Three's the Limit
During the interval between Monza and the Portuguese races, Damon shared restless nights with nerve-twitching days. Gnawing at his mind were two puzzles. The first he could answer himself, while the second, only time and the decisions of others could resolve. "It is an extraordinary situation for me. I have upset the script by doing so well as I have done. This was not in the story-line. It is conceivable that I would disobey team orders and I am trying to consider what is the best move. It is a bit of a chess championship position." "I am in a Catch-22 situation. If I take a pawn here in Estoril, I might lose the game. But the history of motor-racing seems to suggest that it is the most selfish drivers who are the most successful. In England, everybody has been saying to me, 'You can go on and win it now' and I really want to do it for them. I know I only have an outside chance, especially when you consider Alain's record, but my attitude has always been that if I have a chance, then go for it and take it." "My problem is that there are implications in that. There are a lot of considerations and some of them concern the team. I am thinking about my career, and I want to be in the best position next year, and hopefully with a more realistic chance of winning the Championship. When the season started, nobody expected I would do so well, so in a way I have achieved what I set out to do. But I do not want to rest on my laurels, especially in Portugal, where I carried out so many miles of testing for Williams last winter." His father's cavalier spirit was urging him to go for the title while a more responsible trait in his character was holding him back.
The problem of who would drive for Williams in 1994 was part solved on the first day of qualifying at Estoril. Senna announced that he and McLaren were to part after six years. An hour later, Alain Prost told the world's press that he intended to retire after the Australian Grand Prix in November. On the face of it, these two declarations could have been regarded as completely unrelated, but it was perfectly clear to those listening to Prost talk about 'wanting to go out at the top, and with a smile on my face', that Frank Williams had at last fulfilled what was almost an obsession, and signed Ayrton Senna. Prost said lots of nice things about the team - and Damon. "I've had one of my happiest years, maybe the happiest. The ambience has been very good. It is not often you are happy when your team-mate wins but it is like that here." It was always to be an impossibility that Senna and Prost would race in the same team again after their explosive two seasons together at McLaren. Whether Frank Williams decided to 'push' Prost out by signing Senna, or simply hope that Prost would remain with the Brazillian alongside is probably be answered by Frank's acknowledgement that 'I'd love to find a way to run both Alain and Ayrton, but I accept that you can't put two bulls in one field'. The way now seemed set for Hill to remain at Williams for another year, partnering yet another multi-World Champion. But there was still the 1993 championship to be decided and another three races to run.
Helped a little by a spin by Prost, Damon achieved only his second pole position for Portugal, nearly 2/10ths faster than his leader. On the second row, Senna had been beaten to third by his new team-mate, Mika Hakkinen, brought in to replace the struggling Michael Andretti who was returning to Indy cars. As the cars pulled off for their parade lap, car number zero was still surrounded by mechanics. As the last cars drew level, Damon rolled forward a car's length only to stop again. With the rest of the field half way round the circuit, Hill eventually stormed away leaving a trail of burnt rubber. Damon: "We had a problem actually getting the thing started and we were running out of time for the thing to get going. The starter device jumped out more than once. I couldn't really hear what was going on with all the cars going past and I stalled the engine so that compounded the problem and that ended any question of me taking up pole position, which was a bit of a shame." Usually a driver is able to hear the engine revving behind him, but as the other cars were passing by, the noise from them was so deafening that Damon was unable to hear his own engine when it did eventually start. This left Damon to start at the back of the grid in 26th place.
Alesi surged past the three cars ahead of him and went through the first corner in front, closely followed by Senna, Hakkinen and Prost. By the end of that lap, Hill had already made up seven places. On lap four he was up to fifteenth while by the seventh tour he was clocking the fastest lap at 1:18.8 (a second faster than the front runners) and had made up another four places to lie eleventh. The leader board at lap 14 showed Hill in seventh place some way behind Brundell and the slower moving bunch led and, quite legally, impeded by Alesi. Senna's engine failure on lap 19 presented Hill with another place and when the front cars began their tyre stops a lap later, Hill was running second on the road - 26th to 2nd in 20 laps. When the pit-stops were over Damon was back to fifth place but Hakkinen departed the race in spectacular fashion on lap 32, when he lost down force while running too close behind Alesi as they exited the last corner. Three laps later, Berger had a dramatic exit from the pits, narrowly missing Warwick's Footwork, when his Ferrari's active suspension reset unilaterally. Alesi pitting for more tyres on lap 45 left Hill in third place. Schumacher had overtaken Prost during the tyre stops and that was the order they finished. With another six points added to his total, Prost was now in an unassailable position.
After his ninth visit to the podium Damon formally relinquished his chase for the title. "I'd like to say that I've had a fantastic year and that now the Championship is over I'd like to congratulate Alain on a fantastic year and also to Michael for winning the race. But I've enjoyed being a contender in the Championship and now we can look forward to two races where there's nothing but the race to win. It should be very exciting racing from now on." The Japanese and Australian Grands Prix would complete the season, but Damon had never raced at either circuit before. Suzuka is a very technical circuit with few passing places. Essentially a figure of eight - once a very quick track, now various chicanes have been added for safety. The race was being anticipated for the potential clash of Prost and Senna, who had taken each other off on the last two occasions they met in Japan. Qualifying would be all important at Suzuka because of it's limited overtaking opportunities. Damon struggled to learn the course and after Friday's sessions, was placed fifth.
On Saturday, the weather conditions had changed from warm and hazy to cool and overcast. Prost and Hill, after their engineers had spent the best part of the night tinkering with the cars set-up were hoping to establish themselves in their usual front row grid positions. Damon managed to momentarily take pole but a few laps later he clipped a kerb and collided with a tyre barrier, finishing his session. His car stranded, he had to watch as his time was beaten by Prost, Senna, Hakkinen, Schumacher and Berger, relegating him to sixth on the grid. "I need to finish ahead of Ayrton and Michael to tie up second place. I suppose I had to make a mistake at some point - but it's a pity it's happened here because now I'm behind the people I need to finish ahead of. And it's on a circuit where overtaking is almost impossible because the track is so narrow. Off the grid, both Schumacher and Hill dropped a place to Eddie Irvine driving a Jordan in his first Grand Prix, tearing past them from eighth. Up front, Senna beat Prost to the first corner, the Frenchman being quite content to tuck in behind the McLaren. By lap six, both Schumacher and Hill were past Irvine. For four laps, Berger, Schumacher and Hill ran closely together until Hill roared past the German along the straight. Two laps later, Damon ran wide at the Casio chicane in a half-hearted attempt to take or pressurise Berger. As he slipped back onto line, Schumacher - braking a fraction too late, bumped the Williams' right-hand rear tyre with his left-hand front and finished his race there and then with mangled wheel. When Berger pitted on lap 12, Hill inherited fourth place.
By lap 16, the weather had changed and light rain was falling - making the tyre change decision difficult. When Damon had a puncture on lap 19, the decision was made for him - he changed to another set of slicks. The pit stop let Irvine through to fourth. By the end of lap 20, the rain was pouring down and everyone pitted for wets, Hill calling in on lap 21, rejoining another two places down with Berger and Warwick ahead of him. Damon quickly set about regaining his lost places and soon took Berger's Ferrari through the Esses and next lap simply took the outside line through the "S" bend and passed Warwick in a supreme movement. As Irvine pitted on lap 22, Damon was now back up to fourth position but well over a minute behind the leader, Senna. For 6-7 laps the rain lashed the track. Visibility was practically nil when running close to another car. When someone dropped oil at Degna curve, Hill slid off the road but managed to keep the car going across the now rain-compacted gravel trap. Later in the lap both Prost and Patrese were to slide at the same spot. On lap 33, Hill considered that the track was drying sufficiently to risk swapping to slicks, exiting the pit lane behind Barrichello in position but only just ahead of Senna and Irvine on the track.
There now followed some of the most exciting and for Senna at least, controversial moments of Formula One in 1993. With the racing line drying, Damon held off Senna who was still running wets - but the Brazillian was attacked by Irvine, trying to unlap himself and take Hill. Irvine managed to outbrake Senna into Casio chicane, next lap he passed Hill at the chicane exit, Damon re-taking the Irishman 200 yards later - and all the time Senna was digging away, trying to find a way past both of them. Seconds later, the Jordan passed the Williams going into First curve, Hill retrieving his position by driving round the outside of the first "S" bend. Senna finally found a way past Irvine while coming out of Degna and next lap took Damon at the same place. Three laps later Hill swept past Senna - who promptly felt that it was time to change tyres. The dozen remaining laps were uneventful for Hill, finishing fourth behind Senna, Prost and Hakkinen, but a full minute and twenty-three seconds behind the leader. Not the result he wanted - but on a circuit completely new to him and following his "off" in practice, considering the treacherous conditions, Damon could have been worse off. In World Championship terms, Senna's win put him within two points of Hill who had only the Australian GP to secure his second place. Senna visited the Jordan garage after the race and after an exchange of views with Eddie Irvine, punched the Irishman in the face. This off the track incident would later see Senna summoned before the FIA World Council and his subsequent suspended race ban. Damon, who was in the middle of the on-track battle had some plain views on the behaviour of his new team-mate-to-be. "There was nothing wrong in the way Eddie drove, so far as I was concerned. The era of one driver saying 'after you, Claude' to another is long gone and that is as much due to Senna as anyone else. He started being very aggressive when he came in and everyone else has copied him. It has been the same since around 1984. When Senna had reproached Hill for his driving at the San Marino GP, Damon simply told him that "I was driving the way I had learned to from watching him. I don't think there was much he could say about that."
November 7th was to be the end of an era. Several era's to be exact. Prost was to collect his fourth world title and promptly retire to 'a more normal family life' in Switzerland. Senna was to drive his last race for McLaren where he had earned three World Championship's of his own. Finally, the death knell for driver aid's could be heard over Adelaide, as the active suspension's, traction control's and what-have-you's made their last appearance before the birth of the 1994 'passive' specification cars during the winter months. Senna spoiled any hope Prost may have had of going out with a win by seizing pole position by half a second from the two Williams cars which were themselves separated by only 2/100ths. Adelaide normally provides it's fair share of 'moments', but this race, run in the dry, for a change, was conspicuous for it's absence of any major coming together. It did take three attempts to get the race under way, what with three cars stalling on consecutive start grids. Notables missing at the flag were Schumacher and Hakkinen, with engine and brake problems respectively. Only Senna, Prost and Hill completed the full distance.
Up to lap 68, it was just possible that any of them could have won, but Damon, seeing the merest hint of a gap between Prost and the apex of the first corner, tried to fill it, only to spin and almost, but not quite, run aground on a kerb. After what seemed an aeon, Hill got himself straight again but finished 25 seconds behind his team-mate who in turn was just nine adrift from Senna. "It was a sort of half-baked go at passing Alain really. And that's when I lost it. Alain braked very late and he had a late turn-in. I thought I had a bit of an opening, I sort of poked my nose in but had to come out on a tight line, and must have got the power on too early." "I could not think of a better way to finish than sharing the podium with Ayrton and Damon." said Prost after the race. "I think Ayrton and I have had a good time. Because I am retiring, it is right to remember the good times we have had." "You can only do your best. Suzuka was not good for me and I wanted to have a good race in Australia. I cannot complain at finishing third in the Championship in my first full season." Said Damon. He was not just third though, but third behind the two men who had almost made Formula One their own during the last decade. In the end, Hill had finished 30 points behind Prost with 69, but only 4 points separated him from Senna's second place total of 73.
From the start of the season, Damon's speed had impressed. He did have best equipment, but he had equalled his leader race for race. What did change significantly as the year grew older, was Hill's maturity - much influenced by both experience and sharing a team with arguably the greatest driver of all time. His professionalism had never really been questioned, but his loyalty to team and leader was tested when he had the opportunity and outside chance to fulfil his ambition and go for the title. His own confidence seemed to get stronger as the British Grand Prix approached, and although he had some big disappointments on the way, he finished the season on a higher plane both psychologically and in the way his fellow drivers viewed him. The ultimate challenge however, still lay ahead of him and 1994 was to be but a larger beast than it's predecessor, ready to be slain by the brave and determined.
Copyright 1994 & 2000 Mike Baldock