Maurice Hamilton sees pitfalls ahead for Damon Hill in the race to realise his new team’s potential
DAMON HILL has taken one or two gambles during his fight to reach the top in Formula One, but the surprising decision to join TWR Arrows is not one of them. Since his future prospects were already in rapid decline following his rejection by Williams-Renault and a failure to secure a seat at Benetton- Renault, the world champion-elect has nothing to lose by signing for a team which could be a future front-runner. The only problem for Hill is that TWR’s massive potential may not be realised soon enough.
In the short term, Hill faces a difficult year and the 36-year-old Englishman must hope that TWR’s chairman, Tom Walkinshaw, maintains a faith similar to the obvious enthusiasm and trust demonstrated by Hill when the news was announced last Friday.
There are a number of serious shortcomings which must be overcome. It is believed that TWR Arrows will use the Yamaha engines currently raced by Tyrrell. The Japanese V10, which underwent a radical redesign for this season, has been an embarrassment. Tyrrell have suffered so many failures during race weekends that their beleaguered mechanics can now change engines in 35 minutes. Walkinshaw will be aware of the desperate short-comings – problems which drove Yamaha to the brink of withdrawing from F1 – and he has established his own engine department under the supervision of Geoff Goddard, formerly a top designer with Cosworth Engineering.
At least Walkinshaw will have a direct influence over the manufacture of the engine. His control over the production of Bridgestone tyres will be more marginal. This is perhaps the greatest unknown in the package as Bridgestone make their F1 debut next season.
Walkinshaw says he has every faith in the Japanese company. They have worked together in other branches of racing and in the motor industry divisions which form part of the TWR empire. It could be that the Bridgestone will provide a performance advantage over the Goodyear tyres used by everyone else. On the other hand, they may lack the necessary durability and consistency, factors which cannot be judged by outside observers and often lead to the driver taking the blame for mediocre performances.
The final question mark surrounds the ability of Frank Dernie, TWR’s F1 technical chief, who earned his reputation as a first- class aerodynamicist while working with Williams. But his success as a car designer with Lotus and Ligier has been limited and Hill cannot afford to spend a year marking time while Dernie’s possible inadequacies are laid bare.
Although precise figures have not been mentioned, it can be assumed that the money on offer from TWR is roughly similar to the sums mentioned by Jordan-Peugeot and Stewart-Ford. In which case, Hill’s decision to reject Jordan, a team with more immediate potential, can be seen as an indictment of the present state of disarray within Jordan’s technical department. Jordan will get their act together more quickly than TWR, but it seems that Walkinshaw did a better selling job on Hill than the more garrulous Eddie Jordan.
The suggestion that Hill shied away from Jordan because of the presence of Ralf Schumacher in the No 2 seat is wide of the mark. Schumacher is a shadow of his brother at a similar stage in Michael’s career, and Hill had no concerns about a direct comparison in similar cars. Hill’s decision is likely to allow Martin Brundle to remain with Jordan for a second season.
Hill’s move leaves the 1997 championship stage clear for a battle between the Williams drivers, Jacques Villeneuve and Heinz-Harald Frentzen, with Schumacher having an important influence, assuming Ferrari are able to produce a better car than the one currently available to the double world champion.
Walkinshaw is a tough operator. Having, hopefully, the world champion on his books will help the Scotsman attract much-needed sponsorship.
But if Hill does not show the necessary aggression in the rough and tumble of the mid-field, and if he fails to perform to Walkinshaw’s exacting standards, he may find himself out of a job and even worse off than he is now. Walkinshaw cannot lose. The same cannot be said for Hill, even though he has little choice in the matter.