Damon Hill

Formula One racing briefly held my attention in the mid 90s, but while everyone else talked about Michael Schumacher's controversial collision with Damon Hill, I kept my eye on how the Ferrari duo of Gerhard Berger and Jean Alesi were doing. The bright red Ferraris were easier to spot and seemed so much more exciting than the dull blue Williams cars. Gerhard and Jean never seemed to win, but that the fact that they had the best look was good enough for me. 

  Damon's car and the fact that he seemed to pay no attention to his hair meant that I had no sympathy for him when the Drivers' Championship was denied him in 1994 and by the time he eventually claimed the drivers' crown in 1996 I had realised that watching cars go round and round in circles barely ever overtaking each other is actually pretty sleep-inducing. Now, the background sound of a Grand Prix merely grates on my eardrums and prompts me to do the irksome Sunday afternoon task of cleaning out the rabbit's hutch.

  Hill however, whose name heads this entry, lives on and as the years go by he seems to have moved from skinny bloke who might try to talk to me about car engines to shaggy haired bloke who rocks out to cool tunes. Since leaving the steering wheel behind Hill has played guitar with George Harrison and featured on Def Leppard's album Euphoria. Hill has that enviable quality of, like wine, getting better with age. While Schumacher continues to soldier around the track he must occasionally glance enviously at Hill's greying locks.