Hamilton ‘nowhere near his best’
DAMON Hill knows a thing or two about the frustration of waiting. A relatively late bloomer in motor racing, Hill got his first chance at winning a world championship aged 34, just more than 20 years ago. He was denied by, what many have since deemed a deliberate move, Michael Schumacher to ensure neither driver finished the Australian Grand Prix.
In 1996, years of toil came to fruition with his career-defining world championship.
“The trophy just doesn’t relinquish itself as easily as you want sometimes,” Hill says.
With the world at his feet with that first championship in 2008, Lewis Hamilton could not have imagined he would have to be as patient as Hill was. Through his own struggles, and those of McLaren, the team he left after 14 years at the end of 2012, Hamilton has been made to wait. Hill knows the feeling.
“I think every person’s experience is different. It seems like it’s the same job, but the trials and tests a driver is put through are all slightly different when you look at it. There’s always some hidden challenge there, and he’s had a good number of those.”
Always a staunch supporter of the 29-year-old, Hill believes the second championship many anticipate today is just the beginning.
“He’s already established himself as one of the best talents out of this country, and we’ve had an awful lot. He’s nowhere near maximising his full potential. It’s a little early saying where he’s going to fit in.
“Where you place him right now?
Damon Hill,right, a Formula One champion in 1996 and son of the late, great Graham Hill, tells that a second world title for Lewis Hamilton could just be the start of bigger things to come
In terms of this championship, that doesn’t represent how good he is. His speed, in a race, is undeniably top drawer. It will be a massive fillip to win a second title. It will be starting to underscore all of his much-held potential. It’s one thing to be regarded as a great driver, but you do need a stack of championships to really qualify.”
In many ways, Hill and Hamilton are like chalk and cheese, with contrasting backgrounds and different tastes. Hill, the son of Graham Hill, the two-time world champion in the 1960s, did not share the same stardom that the Stevenageborn Hamilton enjoys.
But both have experienced the same pressure, the same weight of expectation that comes with being the leading hope for the British public. In the midst of a ferocious title fight with Nico Rosberg, Hill has seen his younger compatriot ease into the role.
“I think he’s had a lot of tricky situations in his career to negotiate, and he took a bold decision to go to Mercedes and that’s turned out very well. That’s given him confidence,” the 54-year-old said.
“Throughout the year he has shown signs of maturing and taking responsibility and being able to make big decisions about his life, with the confidence that he can deal with it.
“That’s been more in evidence than ever before. You can only see that improving. It’s just been a difficult ride for Lewis. I think he’s taken time to settle into it, but he’s there now. It’s a big role.”
Hill has been particularly impressed with how Hamilton dealt with the most tumultuous periods of the Mercedes rivalry this year. He concedes that previously Hamilton might have allowed incidents such as when he and Rosberg collided in Belgium derail his charge. Not so this season.
“He seized the opportunity to gain the upper hand, to destabilise his competitor. He did that before in Hungary when he was asked if he could drop behind Nico, and he said ‘why?’ I think he’s absolutely right. A driver has got every right to say I’ve got a career too. I applaud that boldness.”
The only piece of the puzzle left, I put it to Hill, is for Hamilton to enjoy the same public appeal as he himself did as a twice-winner of Sports Personality. But Hill says Hamilton is not as popular as he could be, instead blaming the sport’s rulers and the impact of “sordid” affairs on public perception.
Bernie Ecclestone’s comments last week about social media and how F1 does not need younger fans are fresh in the mind.
“I wonder whether it’s more to do with the way the sport is perceived. Bernie said it — we don’t need young fans. Formula One is now starting to exist in some kind of off-world economy that isn’t affected by small countries like Great Britain.
“I think it’s made more difficult for drivers to appeal to the public. Lewis is massive — just look at the reception he received in the US. It’s there, I just think our sport has been through so many sordid [incidents]. There may be a bit of work to do in winning back confidence.”
While double points in Abu Dhabi threatens to add to the malaise, the spectacle of such a compelling championship duel should bring some much-needed cheer to the sport. For Hamilton and Nico Rosberg, these will be among the greatest days of their lives, says Hill.
“There’s just nowhere you would rather be,” he recalls. “I hope Lewis doesn’t go to the race reluctantly. Both drivers will be going with the most unbelievable sense of excitement and anticipation, because their lives can change. It’s a big day, it’s a big weekend.”— © The Daily Telegraph, London