F1 News: Damon Hill shares BRUTAL motivation struggles

F1 News & Gossip

F1 champion shares BRUTAL motivation struggles

Damon Hill reveals the struggles of motivation as F1 drivers get older

Shay Rogers

Sunday 31 March 2024 11:57

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Formula 1 world champion Damon Hill has been discussing the struggle that drivers suffer towards the end of their careers as their time in the sport comes to an end.

Lewis Hamilton is still racing in the sport as he approaches 40, while 42-year-old Fernando Alonso is still going strong, albeit admitting that the mammoth length of this 2024 F1 season could have a bearing on his future beyond the end of the year.

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Hill retired from F1 at the end of the 1999 season, just three years after winning his first title with Williams.

Fascinatingly, he was 32 before he got the chance to make his debut with Brabham, before going on to make an impressive career for himself throughout the rest of his 30s.

If the Brit had arrived on the grid a few years sooner, could we have seen him win more championships, or would he have retired even sooner?

Damon Hill during his final F1 season with Jordan

Damon Hill is a pundit for Sky Sports F1

How did Damon Hill struggle?

Discussing motivation on the F1 Nation podcast, Hill revealed how he found it harder to psych himself up for grands prix.

“Motivation is an interesting thing isn’t it? Sometimes you just can’t seem to find it,” he said. “Sometimes you can’t put your finger on what it is that’s wrong.

“As I got towards the end of my career, I definitely found it harder to motivate myself because you’ve got it in your mind that there’s another life afterwards.

“When you’re younger, all you see is [that] the future is F1 – that's all you see.”

Now enjoying a career as a pundit, it appears that everything fell into place just fine for the 1996 world champion, who helps to provide analysis for Sky Sports F1 at some events throughout the F1 season.

Lewis Hamilton Mercedes Formula 1 Fernando Alonso Williams Damon Hill