Damon Hill - Williams Renault FW18
10th March 1996 - Melbourne GP, Australia
PRACTICE
The Championship started in Australia, on a brand new circuit that substitutes
Adelaide, that was the GP site until last year. During Friday's practice
session, Damon got the best time, leaving one second behind all the other
drivers, except for his teammate. In the official practice, Damon took the
first line but in second position; the Pole Position went to Jacques Villeneuve.
RACE
At departure, Damon was overtaken by Irvine & Schumacher, finding himself
in fourth position; but during the first lap Martin Brundle (Jordan) went
out at 'bend 3' because of an accident and his car broke up in two pieces
against the barrier. Driver unhurt and new start.
At the second departure, Hill started in a good way and was in second place
behind Villeneuve; Damon stayed in this position till the 54th lap, when
Jacques had to slow down for mechanical trouble. The last few laps were
a cinch and Damon won the first race of the season.
- Practice: 2nd position (1.32.509)
- Race: Victory (58 laps in 1.32'50"491)
31st March 1996 - Interlagos GP , Brasil
PRACTICE
Damon dominated both practice days. Friday he made the best time, and Saturday
got Pole Position, the12th of his career, leaving behind all the opponents
by 9 tenths.
RACE
The race was wet, but Damon started from Pole Position and went away from
all the others.
Further on in the GP, the rain stopped, and Hill went into the pits at the
41st lap mounting the slick tires, a strategy that turned out a winner.
So, at the end of the 71st lap, Damon Hill won, dominating the Brasilian
Grand Prix with Pole Position, Fastest Lap and Victory.
- Practice: Pole Position (1.18.111)
- Race: Victory (71 laps in 1.49'52"976) - Fastest Lap (65th) in 1.21.547
7th April 1996 - Argentina GP
PRACTICE
Happy for his wonderful start to the Championship, Damon achieved Pole Position
in Argentina, also making the best time on Friday. It was the 13th Pole
Positon of the English Champion, who equalled his father in this special
standing.
RACE
Damon Hill was in good shape, and at the start ran away, followed for a
while only by Schumacher, but with a different pitstop-strategy. With the
pit-stops at the 24th and 51st lap, and with the second best lape in the
race, Damon won also the Argentina GP.
- Practice: Pole Position (1.30.346)
- Race: Victory (72 laps in 1.54'55"322)
28th April 1996 - Nurburgring GP , Europe
PRACTICE
Only a few words: Damon was the first on Friday and on Saturday, conquering
Pole Position, his third of this season.
RACE
It wasn't a good race for Hill, also because of the odd behaviour of his
Williams, with some handling problems. At the start, the tyres of the car
no. 5 skidded a lot, and Damon was overtaken by four opponents, that were
to make life very hard for him. After overtaking a few times, Damon stopped
at the 23rd lap for refueling, and to check the car. After two laps, trying
to overtake Diniz (Ligier), Hill hit the Brazilian's car, luckily without
any consequences. After his second pitstop at the 43rd lap, Damon ended
the race only in fourth position, running however the fastest lap.
- Practice: Pole Position (1.18.941)
- Race: 4th position - Fastest Lap (55th) in 1.21.363
5th May 1996 - San Marino GP
PRACTICE
After his bad last race everyone's eyes are on Damon Hill, who won the second
position in the row, behind Schumacher, also because on the official practice
day the English driver admitted to have made a mistake with the set-up of
his Williams.
RACE
Green light, and Hill overtook the pole-man Schumacher, but both were overtaken
by Coulthard, who started with a different race stragegy, that led the race
till the first pit-stop. Now Damon went into first position and, by running
a series of fast laps, was able to make his pit-stop at the 30th lap, remaining
the leader of the GP thanks to the advantage gained. The second pit-stop
was at the 50th lap; in the previous lap Hill also ran the fastest lap.
So, at the 63rd lap he could pass under the checkered flag winning the San
Marino Gran Prix, as he did last year.
- Practice: 2nd position (1.27.105)
- Race: Victory (63 laps in 1.35'26"156) - Fastest Lap (49th) in 1.28.931
19th May 1996 - Montecarlo GP, Monaco
PRACTICE
The Monaco GP seems bewitched for the Hill family, in fact Graham never
won here and Damon not yet.... Friday Damon made the best time, performance
not repeated Saturday, when could "only" take second position
again behind Schumacher. But nothing is compromised for the race.
RACE
Contrary to expectations, the race was wet. Williams no. 5 overtook the
Ferrari and went into the lead; the race went on perfectly, so much that
after 8 laps Damon's advantage over the others was of 14th seconds. But
evidently it was not yet the moment to win this Grand Prix: on the 41st
lap, when he was leading without any problem, Hill's engine exploded at
the exit of the tunnel. Nothing to do...
- Race: 2nd position (1.20.866)
- RACE: dnf (retired 41st lap - engine)
2nd June 1996 - Catalunya GP, Spain
PRACTICE
Fourth Pole Position for Damon, the fifteenth of his career. After the best
time on Friday, Hill on Saturday was the only one to go under 1.21, and
conquer the first position, after a good fight with his teammate Villeneuve.
RACE
All of us have had a bad day, and this was surely one of those for Damon:
after he made a mistake at the start letting the tyres skid too much Villeneuve
overtook him, and went on with the race, Hill made three tailspins, the
last of which forced him to retire.
- Practice: Pole Position (1.20.650)
- Race: dnf (retired 10th lap - accident)
16th June 1996 - Montreal GP, Canada
PRACTICE
Difficult practice sessions at the home of Damon's teammate: both Villeneuve
and Schumacher were battling with Hill for Pole Position and first row;
in the last few minutes of the official hour, Damon was in third position
behind the Williams no.6 and the Ferrari of the German. But driving in the
sharp, clean way as Damon does, he mocked his two opponents and conquered
his fifth Pole Position of the season.
RACE
Atfer two GPs that went very badly, Damon was going to win and it showed:
he sprinted very well, leaving all behind him, leaving the lead only at
the 28th lap when he made his pit-stop, he went back into the lead however
at the following lap. From then on, Damon stayed in the first position till
the end of the race, winning.
- Practice: Pole Position (1.21.059)
- Race: Victory (69 laps in 1.36'03"465)
30th June 1996 - Magny-Cours GP, France
PRACTICE
Although this is the GP home of Renault, Damon wasn't able to conquer the
first position; even with the new step of the French engine, the RS8-b version,
he qualified in second position, at a breath from Schumacher.
RACE
Different story from practice: during the recognition lap, the engine of
the Pole-man Schumacher exploded, and Damon started off, keeping first position.
He stayed there till the first pit-stop at 27th lap. Refueling was very
fast, and Hill started in second position behind Villenenuve, who stopped
at the pits two laps later. Damon went back into the lead, he remained first
even with his second stop at the 53rd lap, concluding and winning the French
GP, his sixth season's victory.
- Practice: 2nd position (1.16.058)
- Race: Victory (72nd laps in 1.36'28"795)
14 July 1996 - Silverstone GP, Great Britain
PRACTICE
Home air for Damon. In the free practice, after a few laps he took the second
best time, 1.28".241, behind his team mate Villeneuve. But, you know,
the official day is Saturday and in the practice hour Hill gained pole position
with 1'26"875, his seventeenth. To report that during the morning practice
the Williams FW18 of Damon had some brake trouble.
RACE
Damon started from pole position, and let four opponents overtake him; in
this position he carried on with the race paying attention not to lose contact
with the leaders. This was because his tactic for the race was to make only
one pit stop, on the contrary to most of the others. But it wasn't a good
day: at the 26th lap, in the first bend after the start line Williams no.5
went out into the sand, because an axle-shaft bearing broke. At the moment
of retiring, Damon was in third position, with the third best lap in the
race, 1'30"264.
- Practice: Pole Position (1.26.875)
- Race: dnf (retired 26th lap - axle-shaft bearing)
28th July 1996 - Grand Prix of Hockenheim, Germany
PRACTICE
A few words about Friday, when Damon got the eighth position. Totally different
Saturday: the fight for pole position was exciting, and a lot of drivers
tried to run the fastest lap, till Schumacher's turn, that seemed it was
going to remain the fastest of all until the end. But Hill, after one lap
would already have taken pole position if he hadn't let the car go too wide
in the last curve, a few seconds before the end the Champion struck out:
Pole Position, leaving the Ferrari driver half a second behind.
RACE
Starting from Pole position, Damon was in third position after the green
light behind the two Benettons ("I let the engine go too low")
and, after few attacks on Alesi, stayed in this position until his first
pit-stop, at the 19th lap. After everyone else's pit-stops, Damon was then
in first position, with three seconds on Berger. But the two Benettons had
planned a different strategy: only one pit-stop, while Hill needed another
one stop before the end of the GP. In fact, Damon ran on and made a lot
of fast laps, leaving Berger and Alesi one second and a half behind after
each lap. At the 34th lap, after the second pit stop, the Williams n. 5
was in second position, 2 seconds behind Berger. After only one lap, Damon
had taken Berger and the battle for the fisrt position started, with his
end at three laps to the end of the GP when the engine of the Benetton exploded.
In the same lap, a few seconds earlier, Damon had let Berger go a little,
thinking that something was going to happen ("at the end of the first
chicane, after two or three attempts at overtaking Gerhard, I heard a very
strange noise: I saw the Benetton slow down, I understood that he'd got
some trouble and, to avoid possible oil spots, I changed trajectory").
At this point, Damon could pass on the finish line gaining his 20th victory,
the seventh of 1996, and made again, for the fifth time in his career, the
en plein with Pole Position, Fastest lap and Victory.
- Practice: Pole Position (1.43.912)
- Race: Victory (45 laps in 1.21'43"417) - Fastest Lap (26th) in 1'46"504
11th August 1996 - Grand Prix of Hungaroring, Hungary
PRACTICE
Damon Hill won the first F.1 race of his career here, in 1993, and also
last year he ran a wonderful race dominating the Grand Prix from start to
finish. In fact, Damon says that he feels at home on this circuit.
During Friday Damon reached first position, but in the official hour of
Saturday he qualified in second position behind Ferrari's driver Schumacher,
also because in his fastest lap Hill had encountered a couple of the slowest
cars.
RACE
Due to the circuit, that is barely used during the year, the track off trajectories
where the Formula one cars pass is very dirty and sandy; starting from second
position, Damon was right on the dirty side of the track. At the green light
Hill started well enough, but with the poor grip he couldn't oppose Villeneuve
and Alesi that overtook him. Now Damon was in fourth position, and here
remained 'til his opponents' pit-stops. After the stops of the fisrt three,
Damon was in first position and it seemed he was opting for two pit-stops,
againts the three of almost all the other drivers. After his first stop,
the Englishman was in fourth position behind Alesi, who he overtook after
a few laps on the first corner after the start. After that, his objective
was Schumacher, and in spite of his 15 second advantage Damon regained all
the seconds and came just behind the car of the German, that stopped in
the pits. A few laps more, and the Williams no. 5 made another pit-stop,
revealing that his strategy was the same as the others. After the last stop
of his team-mate, Damon was leading the race, running as fast as he could,
with 15 second advantage over Villeneuve. After his last pit-stop, Damon
was second, 7 seconds behind Villeneuve. With a few laps to the end, Damon
regained all the seconds over the Williams no. 6, but unluckilly, he couldn't
overtake the Canadian. Damon arrived second, achieving the fastest lap of
the race.
- Practice: 2nd position (1.17.182)
- Race: 2nd position - Fastest Lap (67th) in 1'20"093
25th August 1996 - Grand Prix of Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium
PRACTICE
During Friday, Damon was thinking only of setting up his Williams, andhe
signed the seventh time of the unofficial practice, with 1.55.281. On Saturday
instead the battle started from the beginning of the hour, due to the incoming
rain. After two exits from the pits, Hill conqered the temporary Pole Position,
with what was to remain his fastest lap; after a few minutes his team-mate
gained the fastest lap, and before Damon could answer, with still twenty
minutes to the end of the official practice, it started to rain. End of
practice, and second position.
RACE
The circuit is very long and complex, and race strategy is very important.
Damon' strategy was to make only one pit stop, so he started with his car
being heavier than Villeneuve's. Hill was on the wet side of the track (due
to the rain that fell during the morning), and was overtaken by Schumacher,
and after a few moments also by Coulthard. Going on with the race, Damon
stayed in fourth position (his race strategy had planned that), realizing
however that his Williams wasn't perfectly balanced ("after this morning's
tailspin during the warmup, I preferred to start with the T-Car, that wasn't
perfectle balanced and with some understeering trouble"). But at the
11th lap Arrows-TWR driver Jos Verstappen went out, causing the exit of
the Safety car. All the drivers that had opted for the two pit-stops made
their first during the slowest laps, and all the advantage of the only one
pit-stop strategy came to nothing. Due to that, Damon was forced to stop,
and when the race restarted, he was in 12th position. Running and overtaking
Hill regained the fifth position, before his last pit-stop at the 34th lap.
And it was in fifth position Damon ended the race, after a battle with Berger,
who followed him in sixth position. An unlucky race, but the two points
gained allow Damon Hill to lose little of his advantage over Villeneuve
("...and without going on in the calculation for the Championship,
I'm happy to have won two points").
- Practice: 2nd position (1.50.980)
- Race: 5th position
08th September 1996 - Grand Prix of Monza, Italy
PRACTICE
Damon has a great feeling with this track, where he had already won in '93
and '94, 'cause it's a fast and binding circuit, but at the same time it's
amusing for drivers. During Friday Hill hadn't thought of times, but prepared
the setup of his Williams for the official practice and race; he made the
seventh fastest lap. The official hour was very tough; the wind was strong
and had blown leaves and dust onto the track. Due to this, in the first
twenty minutes no one came out of the pits. So, all the drivers that were
looking for Pole position entered the track at almost the same time; Damon
also entered the track and after few a laps made a lap that stopped the
chronometers at 1.24.204, that was to allow him to start the Race in first
position.
RACE
Damon knew that if he finished the race in a good position, the Championship
could be nearer, if not already won today. He made a good start, and was
immediately fighting with his team-mate, until the first chicane where both
of them arrived together, where Hill closed Villeneuve on the outside, who
was forced to take it wide and had to leave the track and skip the chicane.
During that battle, Alesi took the lead but Damon after a few hundred metres
overtook him, and left him behind with a great fighting spirit again when
the Frenchman tried to overtake him at the Ascari Chicane. Now Damon was
first, and continued to increase his lead. But at the fifth lap Hill made
a mistake, and in trying to cut the first chicane had hit a pile of tyres
inside the curve, damaging his car. Also a lot of bad luck in that, in fact
most of the other drivers made the same mistake, but with no great damage.
However, nothing changed for the Championship: opponent Villeneuve was classified
seventh, and took no points. And now only two races until the end of the
Season.
- Practice: Pole Position (1.24.204)
- RACE: dnf (retired 5th lap - accident)
22nd September 1996 - Grand Prix of Estoril, Portugal
PRACTICE
After Friday's unofficial hour, when the drivers were only thinking of setting
up their cars correctly, Saturday started with a rain-warning, that convinced
everyone to go onto the track in the very first minutes to mark up at least
one competitive lap. After the first lap Damon was already in Pole Position,
and since there was no sign of rain, he made another lap improving his time
even more, gaining first position for the race.
RACE
Damon started well, and led the race, where he remained till his first pit-stop,
on the 16th lap, and he was back in first position again after his 2nd pit-stop
on the 34th lap. On the 49th Damon had to make his third stop, entering
the pits when his team-mate was really near behind him at two seconds. But
after the Canadian's pit-stop, Damon saw his Williams' team-mate coming
out of the pits in front of him. It could have been the start of a great
fight, but the Williams no.5 had some clutch trouble, and so Damon had to
let Villeneuve go, thinking getting 6 points from a second position. After
the end of the race we then found out that the trouble could have been much
worse, so much that Bernard Dudot (Renault) said he was surprised that Damon
managed to finish the race with his gearbox in pieces.
- Practice: Pole Position (1.20.330)
- RACE: 2nd Position
13rd October 1996 - Grand Prix of Suzuka, Japan
Damon on the Suzuka podium.
| Grand Prix: | 67 |
|---|---|
| Victories: | 21 |
| Pole Position: | 20 |
| Fastest Laps: | 19 |
| Total Points: | 326 |
Updated at 13/10/96
| Points | Driver | Points | Constructor | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 97 | Damon Hill - 1996 CHAMPION | 175 | Williams-Renault - 1996 CHAMPION | ||
| 78 | Jacques Villeneuve | 70 | Ferrari | ||
| 59 | Michael Schumacher | 68 | Benetton-Renault | ||
| 47 | Jean Alesi | 49 | Mclaren-Mercedes | ||
| 31 | Mika Hakkinen | 22 | Jordan-Peugeot | ||
| 21 | Gerhard Berger | 15 | Ligier-Mugen | ||
| 18 | David Coulthard | 11 | Sauber-Ford | ||
| 14 | Rubens Barrichello | 5 | Tyrrell-Yamaha | ||
| 13 | Olivier Panis | 1 | Arrows/TWR-Hart V8 | ||
| 11 | Eddie Irvine | ||||
| 8 | Martin Brundle | ||||
| 7 | H. H. Frentzen | ||||
| 5 | Mika Salo | ||||
| 4 | Johnny Herbert | ||||
| 2 | Pedro P. Diniz | ||||
| 1 | J. Verstappen |
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