Damon Hill’s tenure in Formula 1 was riddled with controversial and often tragic moments that happened around him.
The son of three-time world champion Graham Hill, he remains only one of two other drivers to achieve the father-son feat of winning a world championship, the others being Keke and Nico Rosberg.
Hill’s career was kickstarted when he joined Williams in 1993, winning his first race at the Hungarian Grand Prix, before challenging for his first title with the team in 1994.
Despite the controversial 1994 season-ending from Benetton and Michael Schumacher, in which the German caused a collision and took out his rival, Hill said there was no ‘appetite’ to appeal the result within Williams after the death of Ayrton Senna earlier in the season.
He would do another two seasons at Williams, winning the world championship in 1996, before moving to Arrows and then finally Jordan for two years in 1998. Hill retired from F1 at 39-years-old, and outlined one thing that he does not think would happen in modern F1 anymore when speaking to the Daily Mail.
Damon Hill thinks no F1 driver would make a debut at 30 years old again
Hill was one of F1’s late bloomers having made his race debut in 1992 at the age of 32 years old with the Brabham team.
Lewis Hamilton is making his Ferrari debut at 40 years old in 2025, while Fernando Alonso is still going strong at 43 years old driving for Aston Martin.
A driver making their race debut over the age of 30 years old is almost unprecedented in the world of modern F1, and it’s something that Hill thinks would likely never happen again.
“I started my Formula 1 career in my thirties. It’s bonkers. It won’t happen again. No one is going to sign a guy for Formula 1 in their thirties now,” said Hill.
Lewis Hamilton trying to achieve something with Ferrari not done since 1960s
Hamilton’s arrival at Ferrari has been one of the main storylines of the 2025 season, as he embeds himself within one of the most iconic and successful teams in F1 history.
The Briton has so far embraced the culture around Ferrari, which is effectively Italy’s national team and one of the few that is based completely outside of the UK.
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If the team produces a car capable of winning the world title, Hamilton will become the first driver since Jack Brabham in 1966 to win a world championship at the age of 40 years old.
It would be an impressive feat and surely cement him among Juan Manuel Fangio as being the best there has ever been, given he would have won with three different teams in the process.
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