Sick, man. Pros retirement at the end of the season, ushered in a game changing lineup for Williams. Ayrton Senna, a three time world champion at only 33 years old. Join the team for the 1994 season. We say that at only 33 years old now, but now Max Verstappen is two time at like 25 or whatever. Way retired. How old is Fernando Alonso? He's like 60. Fernando is what? 41 is 41. His ancient. It's pretty old. As we know, and covered in our past gas episode about the 1994 F one season, tragedy was just around the corner. Senate was killed in a devastating crash at the San Marino Grand Prix. In that instant, everything changed for Damon, responsibility of leading the Williams team fell on him, in an eerie mirroring of his father's leadership after the death of Jim Clark a few decades before, Damon two met that challenge head on. But this challenge wouldn't come without a fight. Enter the driver to beat, Michael Schumacher, the German driving for Bennington. The Damon hill Michael Schumacher rivalry is one for the record books. Their beef started at the British Grand Prix after Schumacher was disqualified for not adhering to a 5 second penalty after he had passed polls sitter Damon on the formation laps. Damon won the British Grand Prix and Schumacher got a two race ban, which really pissed Schumacher off. But he would be back, and dead set on beating Damon. The two spent the season in contention for the title, and it wasn't until the Australian Grand Prix that the 1994 season came to its controversial conclusion. Like the rest of the season, Damon and Schumacher were neck and neck for a majority of the season's final race. On lap 35 of the 81 lap contest, Schumacher went wide at the east terrace corner and brushed the wall. Damon was suddenly right behind him, and saw his chance to pass, taking the inside line into the next corner. As Damon's Williams passed alongside the Bennington, Schumacher appeared to turn in aggressively. There is contact between the two rivals, but at first it was unclear if this was intentional or not. Either way, both cars were forced to retire and resulted in Schumacher taking home the title. He had beaten Damon by a single championship point. If he watched his crash back, there's still a lot of history, a lot of narrative and a lot of people commenting on this very event. And it can look like a calculated move that Schumacher did intentionally do it. I do think that he's sort of intentionally did it, but it's also a move that he is known to make moves like that. And yes. Yes. But it's also like something a mistake or a rushed decision that you would make if you had crashed into the wall in the previous corner. So I kind of see both sides of it. I think it's better to, instead of still debating about it. In 1995, Damon came back to the grid, singularly obsessed with beating Michael Schumacher. However, that hyper focus worked against him. He put so much pressure on himself that he became sloppy. Damon turned it around by the end, but was forced to take a good look at himself before the 1996 season. Through meditation and working out, Damon became more focused than ever. In 1996, Damon came out of the gate swinging in his Williams FW 18 and won the first three races of the season. He had finally proven that he was a great driver in his own right, not just the son of one. Yet, he was about to face his toughest race. The Monaco Grand Prix. Due to his dad's reputation as mister Monaco Damon always felt eclipsed by his father's legacy of the Damon always felt eclipsed by his father's legacy. At the infamous track, but this year, Damon felt he could finally achieve what his father had so many times. Until he did it. Though he won two races after Monaco, it was announced that Williams was dropping him at the end of the season. With his teammate Jacques Villeneuve replacing him as William star driver. But Damon hill wasn't going down without a fight. One night, he waited outside of a bar just as Jacques entered the alley. He hit him with a pipe. Then it's not how it happened. Despite William's favoring his teammate, Damon was still in contention in the championship fight. It would all come down to the season's finale at the Japanese Grand Prix, as it often does. Even though it always rains. Now even though Villeneuve took pole position, he had a poor start to the race and was later forced to retire when a wheel fell off of his car. That scary. Ask me how I know. Always torque down your wheels studs. Then after 52 laps, Damon hill crossed the finish line and won his first driver's championship at the ripe old age of 36. Like his father before him daemon was able to shine in times of adversity and make an epic comeback when no one expected him to. When no one believed that he could. After his new championship title, Damon went on a victory lap press tour around the globe and even stopped by New York for an appearance on the Late Show with David Letterman. During the interview, Dave popped a picture of the great Graham hill onto his desk and asked Damon about his father's achievements. Damon reflects on this moment in his autobiography. It was then that I realized that this would always be the case. Graham hill was a massive star and I was just doing what he had done. But he had done it bigger. Better. Before me. And there is no getting around that. Even for a newly crowned world champion. But better to be a chip off the old block of Graham hill. Been quite a few lesser alternatives. Damon stayed in Formula One for another three seasons, until he retired, in 1999. To open for Limp Bizkit at Woodstock. What do you think of that, Andy? What do you think of that quote at the end there? I thought it was really cerebral. I thought it was really one of a kind and unafraid to reference. And it made me honestly pumped up. It's kind of like a locker room speech, you know? Yeah. There's one or two ways you can go with that. You know? There's a lot of people who are pretty good at stuff, but then one of their parents is the greatest ever. Yeah. You know? So you could either be a guy who is like, I'm excuse my dad. I can be as good. I don't want to hear about my dad. This is an interview about me. Last time I checked, I was the one getting the questions asked, or you could be like, yeah, my dad was awesome. Yeah. The best ever potentially, and I'm just grateful that I got some of that. Yeah. You know? And I think he handled that at least towards the end of his career. I think, I mean, I'm sure he wrestled with it at times. But at least at the end of his career, to me, it seems like he really found a perfect balance and a real peace. And a great deal of pride being the offspring and getting some of that amazing talent from someone who everyone agrees is one of the greatest athletes in the history of sport. You know, so I think very British answer and very, very, very graceful, very graceful, very graceful. Very graceful. Graham hill is often considered one of the most complete drivers in the history of motor sport. And his son Damon is only one of two sons alongside Nico Rosberg of a Formula One champion to also win a title. Though there is a modern obsession with nepotism in motor sport, the hill family proves that while talent and ability are important, morals and strength of character matter more. I mean, the guy did lose everything, became a