Hill on DC......

[bosch!]

If David Coulthard had told Ron Dennis to '*********', he might still be a McLaren driver and a twice world F1 champion to boot.

That's the claim of 1996 title winner Damon Hill.

The Englishman, 44, told Autosport that a turning point in Coulthard's career was agreeing to pull over and let then teammate Mika Hakkinen win the last race of 1997.

Hill that said instead of agreeing to the boss' order on the radio, 33-year-old Coulthard should have replied with the four-letter word, won, and never shrunk forever into two Finnish teammates' shadow.

Home of F1

The moment he pulled over in Australia he was whipped for the rest of his time at Mclaren. He should have left before he was turfed out.

[Kicking-back]

Damon Hill is known for his dry humour - which in print can never be captured.

Having read the Autosport article this has been cribbed from, the light-hearted nature of Damon's comments has been blown out of proportion by "Home of F1" (whatever that is).

[Glen]

Damon is dead right though isn't he? DC was a fool to let Mika through at Jerez - can you imagine any true champion doing that? Schumacher? Senna? Prost? Don't think so. The very next race (ok, following season) sealed DC's fate and reinforced his role as lap-dog. McLaren are emphatically a team-orders outfit - at least Ferrari have the guts to admit it. Frankly I worry about Montoya's coming season... although Ron Dennis woud have to be pretty dumb to think that JPM is going to be doing any moving over!

[Neil1982]

I think Montoya would definately respond to Ron with the four letter word if asked to move over for Kimi. Surley Ron would not even bother to ask!

[Gt_R]

I think Ron better be smart enough and not ask JPM at all.

But it's true, many people, F1 Racing, and me think that the way Mclaren consecutively employed team-orders to steal DC's victories have fundamentally ruined DC's edge mentally and killed off his career. It may sound dramatic, but it does signal that Mclaren can just stomp over DC at will.

I agree with Glen. I'm always amused that Ferrari got condemned so badly for team-order while Mclaren got away relatively scott-free for doing the same thing to DC. At least, Ferrari admitted they used team-orders in certain situations and did not pull any silly PR stunt and spin some pathetic PR story (ie.DC is a gentlemen..we did not ask him...blah blah).

Jerez 97 is a big farce for the top three teams. Ferrari for what Michael did..but the dark spot is the collusion between Williams vs Mclaren. In any case, what is astounding is that Mclaren, given 1-2, made DC come in 2nd. Ok...probably they just wanted to repay Mika's loyalty with a first maiden victory...but many would have expected that in Melbourne, after the pitstop mistake, DC is repaid for his sacrifice...but no...nobody remembered.

It's disappointing if DC's potentials were drowned due to those situations..but we'd never really know how much DC have to offer otherwise. He had shown too much to be an obedient guy..listens to much to what he needs to do and what he should do to please the media/sponsors/team boss. And consequently, he suffers as a result.

[Gabrio]

I totally agree. Maybe his career would have taken a different direction.

[Mattracer]

Perhaps but those were just two races out of quite a lot he has started with Mclaren. Then there are his races with Williams before that. He has a lot of experience now and during that Mclaren episode was hardly a rookie then. Maybe a stretch to suggest that following team orders stunted his career. Longest-serving driver at McLaren. Must have counted for something then.

[Glen]

Damon also said that DC should just go for it this year and make the most of his last chance. I really hope that he hs got something special saved up for us, but I doubt it. as Edie Irvine says - he's in for a shock when he gets to driving and racing that car. DC is a driver that doesn't perform if the car isn't how he likes it - he hates oversteer and is quite easily demotivated if the handling is, er, a handful. I think you can pretty much bet the bank that the RBR (Jag) will be a handful.

[RWC]

This whole thing is utter rubbish!
Who on earth would let two minor setbacks stop them from driving fast ever again??
These are race drivers not 3 year old children

Damon has possibly been missquoted, but still- he shouldn't be saying patently untrue stuff .
'dc two times world champ ' indeed..... if damon really believes that then he probably also believes he was as fast as shuey

[Dog Faced Boy]

Those Irvine comments are spot on. Coulthard only races well when the car is exactly how he likes it, this is why he has so few good days. Its a shame he missed out on two wins but to be honest one of them was only because of JV slowing down. DC's career gave him exactly what he deserved, he was good but not that good. I only wish he had retired rather than deciding to become the next Rene Arnoux.

[BootsOntheSide]

DC had already been generally below Mika's pace for those previous 2 years, and he'd spent several laps trying to pass an ailing and cautious JV. Giving Mika the chance to overtake him was better for the team as a whole, and finally gave Mika that deserved first win, after he'd broken down while leading 3 times. As for Melbourne, I honestly beleive Mika and DC's official line that tehy'd agreed that the driver leading out of turn 1 would have the win, although I don't think policies like that represent fair racing.

[krt917]

I certainly think that the '98 Melbourne situation did affect DC psychologically, and perhaps his position within the team, but how much better he would have done without that is open to question. I certainly don't think that McLaren treated him unfairly overall, other than perhaps there was an emotional attachment to Mika. I don't think they harmed DC in many races, and not deliberately.

DC is one of those great talents that never quite managed to string it all together. He got closest to doing it 2001, but the car let him down too often. Some of the reasons for his failure to win the title are due to circumstance, but some must be put down to him too.

As for how he'll get on at Red Bull, I think it could rejuvinate him - a new challenge, a new team, and more responsibility. He may not be good when the car isn't, but I think his testing ability might enable him to improve the car quite a lot.

[Rich R]

when dc finally had the edge over hakkinen in 2001 mclaren didn't have a car that could fight for the championship, wins yes, but not fast enough over the course of the season, so he was unlucky of the timing of him getting accendancy at mclaren. on he's day dc can be as quick as anyone, their just weren't many days like that last season.

[Knowlesy]

I have to agree, I am of the belief that Jerez 1997 destroyed DC really.

I don't think he would have gone on to win titles though, because Hakkinen always had a little edge on him and was much better anyways. He would have pushed a lot harder though.

[Adam43]

DC would have been beaten by Mika whatever. Mika was the better driver.

I have seen DC do this anyway. Spa '99 he barged past Mika a the start (with small contact) and beat him in a 1-2. That reduced the number of points Mika got by 4 and it was very tight that year. Austria that year didn't help.

Rarely has a man done such a thing as in Melbourne '98. It is not often that some on sacrifices something to right a (minor) wrong in GP racing.

[Aysedasi]

Originally Posted by krt917

...other than perhaps there was an emotional attachment to Mika.

Personally I don't have the slightest doubt about that. Ron nurtured Hakkinen and, in the same way as the relationships with Prost and then Senna, the relationship between Hakkinen and Dennis was (IMO) quite different to that with DC.

[Kicking-back]

And the aftermath of Adelaide 1995 brought Mika closer to Ron and the Dennis family than any other driver's been.

[raul_iulian]

well i think Hill is so right!

[Alex Hodgkinson]

I agree with Hill and think that Jerez '97 and Australia '98 were the turning points that ****ed DC's career.

[joe rossi]

Originally Posted by Dog Faced Boy

Coulthard only races well when the car is exactly how he likes it, this is why he has so few good days. I

I think that can be said of quite a few drivers..Ralf in particular springs to mind

[Mr V]

Originally Posted by Rich R

when dc finally had the edge over hakkinen in 2001 mclaren didn't have a car that could fight for the championship, wins yes, but not fast enough over the course of the season, so he was unlucky of the timing of him getting accendancy at mclaren.

DC only got the better of Mika due to the Finn's low moral (that lead to his subsequent retirement), not an improvement on DC's part.

Ironic that in that season which was proberbly DC's best and Mika's worst, they both had 2 wins and Mika would have had a 3 rd had his clutch not exploded on the last lap in Spain.

Jerez and Melbourne, imo, didn't ruin DC's career, because he was never as quick as Mika. Ok, he "gave" Mika 2 victories, but they were never going to be enough to help him (DC) win a WDC. All it possibly did do was cement it for McLaren hat DC was the ideal #2 for them.

[gringottsdirect]

Back in the day, when Damon was challenging MS for position in a routine way, and suffering harsh criticism for often failing to make overtaking moves successfully, before perhaps we realised exactly how good Schuey is and how it would be a long time before anyone was fast enough to be that close enough to fail at passing so regularly....
I remember DC being quoted thus " People say Damon is a **** racing driver - and he is. " Being generous, I like to think DC was praising Damon's supreme ability in testing and setting up, and pointing out that because he didn't progress through karts and lower formulas in the usual way, he wasn't quite on the ball with racecraft.
Without being generous it sounded like DC was jealous that Damon was attracting more press attention.
My opinion is that DC wasn't fairly treated at McLaren, partly through his own making, he was too loyal and willing to put the team first, rather than himself.
His results don't show his real potential, if he was given full support and genuine No. 1 status DC could still achieve a championship, but I doubt RBR will do the business.
I would have preferred DC to have landed a BAR or Toyota drive.

[krt917]

Originally Posted by Mr V

Ironic that in that season which was proberbly DC's best and Mika's worst, they both had 2 wins and Mika would have had a 3 rd had his clutch not exploded on the last lap in Spain.

Yes, but DC did have a lot of bad luck in 2001 (such as at Monaco) and could have won more races.

Of course, Mika was a faster driver, but it took him a while to develop his racecraft. Until Spa 2000, I would always have expected DC to be better in a wheel-to-wheel fight with Schuey than Mika.

It is a shame DC can't let his natural talents off the leash a bit more when the car is not good. According to Autosport last year, he tends to pick up on oversteer earlier than most, but stops it too early and doesnt give the car its head. I think we've seen the best of him, but hope we see a couple more flashes before he retires.

[Adam43]

Originally Posted by krt917

Yes, but DC did have a lot of bad luck in 2001 (such as at Monaco) and could have won more races.

Perhaps so, but I always thought that Mika's bad luck was worse almost every year they raced. Especially in '97, '99 and possibly '01.

[Logrence]

Originally Posted by Dog Faced Boy

Coulthard only races well when the car is exactly how he likes it, this is why he has so few good days.

I don't like to use the toilet when the seat is cold, does this make me a bad person?

DC's problem has never been his driving skill, but psychology. He's a sensitive chap who reads too much into things - he thinks too much.