMW is also increasingly impressive.”

Established
Win or lose on Sunday, Damon believes Lewis is most likely to become Britain’s next F1 world champ. “He’s at the front of the queue – and that’s no disrespect to Jenson Button,” he says. “Jenson’s Honda team is working its way back up, and it’s hard to see it competing for wins this year or being a title contender in 2009.

“But Lewis has come in at the sharp end of F1 and established himself there. It’s difficult to believe that last year was his first-ever British Grand Prix; we didn’t know what to expect, and he went on to come so close to the title.”

Twelve months ago, Hamilton starred in qualifying by grabbing a sensational last-gasp pole position. However, on race day, he didn’t have the pace to match Kimi Raikkonen’s victorious Ferrari, or the McLaren of his controversial team-mate Fernando Alonso.

Nigel Mansell always claimed that the home crowd fired him up to drive even faster. Despite winning himself
at Silverstone in 1994, Damon doesn’t believe ‘people power’ will give Lewis a major advantage. Nor does he think that Hamilton will crack under the extra expectation experienced when racing in front of his own fans.

“It’s perhaps difficult to understand the pressure the drivers put themselves under to win every race,” he explains. “You can’t really increase that pressure as they are already on the limit.

“Emotionally, though, there’s a factor if you’re racing in front of your home crowd. You want to give the people who have turned up a fantastic day. You just can’t avoid that element when you’re competing in a home grand prix.”

As well as being this country’s most recent world champion, Damon is the President of the British Racing Drivers’ Club – the owner of Silverstone. In this role, he’s involved in negotiations with F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone to secure the British GP’s place on the calendar.

Although Silverstone has now been granted planning permission for a new pits complex demanded by Ecclestone, the race’s future remains in the balance. Bernie has rival offers from countries wanting to host races and, often backed by government funding, they are willing to pay more. The BRDC gets no financial support from the UK Government, and has to fund the race through ticket sales and sponsorship deals.

That’s not a viable option because Ecclestone is reported to be demanding an annual fee in excess of £11million – nearly twice the current figure.

And there’s another dark cloud on the horizon. In the past, Silverstone was one of four ‘historic’ events guaranteed to hold a GP by the F1 teams. But they failed to secure a new agreement, and so that safeguard no longer exists.

“You can’t assume that just because there’s always been a British GP there will always be one,” admits Hill. “We live in a competitive world, although we are doing everything we can to ensure Silverstone remains a grand prix venue.

“We are still in there and fighting, but the big problem is whether or not a race is subsidised by the government. The competition is a little bit unfair as most of Silverstone’s rivals get substantial backing. In this country, it’s difficult for the people in power to be seen to be subsidising what is a very wealthy sport.

“It doesn’t help the cause when participants in the championship are fined 0million!” he remarks, referring to the penalty imposed by governing body the FIA on McLaren last year.

Should Silverstone fail to secure the race’s future, Lewis Hamilton may only get a couple more chances to savour success on home soil – a feat that he says would be a career highlight.

“To win would be an incredible feeling – different even to Monaco,” Hamilton admits. “You’re in your home country and you have your home crowd there supporting you with all those Union Jack flags. You’re really proud, and it’s definitely the one you work hardest for.

“This year, I’m in a much stronger position than I was last season, so I’m quite relaxed. But it’s going to be tough.”

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