Hill's racing career began at the relatively old age of almost 30 years and in a roundabout way. After an apprenticeship with the instrument manufacturer Smiths and a period of service in the Navy, he started as a mechanic for Colin Chapman's Lotus team in the late 1950s . In 1960 he switched to BRM as a driver and won the world championship in 1962. Back at Lotus in 1967, Hill made a significant contribution to the testing of the new type of Lotus 49 with the Ford-Cosworth engine. After two-time world champion Jim Clark at the Hockenheimring and Mike Spence had a fatal accident during test drives for the Indianapolis 500 at Lotus in early 1968 , Hill was able to rebuild morale in the team and win his second world title.
The year 1969 was still overshadowed by accidents. They were mostly due to technical problems that resulted from the lightweight construction of Chapman's car. Grotesque wing structures increased the risks before the rules were changed. Forty-year-old Hill survived an accident at Watkins Glen with severe broken legs. After recovering, he continued his career, but could no longer build on his earlier successes. Although he still won a non-World Championship F1 race on Brabham , he could not qualify in Monaco in the end, where he had won five times. But he was now victorious in sports cars, he won the 1972 24 Hours of Le Mans , which he had finished second in 1964.
After an unsuccessful season as a private driver of a Shadow DN1, Hill founded his own team in late 1973 with Lola vehicles under the name Embassy Hill . However, the company was unlucky. Rolf Stommelen had a serious accident in the 1975 race in Barcelona , and numerous spectators died. Hill could not qualify for the Grand Prix of South Africa and Monaco in the same year and then retired from active racing.
At the end of November 1975, the Piper Aztec , which Hill had bought from the victory bonus for the Indy 500 and piloted himself, crashed on approach to Elstree Airfield in thick fog over the town of Arkley , north London . In addition to Hill, five other members of the Embassy Hill team were killed, including Tony Brise , a great British Formula 1 hope.
The family was left in great debt. Hill had been married to Bette since 1955. The couple had three children, their son Damon won the 1996 Formula 1 World Championship with Williams - Renault . He adopted the characteristic design of his father's black helmet, on which white oars refer to the London Rowing Club.
Great Britain
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Brian Muir
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Pedro Rodríguez
