Damon Hill's tragic admission to Papa's death, net assets, private Michael Schumacher chat

Damon Hill's crash with Michael Schumacher at the 1994 Australian Grand Prix will be one of the greatest controversy in Formula 1 history

Thanks to his 1996 championship victory, Damon Hill will always be remembered as the legend of Formula 1.

The 64-year-old drove for Williams almost three decades ago when he successfully dethroned Benetton's Michael Schumacher thanks to a remarkable season in which he had won in eight races and two second placements. However, Hill actually claimed his first title two years ago if it hadn't been one of the most scandalous events in sport, to which Schumacher belongs.

Hill was the German with just one point in the Australian Grand. While Hill's teammate and colleague of Brit Nigel Mansell qualified in pole position for the race, he lost his lead against Schumacher on the first corner. Hill quickly closed in second place, and the positions remained the same up to round 36.

At that time, Schumacher lost control of the corner of East Terrace and briefly overflared the wall before returning to the route. Hill confiscated the slip as an opportunity to try to overtake Schumacher on the next corner from the inside, but Schumacher refused to give in.

As a result, Hill's left tires rammed in Schumacher's car and sent the German spiral to the barriers on two wheels. When Hill returned to the pit, the mechanics discovered that the suspension of his William FW14B was too badly damaged to continue.

With both men from the race, Schumacher stayed on points in the driver's championship in front of Hill and increased his first world championship title. A few years later, Hill got his revenge and ran away from Schumacher and Jacques Villeneuve with the title. In recent times, as part of Sky Sports's reporting, he was a familiar face for F1 fans, although he had resigned from the canal last year.

Before the monaco Grand Prix, we look at some of the most important and most remarkable incidents in Hill's life.

Damon Hill's answer to Michael Schumacher

When asked whether he had ever confronted Schumacher with the incident in 1994, Hill recently told the high -performance podcast: “I did it the next day. He had breakfast and went to him. I said:” Well done, world champion. “

“And he looked at me quite embarrassed and said, but I never spoke to him afterwards. We had our moments the following year '95, it was an absolute disaster. I was basically excited a few times and we had more violations, but yes, I didn't get too good in 95.”

And while Hill always insisted that he didn't have a bad blood with Schumacher, it was a completely different story than the two were erected on the net. Previously, he said to German outlet: “Michael and I actually got on well, but we hated each other on the track.

“It was and is not possible to be a different way if you wanted to become Formula -1 world champion. There was no room for subtleties. You have to take advantage of every weakness of your opponent and settle it down with it.”

He added: “Michael was a master of psychological games. He felt the feeling of being useless and undeserved. And he also told the press. Because he won many races at the time, there was no reason not to believe him.”

Damon Hill inspired by his father to race

Elsewhere in his conversation with High Performance, Hill spoke about the death of his father Graham Hill when he was only 15 years old. A legendary driver who nicknames' Mr. Monaco ', Graham, reached World Championships in 1962 and 1968 before he died tragically in November 1975 at the age of 46 when his Piper Pa-23 Aztec Light Aircraft plunged near Arkley while approaching Eltree Airfield in thick fog.

Shortly after his father's death, Hill started sowing and the rest is history. According to Herald Scotland, Hill said: “What was the purpose of me running?

“Perhaps I tried to correct some of the wrong of the past – that was one aspect of what was going on, but I don't think it was the whole. You can't completely create motivation – it is either in you or it is not.”

In conversation with high performance, Hill added: “I was very proud of my father and never had to find out whether he agreed that I had become a racing driver. He said when I was younger, he was asked by an interviewer:” Do you want your son to become a racing driver? “

“And he said: 'Well, I think he is too intelligent to become a racing driver, but he was clearly wrong. In those days it was very dangerous, so I can understand if he didn't want me to be a racing driver. But yes, definitely very proud – a little moment of thinking. The meaning of it.

“Sad that he was not there to see that it happened, my mother was there. But I think we all felt very much that he was present in any way.”

Damon Hills fortune

Thanks to an incredible F1 career, Hill managed to achieve an estimated assets of around 22 million pounds according to Celebrity -Net Worth. During his racing career, Hill earned a considerable amount of prize money, which was supplemented by lucrative sponsoring deals -but these may like the sums that were awarded for modern F1 stars.

After Hill had withdrawn from the race after the 1999 season, he accepted the term as President of the British Racing Drivers' Club and has worked in Punditry for Sky Sports since then.