HILL BACK TO CELEBRATE 25TH MELBOURNE GP

Damon Hill back to celebrate 25th Melbourne Grand Prix – Photo: LAT

Inaugural Albert Park winner Damon Hill is back to help celebrate the 25th running of the F1 Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne.

By MARK FOGARTY

Hill, 59, anchored his 1996 world championship with victory in the season-opening race after almost being upstaged by his new Williams-Renault teammate Jacques Villeneuve.

Melbourne took over Australia’s round from Adelaide, which hosted the first 11 F1 editions of the Australian GP.

The AGP also switched from the last race of the season to the first.

Hill has been a frequent visitor to Albert Park in recent years as an expert analyst for British broadcaster Sky Sports’ F1 coverage, which is seen here on Fox Sports.

But this year he is splitting the role with fellow former world champions Nico Rosberg and Jenson Button, and won’t be appearing until the restored Dutch GP at the start of May.

Hill has been invited to this weekend’s event as the winner of the first Melbourne GP 24 years ago as part of the celebrations of Sunday’s 25th race at the Albert Park lakeside circuit.

He recalls his victory as “a good start” to his world title bid, although he was initially overshadowed by Villeneuve, making his F1 debut after winning the 1995 Indianapolis 500 and IndyCar championship.

Villeneuve beat Hill to pole position and was leading until his exuberant driving damaged his Williams, forcing him to drop back to a distant second at the finish.

According to contemporary reports, Villeneuve’s car suffered a broken oil line, but Hill remembers it slightly differently.

“Jacques got pole position, he got the lead and he would have done OK if he hadn’t gone off the road and damaged his car,” he said. “I think he damaged a fuel line when he went off and he started losing fuel pressure, and eventually he had to let me by.

“I was able to sit with him comfortably, but whether I could’ve got past was another thing because he was a little bit wild and I think he would’ve made it very difficult for me to pass.

“At least we had a race between the top two guys. We had a bit of a dominant car that year, so we had a fight between ourselves. It was something for the fans to watch.”

Hill is a big fan of Melbourne and the Albert Park GP.

“Melbourne is a great city,” he said. “It’s always been great to come and see the variety of culture you have there. It’s one of the best cities we go to in F1.

“In some ways it’s a shame it happens at the beginning of the season because everyone’s a bit too busy then to enjoy the city and environs – they don’t get time to hang around. Adelaide was always a bit more relaxed because it was the end of the season.

“There is so much to see. Melbourne has some magnificent civic buildings and parks. I really enjoy St Kilda. I often go down to the beach if I can and have a quick surf in (coastal resort) Torquay or somewhere like that.

“Played a few times on some of your lovely golf courses, including (world-ranked) Royal Melbourne. I definitely try to enjoy the benefits. The food is obviously incredible and some of the best coffee anywhere in the world. Of course, it’s also a great sporting city.”

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