Latest / Rusty's Garage / Damon Hill - Part 1

Transcript

Damon Hill - Part 1 · Rusty's Garage

• 0:02
  A listener production.
• 0:10
  I'm automotive commentator and journalist Greg Rust, and this is Rusty's Garage.
• 0:27
  For this episode, I'm at home.
• 0:28
  It's around nine o'clock at night and my guest is in the UK having an early morning cuppa.
• 0:34
  He's doing a round of media interviews as a part of the announcement that Damon Hill will join the Channel 10 team for their coverage of the 2023 Formula One Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne.
• 0:46
  good get and I'm grateful to my old network family for their help in teeing this one up.
• 0:52
  The 1996 world champion is also on the exclusive Albert Park winners list as we celebrate 70 years of GP racing there this year.
• 1:01
  He's been something of a constant in the paddock since he retired from driving, working with the Sky F1 broadcast team, bringing a relaxed style but an intuitive understanding of the drivers and what makes them tick.
• 1:15
  Damon was 15 when his legendary father, Graham Hill, a two-time world champion, was tragically killed in a plane crash.
• 1:24
  Graham and many of the big names of that era would regularly come to Australia and New Zealand over summer for the Tasman series.
• 1:32
  It was a chapter that many listeners here remember fondly.
• 1:36
  Graham had raced for iconic teams back then, and who knows, we may now look at his own operation in the same way we appreciate, say, the history of McLaren or Williams, had he sadly not gone to the racetrack upstairs.
• 1:51
  Graham ran the London Rowing Club Colours on his trademark helmet, and Damon adopted the same inspiration.
• 1:58
  Until Nico Rosberg in 2016, Damon was the only driver to emulate his father and also win a world title in Formula One.
• 2:07
  He's driven lots of different things, from Le Mans to two-ring cars and several junior categories in open wheels.
• 2:13
  He was a late bloomer, late to make the switch to cars, something we're very unlikely to see again.
• 2:20
  That's because he actually started out on bikes and still loves them.
• 2:25
  Now, because of his busy round of commitments, we recorded just after round two in Saudi Arabia.
• 2:30
  The hour we had set aside had to be cut short.
• 2:33
  Don't worry, we'll try and catch up with him again for a part two at some stage.
• 2:38
  I was also conscious of the many pods that he's done, including F1 Nation with Natalie Pinkham and fellow 10 recruit Tom Clarkson.
• 2:46
  So I tried to ask a few different things and I was able to put a few of the questions viewers and listeners had kindly sent in
• 2:54
  to him and to look ahead to the Aussie race briefly too.
• 2:57
  And there's a bit of fun in there, a bit of insight on Murray Walker and Barry Sheen.
• 3:02
  I hope you enjoy it.
• 3:06
  How did the opportunity for you to first kind of work in the media really come about and how did you find it early on?
• 3:12
  It was very strange.
• 3:14
  Yeah, because you still think of yourself as a racing driver and, well, I hadn't realised no one else thought of me as a racing driver anymore.
• 3:24
  So, especially the people I was working for.
• 3:26
  And they'd ask me a question.
• 3:28
  They'd say, Damon, you raced at this circuit.
• 3:32
  What do you remember?
• 3:33
  And I'd say, I don't remember anything.
• 3:35
  I've forgotten.
• 3:35
  And I'd get a voice in my ear from the producer saying, we're paying you to remember.
• 3:42
  People have, this is kind of a crazy left of field question, but people have fondly remembered the great Pizza Hut ad that you did with Murray Walker in 96.
• 3:50
  Still kind of funny now.
• 3:51
  And Damon Hill leads into the first bend.
• 3:54
  Murray.
• 3:55
  There's been a shunt.
• 3:56
  It's Hill.
• 3:57
  Murray, we're just out for a quiet pizza.
• 3:59
  Stop commentating.
• 4:00
  Sorry.
• 4:01
  We'll have a pepperoni, please.
• 4:04
  Have you got some recollections of that?
• 4:07
  I mean he was fabulous, the light great man wasn't he?
• 4:25
  Yeah.
• 4:26
  He was a professional.
• 4:27
  He was an absolute consummate professional.
• 4:29
  He knew his business.
• 4:30
  He knew that it's show and he had this voice that he could project, which was astonishing.
• 4:39
  When you're there in the presence of a man, when he did his voice…
• 4:44
  it really kind of knocked you over.
• 4:46
  It was like a kind of, you know, physical force rather than just a sound.
• 4:52
  But we did the commercial in a...
• 4:54
  It was a very, very well-known film director, so they'd spent a lot of money on it, and we went to...
• 5:01
  I think I can't remember where it's, Pinewood or somewhere around here, you know, where all the film studios, the famous film studios were.
• 5:08
  And they had the big set up, you know, and the big hangar and the lights.
• 5:12
  And there was hundreds of people.
• 5:14
  And he gave me my simple acting role.
• 5:19
  You know, I had to act, which, of course, anyone seeing me act will know I'm absolutely panned for that.
• 5:25
  So, but they managed to make it easy for me.
• 5:28
  But what I had to do was bite into this film.
• 5:31
  deep crust pizza that probably other pizza companies also make.
• 5:36
  But anyway, and then do it over and over again.
• 5:39
  So that meant you have to spit it out.
• 5:41
  So I basically had to bite into one of those pizzas, hold it in my mouth, and then spit it into a bucket about 20 times.
• 5:48
  And so I came away smelling of the delicious, spicy, and cheesy pizza for many days afterwards.
• 5:56
  His words in the broadcast, the commentary of your title winning race in 96 were iconic.
• 6:02
  I think he said, I've got to stop because I've got a lump in my throat.
• 6:05
  Damon, that is 27 years ago now for me and for many listeners.
• 6:10
  It seems like yesterday.
• 6:12
  Statistically, a very rare thing too in the sport because your dad had been a world champion too.
• 6:18
  Jubilation, exhaustion, relief.
• 6:20
  Connor, what impact did it have on you when you crossed the line?
• 6:23
  Yeah.
• 6:23
  Relief, I think, mostly because I was exhausted.
• 6:27
  I hadn't slept for days.
• 6:29
  It was just you try, you lie down in your little tiny room in Suzuka in the Circuit Hotel.
• 6:38
  and everywhere seems to have a mosquito in it, and you just can't rest.
• 6:44
  And then you wake up and you get to the circuit.
• 6:45
  The problem is you get in the car, and of course it's lovely and cozy in there.
• 6:50
  And if you're not careful, you can almost fall asleep.
• 6:53
  But not this time, you have to cross the line first.
• 6:56
  But once that was done,
• 6:58
  Yeah, massive relief to have got that one in the bag.
• 7:01
  You came back too from a difficult, I think you described it to our buddy Tom Clarkson as a kind of torrid year in 95.
• 7:10
  You say you were a more complete driver in 96, kind of in what way?
• 7:15
  In the car and out of the car too, weren't you?
• 7:18
  Yeah, I had to go and think about it.
• 7:20
  Lick my wounds, really.
• 7:20
  I got a total pasting by Michael and he made me look a jump.
• 7:24
  And so, you know, and partly he was right, you know, because I did make some mistakes and I went about it the wrong way.
• 7:31
  And I think I knew that there was some other aspect to this game that I hadn't understood.
• 7:38
  And...
• 7:39
  It was how you conduct yourself.
• 7:41
  I thought I could just walk in and do my job, but I hadn't really appreciated how much you affect everyone around you.
• 7:49
  I think I was a reasonably quiet person or shyish person.
• 7:55
  I'm not someone who...
• 7:58
  dominates the room when I walk in, you know, so I'm quite happy to stand by the wall and watch everyone else for a bit.
• 8:03
  But, you know, when you're fighting for a world championship, you're the attention.
• 8:08
  You know, the press want to know, they want to talk to you, and I didn't quite know how to deal with all of that.
• 8:14
  So I got some very good advice from a woman who coached politicians, and her name was Mary Spillane, and she just came over to my house in Ireland and sat me down after the season.
• 8:24
  I said, what?
• 8:24
  And I was pouring my heart out to her, and she said, stop.
• 8:27
  Save it for the book, you know?
• 8:29
  I just... And absolutely stopped me in my tracks.
• 8:32
  You know, I thought people were interested in what I was thinking and feeling, and she was basically saying, that's not... You don't give them stuff.
• 8:42
  Not now, anyway.
• 8:43
  Because they can use it against you.
• 8:44
  Not now, anyway, exactly.
• 8:46
  You're in the thick of a battle, and this is propaganda as much as anything.
• 8:51
  It's a propaganda war.
• 8:52
  You've got to give...
• 8:54
  You've got to have a war around you, and you've got to be able to fight and defend your territory.
• 9:00
  You know, when you're just walking out, let alone on the track, the track she couldn't help me with, but the off track stuff she helped me with,
• 9:06
  And that's why I went in with a much better attitude, I think, in 96.
• 9:10
  But I think it illustrates to people listening that sport is a whole suite of skills that you need to develop.
• 9:19
  And nowadays, drivers are much better prepared.
• 9:22
  You know, the guys that come in, the young guys that come into the sport, they've done all this media training.
• 9:26
  They've done all the...
• 9:28
  physio training.
• 9:29
  I was on my own.
• 9:30
  In those days, you didn't have any of that.
• 9:32
  You just had to do it yourself.
• 9:34
  So, yeah.
• 9:37
  sage advice for some young racers or emerging racers that will be listening.
• 9:40
  And where you kind of led to there was, I mean, it's such a politically charged game to, I mean, the Piranha Club as it's obviously been described.
• 9:47
  When did the kind of the brutality of that whole thing sink in for you?
• 9:50
  I mean, you'd grown up around aspects of it with your own family and so on.
• 9:54
  And how did you kind of cope with that?
• 9:57
  Because some people, Damon, thrive on that sort of political stuff and others avoid it at all costs, don't they?
• 10:02
  Yeah.
• 10:03
  They do.
• 10:04
  Some people seem to rise up on animosity.
• 10:08
  I mean, someone like Nigel, maybe Ayrton.
• 10:12
  Some drivers used to like it.
• 10:14
  I mean, Alan Jones was a pretty tough character when he was driving as well.
• 10:18
  So, yeah.
• 10:20
  You know, they like that friction.
• 10:23
  And, you know, I think some people also, team bosses, used to like their drivers being a little bit on edge and sometimes at each other's stroke, sometimes quite literally within the team.
• 10:37
  So, yeah.
• 10:40
  You know, they thought that was a good sign because they thought these guys were going to fight harder.
• 10:44
  I just watched the Peroni-Vilnov film, which has just come out.
• 10:48
  Is that good?
• 10:49
  It's about that and how badly wrong it can go.
• 10:51
  It is very good.
• 10:53
  It's very upsetting in some ways to watch because it had tragic consequences.
• 10:58
  But it's about the rivalries.
• 11:01
  But it's also about un-
• 11:03
  disciplined competitiveness.
• 11:06
  So, we're all competitive, we all understand.
• 11:10
  And Saudi, you saw Max sort of pouting it looked like and looking a bit full on because he'd come second.
• 11:18
  You know, he's not there to come second.
• 11:20
  He got beaten by his teammate, he doesn't like it.
• 11:23
  And it's how you cope with these.
• 11:25
  these moments and how you respond.
• 11:28
  And some people turn it into a personal thing.
• 11:30
  And we saw that with Senna and Prost.
• 11:32
  And it becomes, I mean, it's thrilling to watch, but it's ugly.
• 11:37
  You know, it's the only thing you can say.
• 11:39
  It's not a pretty sight when you see two people hating each other.
• 11:42
  Not at all.
• 11:42
  You drive for some of motorsport's biggest names, Sir Frank Williams, Patrick Head, throw in Tom Walkinshaw, Eddie Jordan in there.
• 11:48
  They're all really different human beings.
• 11:52
  In a word or two, what would they like to work with and how different were their kind of operating styles?
• 11:57
  Very different.
• 11:58
  It's surprising, really, how different they were.
• 12:03
  And I think it's also true of drivers.
• 12:04
  You know, you can't...
• 12:07
  say, this is the kind of personality you need, or this is the kind of approach you need.
• 12:10
  There's got to be some fundamental common trait.
• 12:14
  But everyone does it their own different way.
• 12:17
  And I was asked this question actually recently.
• 12:19
  And my answer was, someone was asking, what is the right
• 12:24
  model to follow.
• 12:25
  And I say you have to follow your own model.
• 12:28
  If you try and copy someone else, you can't do it.
• 12:30
  But I mean, how do you compare Eddie Jordan to Ron Dennis?
• 12:34
  Well, the only thing you'd say is that Ron Dennis was very successful.
• 12:41
  Eddie Jordan was quite successful, but not in the same way.
• 12:44
  They were very different.
• 12:46
  Frank Williams, totally different.
• 12:49
  Dedicated, of course, absolutely dedicated to the extent of exclusion of everything else in their lives, and Toto Wolff and Christian Horner, famously very different individuals, and they seemed to...
• 13:03
  as the Drive to Survive series has shown, I don't know if anyone's watched that, but it's quite different personalities, and they seem also slightly obsessed with beating the other one as well.
• 13:17
  So these things are interesting, intrapersonal relationship issues that we like watching, don't we?
• 13:28
  I feel like that aspect for the broadcast is something that you, I think you even told Tom this at one point, that you understand how drivers are kind of programmed or their personality make up and your observations are still obviously very good in that regard.
• 13:45
  Is that something that you enjoy, Damon?
• 13:47
  Yeah, I'm still trying to understand the world.
• 13:50
  It seems to me made up of very slightly deranged people making very big decisions and affecting the rest of us.
• 14:01
  So I think like everyone, I'm trying to work out how we either stop them or get better as people.
• 14:09
  Yeah.
• 14:10
  Your late dad, Graeme, was a legend.
• 14:12
  You've got the chance.
• 14:13
  So there'll be people listening to the podcast that enjoy the aspect of the cool old cars from that era.
• 14:18
  People can find some of the videos online where you've had the chance to drive them.
• 14:22
  There is actually a Formula 2 car in Australia, a Brabham, a 1965 car that your dad won, I think, in Spain in 66 with that is for sale at the moment for about...
• 14:32
  nearly about half a million Australian dollars.
• 14:35
  But I think you drove the 1962 BRM, the Lotus at Goodwood, for example.
• 14:39
  Did you enjoy that?
• 14:40
  And is there one that you've had a soft spot for?
• 14:43
  Was it a special moment to drive that?
• 14:45
  I think it was quite my own car, particularly I drove the car I won the championship in.
• 14:53
  And when I got the opportunity to get back in it because I got out of it in 1996 and never went back to Williams because Frank decided he wanted to give me my freedom.
• 15:04
  And so I got back in this car and it all came back to me.
• 15:07
  It was very emotional.
• 15:08
  But I've driven, as you said, a lot of my dad's cars.
• 15:11
  I think I've got over that emotional feeling, but I have driven...
• 15:14
  his championship car, which did more than one season.
• 15:18
  It was the Lotus 49, the Gold Leaf one, the one that was one of the first cars to be sponsored, a very pretty-looking car.
• 15:28
  And I did get the sense, oh, my God, this is what he did for a living, one of these in the environment that he was in and hearing the same Ford DSV engine noise.
• 15:40
  And you get some in a...
• 15:43
  A bit of insight into how brave they were.
• 15:46
  I mean, quite honestly, you had to just disregard the danger.
• 15:50
  There was just no way you could have done it if you thought about what would happen.
• 15:53
  You just wouldn't get anywhere.
• 15:55
  So they were very, very brave.
• 15:57
  But quite nice cars to drive as well.
• 16:00
  Quite interesting cars to drive because they drifted.
• 16:02
  and you had too much power and not enough grip.
• 16:04
  And so maybe a bit more fun to drive than these cars.
• 16:08
  Cars, yeah.
• 16:09
  I think you shared a great pic of him recently too.
• 16:12
  He was kind of on a – the desk was covered in paperwork, on the phone, maybe feet up on the desk.
• 16:17
  What sort of traits can you remember of him?
• 16:20
  And perhaps did you take any of those into your own career?
• 16:24
  Well, imagine a world where you're travelling –
• 16:28
  all over the place, having to arrange flights, having to arrange hotels, having to arrange different currencies, having to organize a race team.
• 16:38
  And all you have is a phone that's connected by a cable to the wall.
• 16:45
  And letters.
• 16:46
  You can post a letter, but it'll be like a week later.
• 16:49
  No email.
• 16:50
  I mean, how did they do it?
• 16:52
  How did they do it?
• 16:55
  So he was the most extraordinarily busy man.
• 16:58
  And it was all done with a diary, you know, a little, you know, you'd lose your diary, you're absolutely screwed.
• 17:03
  You know, so all his phone numbers are in there.
• 17:06
  So, but he went everywhere.
• 17:08
  And the Motorsport Magazine a while back today,
• 17:13
  Celebrating Remembery What's it called Um Tribute to him And Someone had written I think it was Quentin Spurring Made a list of all the tracks He'd driven in And all the cars Around the world And you just think It's not physically possible To have done it I mean he was Everywhere in the world He'd driven And he'd raced Different cars My god
• 17:34
  And that doesn't include all the after-dinner speeches and all the other things he did.
• 17:38
  So mad, no wonder his death was a mess.
• 17:40
  I don't know how he coped at all.
• 17:43
  I mean, my death is a mess, but not a patch on his.
• 17:48
  You actually started out on two wheels.
• 17:50
  We've got lots of people that love bikes that listen to the podcast as well.
• 17:53
  I know you still love bikes.
• 17:54
  I reckon I've been in on a conversation with you and my good mate, Daryl Beattie, perhaps at Albert Park where you were chatting about it.
• 18:02
  Why did you kind of gravitate to bikes?
• 18:05
  When and what age did that happen?
• 18:07
  And what was your first bike, your first motorbike?
• 18:10
  Yeah.
• 18:10
  Well, have you seen Daryl's feet?
• 18:13
  Yes, I have.
• 18:16
  And I remember when I came down and Barry went and stayed with Barry and Barry said, I'll go out.
• 18:21
  Mick Durn will take you out and Daryl will go out on the boat and stuff.
• 18:24
  And they got their shorts on and you look at their legs and you think, I'm glad I gave up the bike racing.
• 18:28
  Right, exactly.
• 18:29
  Yeah.
• 18:32
  My daughter at a very young age saw what was left of his foot and she asked me, are his toes ever going to grow back, Dad?
• 18:38
  And I said, no, darling, very, very sadly, they're not.
• 18:42
  What are you riding nowadays, two-wheel-wise?
• 18:45
  I'm afraid I'm pedalling my own bike these days.
• 18:47
  I've gone to sort of mountain biking and –
• 18:51
  I like to get the exercise.
• 18:53
  So, yeah, I'm more under my own steam, but it's still the same thrill when you come down a mountain on a bicycle.
• 19:01
  Similar.
• 19:02
  But, yeah, the motorbiking, I haven't got a garage.
• 19:06
  So we keep moving house and I haven't yet managed to get a garage to fill it up with lovely bikes.
• 19:12
  But we'll do one day.
• 19:14
  Good stuff.
• 19:14
  You mentioned Baz before.
• 19:15
  I'm really glad that you did that.
• 19:16
  He was a special part of our Channel 10 motorsport team in the late 90s and early 2000s.
• 19:21
  He often comes up, Damon, in conversations on this podcast with the guest.
• 19:26
  Listeners would love a recollection or two of Baz that you might have.
• 19:30
  You shared one a minute ago, and there was a common thread here, am I right, in saying you were both good mates with George Harrison from the Beatles too, weren't you?
• 19:39
  Yeah, so my story would really be based around 1994 when I came down to fight for the title against Michael Schumacher and Barry phoned me up and said, I always thought with Barry, you know, there must have been some other reason.
• 19:54
  Why is Barry Sheen phoning me up?
• 19:56
  He was probably trying to get some inside story.
• 19:59
  Yeah, exactly.
• 20:00
  Oh, no, I'll come down.
• 20:01
  We'll pick you up in the helicopter.
• 20:03
  We'll fly down the coast and I'm going...
• 20:04
  Okay, I'll go along with this.
• 20:06
  And so we...
• 20:11
  I mean, I think I got away quite lightly, actually, to be honest with Barry.
• 20:14
  But you go anywhere near Barry and you're normally always going to end up in trouble with something.
• 20:19
  But he bent my ear.
• 20:22
  We flew from Brisbane down to Adelaide, and he bent my ear on the plane the whole way about how I wasn't getting paid enough.
• 20:29
  So I'm about to go into a world title fight with my team.
• 20:33
  And, you know, I should have been focusing and staying out of trouble.
• 20:35
  Instead, what happened was by the time I got there, I was met by Murray Walker, and Barry had been going on about, you know, Frank's so mean, he needs to pay you more money.
• 20:43
  So I got off the plane and went, I'm not being paid enough.
• 20:46
  LAUGHTER
• 20:47
  Something like that was like the headline.
• 20:49
  And by the time I got to the garage, it was all over the papers that, you know, the only thing that I was worried about was money.
• 20:58
  And I walked in the garage and Patrick Head was there and they were basically...
• 21:03
  didn't talk to me, you know, and I thought, oh, dear, I just pooed in my own nest and I haven't even got to the race yet.
• 21:12
  So, yeah, lots of good stories about Barry, but, you know, he was one of those utterly extraordinary people who...
• 21:22
  You know, if you don't have a normal education, that's what you get.
• 21:26
  You get a complete unique individual who had not been brainwashed to think a certain way.
• 21:34
  He thought laterally.
• 21:35
  He thought in the way that had freedom of thought, and I think that's why he was interesting.
• 21:41
  Great observation.
• 21:42
  Chaos, always fun.
• 21:44
  Commercially, very savvy, very clever man, and much, much missed.
• 21:56
  Damon achieved something pretty special by winning a Formula 1 World Championship like his famous father did.
• 22:02
  Imagine if Jack Doohan can make it to F1 and win the driver's title.
• 22:06
  His dad is a legend on two wheels, makes a 5x 500cc world champion who you can also find in the Rusty's Garage Library.
• 22:15
  The tools that I guess took me to those world titles or took me through sport, I've tried to apply to life after sport.
• 22:26
  And the same commitment, the same dedication and persistence are the things that I still use and also try and continually work with trusted people.
• 22:42
  Rusty wishes he had a world title.
• 22:45
  Tell him he is dreaming Mick.
• 22:47
  Back to Damon.
• 22:49
  Can we bounce through a couple of quick questions that have come through from both 10 viewers and listeners, if you're okay with it?
• 22:54
  So one here from Paul Hamilton talks about how you had many teammates that were world champions, obviously.
• 23:02
  Prost, Senna, Mansell, Villeneuve.
• 23:05
  Who in your mind was there a standout or the best driver among them?
• 23:10
  And what's the kind of biggest thing you learnt on track and off track from them as a person?
• 23:16
  Yeah, I think I kind of alluded to this before a little bit, which is that everyone's got their own style and their own way of doing what they do.
• 23:24
  Alan Prost, very different to Nigel Mansell and Etten Senna, but I think I learned a lot.
• 23:30
  I learned most from my dad.
• 23:33
  Through osmosis, I've adopted his approach to things.
• 23:36
  I would never say I was like my dad.
• 23:40
  I think he was a unique person as well.
• 23:44
  But his...
• 23:47
  his determination, he didn't like making excuses.
• 23:51
  He didn't like to blame the world for things going wrong.
• 23:56
  He just thought, well, there's something that could be done by me to make things better for me.
• 24:02
  me and my dear ones.
• 24:05
  So, you know, that's the way he approached things.
• 24:08
  And he was very positive, very up individual.
• 24:11
  I think they're all in a similar vein.
• 24:14
  They don't dwell on their misfortune, you know, and that's something that's interesting about them.
• 24:22
  Other than that, they work hard, you know, so they just are...
• 24:26
  driven, they're driven a little bit.
• 24:27
  Sometimes they're driven to the point of making themselves unhappy.
• 24:31
  You know, that's, that can be a mistake.
• 24:33
  So you have to watch that sort of being obsessed with one thing, you know, winning in Formula One.
• 24:40
  It's important that for some, for some, for the task in hand, but it's not everything.
• 24:47
  Saren asks, your first impressions of the Williams active suspension car when you drive it for the first time in testing.
• 24:55
  Yeah, very strange.
• 24:57
  It used to do this thing.
• 24:59
  It was full of hydraulics.
• 25:02
  So basically hydraulics is a liquid and it sometimes gets bubbles in it.
• 25:05
  So they have to kind of bleed it through.
• 25:07
  It used to go through this routine in the garage, which made it look like it was doing press-ups.
• 25:12
  It was like it was breathing.
• 25:13
  It literally was like a machine.
• 25:14
  It was like Terminator.
• 25:16
  It would sit there in the garage sort of living on its own.
• 25:20
  It would go up and down and...
• 25:22
  and do this kind of weird exercise routine before you got in it.
• 25:26
  And then when you drove it, it was, you could do anything.
• 25:30
  You could set it up in any way you liked, which in some ways is not a good thing, because given infinite options, which one do you want?
• 25:39
  You know, so it was a bit of a head-scratcher at first, but it was a very competitive car.
• 25:44
  So I enjoyed my time with that car.
• 25:48
  It was good, but it was, hmm, yeah.
• 25:52
  Yeah, it's a bit of an unfair advantage, really.
• 25:54
  Phil in New Zealand, do you miss the sound of V12, V10 engines?
• 25:59
  I do.
• 26:00
  I really like the V10.
• 26:01
  I have V12 as well, but I drove the McLaren MP4, 6, was it all?
• 26:10
  And the V12 one in Suzuka, the Honda engine thing.
• 26:13
  Oh, my God, that is a beast.
• 26:16
  I mean, the one that Senna and...
• 26:20
  who was it, Berger was racing that one.
• 26:21
  Oh, my God.
• 26:22
  It was absolutely terrifying.
• 26:24
  It's a terrifying noise it made, but it was glorious.
• 26:27
  Fantastic.
• 26:29
  Michael Shaw, he says, serious question.
• 26:31
  I'd like to know more about the 1992 season and what was left of the Brabham?
• 26:36
  What was it like in a team in so much kind of trouble and did it help anyway at all when, you know, you were ultimately, you were still testing for Williams and bound for them ultimately?
• 26:47
  Yeah, because I thought it's no good just being a test driver.
• 26:50
  You've got to be out there in the competition.
• 26:52
  So I spoke with Patrick and said, you know, I need to get some track time because it's not just about being able to drive.
• 27:03
  It's about all the other stuff that happens.
• 27:05
  So going to the driver's briefings, meeting the people at the circuit, talking to the press, all these things.
• 27:11
  You get a chance if you're a competitor.
• 27:14
  So it gave me an opportunity to show what I could do and...
• 27:19
  And I got lapped six times, I think, by Nigel Mansell in the British Grand Prix in 92.
• 27:25
  But at least I saw him anyway.
• 27:28
  I was in the same race, so he gave me some experience.
• 27:32
  And I think it was a bit of a shame that it was a team that was in massive decline and ultimately closed.
• 27:39
  I've been in quite a few teams that I've actually...
• 27:42
  closed.
• 27:43
  So I'm sure it's not me, but sometimes it's the dreg opportunity is the only one available.
• 27:51
  I had to grab it.
• 27:53
  One here from Brendan Costigan.
• 27:55
  After leaving Williams, did you have offers to go elsewhere or was Arrows the only option?
• 28:01
  And how kind of frustrating was that being the reigning world champion, not being able to kind of defend that title given the car you're in?
• 28:09
  I think you part answered this in a pod chat you did actually with Tom.
• 28:13
  Was there not a bit of conversation around perhaps Stuart Grand Prix and a few others?
• 28:18
  There was a bit of chat, wasn't there?
• 28:20
  Yes, Shirt wanted me to go, but I just thought this is a brand new team.
• 28:25
  There's no way of knowing where it's going and what state it's in.
• 28:30
  And I'm not sure.
• 28:30
  I keep getting confused whether that was for 98 or 97.
• 28:34
  So I won in 96 and I had to go and find a...
• 28:39
  a team to drive for.
• 28:41
  And the only one I could get for a one-year contract, the whole ambition was to get into McLaren for 98 because Adrian had left Williams and was going to, so his first car would be the 98 car.
• 28:55
  So I had to fill my time, you know, in 97, I had to find something I could drive, but everyone else wanted a two-year deal.
• 29:02
  So I think Sauber wanted me to drive for them and Prost maybe,
• 29:07
  But you wanted one year, didn't you?
• 29:08
  The only people who could give me one... Yeah, so I got a one-year deal with Tom Walkinshaw at Arrows, and I thought, if this works out, great.
• 29:15
  If he doesn't, I will work on getting in with McLaren.
• 29:19
  But sadly, that didn't work, because Ron made me an offer that was so overwhelmingly unattractive, but I put the phone down on it.
• 29:30
  Wow.
• 29:32
  Maybe a rush of blood to the head, but...
• 29:36
  I live to regret that one.
• 29:39
  A couple to finish here now.
• 29:41
  Just as we look ahead to Albert Park, where you're a winner, of course, in 1996.
• 29:47
  It's 70 years of Grand Prix racing that we're celebrating this year at Albert Park.
• 29:52
  Can anybody catch those Red Bulls?
• 29:55
  That is one very quick car, Damon.
• 29:58
  It is.
• 29:58
  Can anyone catch them?
• 29:59
  Yes.
• 30:00
  They've got this cost cap thing, which means it's increasingly difficult for them to improve over the season.
• 30:07
  Some other teams are going to have to go absolutely flat out to catch them.
• 30:13
  They've got such a huge advantage.
• 30:15
  I think half the season will be gone by the time that people catch up.
• 30:17
  So...
• 30:19
  We're praying that Sergio Perez finds inspiration, maybe divine.
• 30:22
  He needs some divine intervention a little bit.
• 30:25
  But, you know, they're very devout Catholics in Mexico.
• 30:29
  So I think if they get the whole of Mexico praying for him, then he might get some extra help he needs.
• 30:35
  What's the feeling as far as Lewis Hamilton is concerned for this year?
• 30:39
  And, you know, will we see him stick around in Formula 1 a bit longer, try a new challenge in Formula 1, or seek new challenges beyond the sport, do you think?
• 30:47
  Well, he's taken on quite a lot, it seems, externally and has been a champion for all sorts of causes which have been very important and very... You know, he's been a champion in many other ways other than just driving.
• 31:03
  So, you know, I think he's disappointed.
• 31:08
  He's still licking his wounds a little bit from Abu Dhabi in 21.
• 31:12
  So...
• 31:14
  but I think there is a chink of light.
• 31:17
  I thought there was a little bit of a sign of improvement in Jeddah.
• 31:25
  So we don't know.
• 31:26
  They could be a little bit better in Melbourne.
• 31:30
  Oscar Piastri, what can Aussies hope for and do we have to bide our time and be a little bit patient?
• 31:35
  But I think the observation for most is this is a young kid with a bright future.
• 31:41
  Yeah, it's in the Ashes this year.
• 31:43
  It's in the Ashes this year.
• 31:45
  In a cricket sense, you're talking about?
• 31:47
  In cricket.
• 31:48
  I'm just saying we've got England versus Australia in this team now.
• 31:51
  Very good, yes.
• 31:54
  So, you know, I think as far as McLaren versus the rest of the world, I'm not sure they're going to be – they've got a mountain to climb there, but definitely within the team –
• 32:03
  He's done a very good job, Oscar, and it'll be fun for him to go to Melbourne as a Melburnian.
• 32:09
  I think he is.
• 32:10
  Is that right?
• 32:10
  Melburnian?
• 32:11
  Melburnian, correct.
• 32:12
  Not a Melbourne.
• 32:13
  No, Melburnian.
• 32:14
  Well done.
• 32:15
  Well done.
• 32:15
  So he's a Melburnian and he's coming home and he's in Formula One.
• 32:20
  So congratulations to him.
• 32:22
  Can we look now, as we wrap this up, Damon, and you've been super good with your time, sport is next level.
• 32:27
  They're like rock stars in that paddock in many respects, the whole drive to survive effect.
• 32:31
  I think someone said to me in a meeting ahead of the Australian Grand Prix the other day that up to 30% of the people coming through the turnstiles there are basically going to be first-timers to an Australian Grand Prix or a Formula One event, newcomers, new customers, if you like.
• 32:45
  And while we ride...
• 32:46
  this wave, this amazing wave, are you kind of mindful that we're going to need to sort of fence in the faithful and what the sport does next to ensure that we stay connected to these fans, that we keep it going?
• 32:59
  Do you mean the drive to survive kind of effect where people come expecting?
• 33:04
  Yeah, I mean, what the sport does to you.
• 33:06
  I don't know what they expect.
• 33:07
  I mean, that's...
• 33:09
  I think it's doing a great job.
• 33:10
  I think it's shown that we need to open up.
• 33:14
  It's very difficult with our sport because everything's behind closed doors.
• 33:17
  And I think that's the point.
• 33:17
  We can't – nobody wants to reveal information as the season goes forward.
• 33:22
  And we keep banging – as you know, journalists, they keep knocking on the door and going, show us more.
• 33:26
  And everyone's going, no, I'm not showing you that just yet.
• 33:29
  But the Netflix thing has cracked it open and has –
• 33:34
  been a benefit, I think, in explaining what the emotions are, what the drive is, what the rivalries are in our sport and how intense the whole thing is in a way that doesn't come across in the normal broadcasting of it.
• 33:52
  But we've got that insight now.
• 33:53
  So I think that's where the fans have latched onto it.
• 33:57
  Yeah.
• 33:59
  They like the individuals, so they're attracted by the personalities as much as by the cars going fast.
• 34:05
  Three massive days of coverage on 10 in Australia.
• 34:08
  You're working with the likes of Alan Jones, who you mentioned before, Tom Clarkson, who you regularly do work with in the paddock anyway, and many more.
• 34:15
  A good buddy of mine, actually, Richard Crail, who's going to be calling the race.
• 34:17
  So we wish you all the very best.
• 34:19
  It's going to be great to see you back down under in Australia.
• 34:22
  And here's to a cracking remainder of the season.
• 34:25
  I'm really looking forward to it.
• 34:27
  It's going to be fun working with an Australian broadcaster at the Australian Grand Prix.
• 34:32
  It's going to be terrific.
• 34:32
  Thank you, mate.
• 34:33
  Nice to catch up with you.
• 34:35
  Thank you.
• 34:41
  How good is he?
• 34:41
  I love how his dad was a huge inspiration for him.
• 34:46
  For many, losing your father at a critical point in your mid-teens can be a hugely unsettling thing.
• 34:53
  And yet, Damon would go on to emulate that incredibly rare feat of winning one of the most coveted titles in motorsport.
• 35:02
  Being reunited with his 96 winning car and getting to drive it again, that was a fantastic yarn too.
• 35:08
  Now my apologies that this episode is a little shorter than normal.
• 35:12
  Damon had to bolt, but I'm grateful for the time that he gave us.
• 35:15
  There were more questions that some of you kindly sent in around things like the rivalry with Michael Schumacher, which is epic, and being at Williams when Ayrton Senna died, tragically.
• 35:26
  I didn't want to hurry those.
• 35:28
  He has tackled them in other pods.
• 35:30
  The fantastic thing about Rusty's Garage is there is always time for a part two again at some stage down the track when it suits the guest.
• 35:38
  A quick thanks to the comms team at Channel 10 for their help with this episode.
• 35:42
  Coverage of the Australian Grand Prix on 10 starts at 11.30 Eastern on Friday from 10am on Saturday.
• 35:49
  And Sunday looks like it's going to be huge from 8.30am there.
• 35:53
  Check your guides, as they say.
• 35:54
  Good on-air line-ups, including my old colleague, the 1981...
• 35:58
  world champion alan jones who is also in the rusties garage library we recorded that in the run-up to last year's race very frank and funny uh tom clarkson who does a fantastic job reporting in the f1 paddock he's a part of the 10 team too you'll have a laugh with tim mcdonald from the cheap seats and reserve drivers and a quick shout out to my mate richard crail who is calling the race again this year he does a super job
• 36:24
  Now keep an eye out in the Rusty's Library and on your notifications for The Brief.
• 36:30
  All parked up there, easy to find, in the same place.
• 36:33
  It's a short cast looking at things happening currently in the world of motorsport.
• 36:38
  Something new that we're doing and we're tackling them with people who know.
• 36:42
  We appreciate all your feedback and reviews on those too.
• 36:46
  Let your friends know all about it.
• 36:48
  Enjoy the GP everybody.