With his striking facial features; his strong nose, large chin and handsome smile, Hill looked like he’d walked straight off a movie set – a dashing fighter pilot perhaps back from a daring mission. He was as famous as any film star of the time and the spirit of the swinging sixties fuelled his love to party – especially with the ladies. Hill did actually appear in several race-themed movies and even if he only had brief appearances, he always seemed to make an impression. He looked almost old fashioned but his wit and humour could never be contained and he certainly wasn’t the stuffy gentlemen he could have been mistaken for at first glance.
Here is a brief history of arguably the most charming man to compete in Formula 1…
In 1953 a motorbike enthusiast saw an advert for a chance to drive a racing car around Brands Hatch for 5 shillings a lap – he’d never even seen a motorcar race before but rather fancied the thrill. Those four laps changed Graham Hill’s life – it gave him a new passion and one he would turn into a very successful career.
Graham Hill raced in F1 for 2 decades and won the championship twice. But strangely, whenever we look back at him we don’t necessarily think of him as a double world champion, instead we are hypnotised by his inimitable charm and remember Graham Hill as the most charismatic driver in the sports history – and all this from a man who didn’t even have a driving license until his mid-twenties!
Working as a jobbing mechanic who received payment in the form of time behind the wheel rather than cash, he managed to get a job at Lotus where he persuaded them to let him have a drive. 5 years after paying to do four laps at Brands Hatch he found himself about to race in his first Formula 1 Grand Prix – at Monaco, he was challenging for a podium finish until his car fell to pieces! The Lotus proved to be unreliable and Hill eventually left the team for a seat at BRM. He was an integral part of the team there, and was as much a grease-monkey as a driver. Together the team put together an impressive package and in 1962 he claimed the world championship – and with it he became a British national treasure.
As it happens, Graham’s old team had worked on their reliability issues and along with their new driver, Jim Clark, provided formidable competition for Hill. Clark won a hat-trick of championships with Hill as runner-up. The battles between the two top drivers in the sport provided some iconic sparring on the track, but at Monaco Hill was still king and he dominance there was held in high regard by fans.
Hill found that competition came not only from his rival at Lotus, but from within his own team when natural winner Jackie Stewart joined BRM before moving on to Tyrrell. The two team mates were fiercely competitive on the track but became solid friends, Hill even abandoned his race to help Jackie out of his smashed up BRM during a particularly bad crash at Spa. Hill, Stewart and Clark were top ranking drivers and great friends, and with Hill being the most extroverted of the three he became the natural ‘ringleader’ with the trio enjoying some raucous nights out together.
The British invasion spilled into America too and Hill won the Indianapolis 500 during his first attempt – and America was where the money was. His winnings bought him an aeroplane! The aeroplane was a favourite toy of his and was used regularly as his racing commitments became greater. His busy calendar came at the expense of family life. With a wife and three children missing his presence at home and reading about his exploits in the newspapers the relationship was strained but appeared to be an acceptable sacrifice for the lifestyle where were becoming accustomed to.
Meanwhile, back in Formula 1 his days at BRM were yielding fewer results and Lotus were on form – Hill re-joined his former team to much fanfare – it was a dream team of two British champions, the Lewis and Jenson of their age! Unfortunately though the Lotus cars still had a habit of breaking part way through the race and times in the garage were often frustrating. Hill was used to having major input at BRM but his suggestions at Lotus were frequently seen as meddling.
Family life seemed to improve though and Jim Clark was a regular at the Hill House. Parties shifted from night clubs to a more domestic setting and garden parties were frequent. Hill was quite an old fashioned father and expected his children to behave, but he certainly wasn’t a cold dad – he showed his children affection and enjoyed playing with them. He always looked older than he was which often masked the fact that he was incredibly fit and loved joining in their games and activities. Their wealth meant that they took regular holidays and the family ensured that they maximised the time they spent together. Graham Hill was living the dream but motor racing is dangerous and the tragic elements of the sport were brought home in 1968…
…Hill’s good friend and team-mate Jimmy Clark was the best driver the sport had seen, but during a race event at Hockenheim he crashed and died as a result of his injuries. Hill and the rest of the Lotus team were devastated and shortly after, driver Mike Spence was asked to take Clark’s seat shortly before being killed in a Lotus at the Indy 500. Lotus lost their motivation but Hill’s resolve is attributed to the team picking up the pieces and focussing on winning again. Although Hill won his second championship that year it was under sad circumstances and he dedicated his championship to his good friend Jimmy Clark.
Deaths were overshadowing Formula 1 but Jackie Stewart’s campaign to raise safety in Motorsport was being taken seriously and significant changes were being made. However, in 1969 Hill scared his fans when he crashed heavily and broke both legs. His injuries were serious and he almost lost both his knees.
However, he was determined to get behind the wheel and worked hard to become fit again. After a period of recuperation he returned to F1 even though he couldn’t yet walk properly. After being lifted into the car he finished well, but when he returned fully fit, a younger generation of drivers were making names for themselves and he was no longer taken seriously as a championship contender. However, he did add to his trophy collection by winning the Le Mans endurance race in ’72 – showing that he had lost none of his determination and still had what it took to win.
The signal that his F1 days were over came in 1975 when the former ‘King of Monaco’ failed to even qualify at Monte Carlo where he had enjoyed five blistering wins previously. Struggling to find a secure seat Hill focussed on his own racing team “Embassy Hill”. There he nurtured young talent and Tony Brise was a promising driver whom Hill had acquired from Williams. By now though Graham Hill was a regular on television and his career wasn’t as reliant on his racing, instead his personality propelled him through his appearances and people genuinely enjoyed listening to him. He was on talk shows and gave speeches at award ceremonies, he was a favourite at car events and some suspect he may even have become a good actor if he had decided to take that path.
However in 1975, motorsport found itself mourning the loss of a great character who had captured the imagination of a nation when the aeroplane he was piloting crashed, Hill and his passengers (including protégé Tony Brise) were killed after his plane came in too low through thick fog and clipped some trees. Graham Hill had raced during a time of immense change in Formula 1. When he first started it was a sport for motoring enthusiasts and gentlemen, a sport where mechanics worked in wooden sheds and cobbled together incredibly fast cars using their engineering know-how. Throughout the seventies the business of F1 had changed as much as the shape of the cars had, corporate interest and big money was evolving Formula 1 into the sort of modern sport we see today with TV rights and sponsorship money responsible for a lot of what was seen. Despite the sheer spectacle that Formula 1 provided, Graham Hill still stood out as a genuinely interesting and larger than life character.
He left F1 two gifts when he died – firstly his son Damon who would capture the hearts of fans when he became world champion twenty years later, but perhaps more importantly he stamped into history an enduring image of an utterly charming man. If you ever look at archive footage of him, unlike the other drivers who continue having conversations with their engineers or focus on what they’re doing, Hill turns to the camera to give a cheeky wink, blow a kiss or deliver one of those amazing smiles which make you feel as if you’ve known him personally for years.
That is how Graham Hill is best remembered.
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