Damon Hill took ‘worst driver I’ve ever seen’ criticism as a compliment

For most aspiring racing drivers, being called the “worst driver I’ve ever seen” by a multiple-time grand prix winner would not have instilled much confidence.

Yet, when Damon Hill was given that tag, since it came from René Arnoux after an incident with his protégé, Hill actually took it as more of a “compliment” than anything else. Hill also expressed complete satisfaction that he raced in the era that he did.

Damon Hill called ‘worst driver’ René Arnoux had seen

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After swapping the motorcycle racing scene for four wheels, Hill worked his way through the junior categories. It was during his Formula 3000 days that he irked Arnoux, the former Martini, Surtees, Renault, Ferrari and Ligier driver.

Hill had been asked on the Stay on Track podcast, whether during his broadcasting career after retiring from Formula 1, he had incurred the wrath of a driver, or another member of the F1 paddock.

Hill confirmed that he had not, but recalled his encounter with Arnoux, the seven-time race winner.

“When I was racing, I had Rene Arnoux came up to me, because I had crashed into one of his drivers, or I didn’t crash into him, I did something.

“And he’d been managing a driver in [Formula] 3000. He came up to me and he said: ‘You’re the worst driver I’ve ever seen in my life!’

“But, I thought from Rene Arnoux, coming from him, I thought that was quite the compliment.”

Hill did alright for a driver given that tag by an obviously frustrated Arnoux at that time.

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An F1 debutant in 1992, Hill went on to reach the top of the sport as 1996 World Champion. Asked if he would have preferred to race in the modern era of Formula 1, his answer was clear.

“I think I was very happy to have driven when I did.

“I don’t think I would have wanted to drive much earlier than that. Although I still think the ground effect cars, although they were incredibly dangerous, they looked like they were quite fun to race.

“I actually drove one of the early Williams’ around the Saudi track.

“The old [Ford Cosworth] DFV is quite a nice little motor, but with the V10 Renault engine that I had, was absolutely brilliant.”

Hill found his era to be a more “simple” way of racing, adding: “And I thought that I had something to give, in terms of how I understood setup, and what I wanted to do with the car, in order to get the best out of the tyres and so forth.

“Those are my little skillsets. My very special little toolbox that I had.

“By ’99, my last year in F1, it was starting to come in where the engineer started to say, ‘We’re going to set up the car according to what we see on the data’.

“And I remember thinking to myself, ‘Well, what do I do?’ Because I thought, ‘Well, that’s the end of that then’.”

Hill pointed to how current F1 drivers will come over team radio to ask what the team’s plan is, adding: “It’s not really a question that I want to hear coming from a racing driver.”

The game changes again for the stars of F1 2026. With sweeping regulation changes coming into force, the use of active aerodynamics, and increased energy management/deployment, will serve as new factors which the drivers must adapt to.

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