Maurice Hamilton charts the line of succession of Sunday’s rivals for the Formula One world championship as they prepare to dice wheel to wheel in a make-or- break charge for glory in Japan
GRAHAM HILL and Gilles Villeneuve did not race in the same era, never mind being team- mates and fighting for the world championship in the manner of their sons in Japan on Sunday. Such a clearly defined collision of kin at Suzuka only serves to highlight both its unusual nature and the fact that neither driver sees any professional similarity with their respective fathers.
The genealogical niceties of this drawn-out battle have no interest to either Damon Hill or Jacques Villeneuve, two fiercely determined sportsmen who have a strong sense of independence from carving individual reputations without recourse to the family name. In each case, the father would have approved wholeheartedly, since theirs was an equally individualistic, if wholly different, fight to win acclaim. Despite the reluctance of Hill and Villeneuve to draw comparisons, there are remarkable resemblances which, in turn, serve to illustrate disparate characters.
Graham Hill did not learn to drive, let alone go motor racing, until he was 24. Damon was mobile much earlier, but a determination to race bikes – and thus not be cast in his father’s mould – meant he did not switch to four-wheel competition until he was a similar age.
A late start was not a handicap in the more relaxed Fifties but, by today’s standards, prospective champions will have won numerous karting titles and achieved success in the junior formulae by the time they are 21. Hill’s lack of teenage experience is seen as the cause of his one weak spot; the confidence to elbow his way around a crowded track.
Villeneuve pere et fils had no such worries since neither appeared to know the meaning of fear, thanks to a free-ranging life in the Canadian outback. Gilles competed regularly on snowmobiles capable of 160kph on ice and each winter would expect to take several falls, which he said “gives you a strong heart”. Jacques learned to fend for himself, heading into the forests on his trials’ bike. “It was so remote in places that if something happened to you, they would never find you. That teaches you a lot about yourself.”
Both Hill and Villeneuve were at an impressionable age when their fathers died: Gilles colliding with another car while flat out during qualifying for the 1982 Belgian Grand Prix, Graham crashing his private plane while trying to land in fog at Elstree in November 1975, a few months after retiring. In each case, both men were pushing the odds but Hill was the more circumspect on the track.
The same comparison can be drawn between their sons although, until Villeneuve pulled off the move of the season while overtaking Michael Schumacher in Portugal two weeks ago, his driving appeared to lack the sometimes unbelievable bravado of his father. Some would say that is no bad thing.
Gilles won just six grands prix, thanks to his loyalty to Ferrari during a period when the Italian team produced some awful cars. Jacques is likely to be more pragmatic in his choices in future years and his winning total is bound to go far beyond the four victories so far.
Graham Hill won 14 grands prix and two world championships through bloody-minded determination, a theme which has been repeated during Damon’s frequently turbulent experiences while on his way to 20 victories for Williams. Flashes of inspirational brilliance have been few, but both father and son have demonstrated solid responsibility and enormous strength of character under remarkably similar circumstances. Graham carried Team Lotus to a championship in 1968, the year Jim Clark was killed; Damon almost did the same for Williams 26 years later during the aftermath of Ayrton Senna’s death at Imola.
The Villeneuves have shown a less compassionate nature. Jacques, in particular, hides a ruthless streak behind an engagingly boyish charm. His father adored racing and driving fast; Jacques is the same but without the carefree romanticism which Gilles could employ in less political and commercially orientated times.
In the same way, Damon does not have the charisma of his father: a debonair character with a brilliant wit, in public, at least. But whereas Graham had startling mood swings in private, his son is more even-natured. He occasionally comes across badly on television, particularly at the race track where a strong sense of humour is suppressed by the pressures and expectation of working with a top team. Yet, despite the criticisms and the sometimes unfavourable comparisons with his father, Damon remains an intensely decent man and a tribute to his upbringing.
Both drivers play down the links with their famous fathers, but to differing degrees. “It’s interesting,” said Patrick Head, the technical director at Williams. “With Damon, I get the impression his father is to the fore of his thoughts. I’m sure Jacques has his own opinions and loved his father a lot, but it isn’t a thought which is just below the surface in the same way it is with Damon. In truth, Damon probably thinks about his father no more than most people talk about their father. It’s just that, in Formula One, he is being continuously asked for his thoughts on the subject. I don’t think either Jacques or Damon is doing it just because their fathers went motor racing. They are doing it because both love racing.”
ENDS