Damon Hill make shock announcement as F1 followers shocked by emotional message

Damon Hill has announced he will leave his role as a pundit for Sky Sports’ coverage of Formula 1.

Hill has been part of the iconic Sky Sports F1 team ever since it won the broadcast rights in 2012. The 64-year-old is a frequent attendee of the races, having most recently been in Brazil, but he announced on Friday that he would be leaving the often rotated line-up moving forward.

He shared his farewell message on X writing: “It’s been a fantastic 13 years with Sky Sports F1 but all good things come to an end. I will miss the most impressive bunch of professionals it has ever been my pleasure to have worked with. Looking forward to new challenges.

Hill won the Formula 1 World Championship in 1996. He comes from motorsport heritage with his Dad being the legendary Graham Hill. His father won the Championship himself in 1962 and 1968. They are the first father-son duo to have both won a title, joined only be Keke and Nico Rosberg when the German won in 2016, beating Lewis Hamilton. Unfortunately, Hill’s father died in a plane crash when Damon was just 15.

The 1996 champ was one of the biggest rivals to Michael Schumacher in the mid-90s. The German champion had committed to a highly controversial move which broke Hill’s car once. Schumacher was known for committing intentional bumps, and this was likely another on the list. Because of this, it denied Hill the title that year.

The names that Hill raced alongside are an endless stream of icons within motorsport; Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell, Nelson Piquet etc. The Brit was also Ayrton Senna’s teammate at Williams in 1994, the year the Brazilian sadly lost his life at Imola.

Hill raced in F1 from 1992 until his retirement in 1999. He picked up 22 victories and 42 podiums in 115 starts. When Sky Sports took the broadcast rights off the BBC for F1 in 2012, they created a team of pundits which included some famed ex-drivers.

Johnny Herbert was one who, ahead of the 2023 season, did not have his contract renewed. Herbert had assumed he would carry on in his role and he told Mirror Sport that he had ‘no idea’ why his contract hadn’t been continued.

The most famous pundit is likely to be Martin Brundle. Known for his frantic and comedic ‘grid-walks,’ Brundle was a teammate of Schumacher. He is also seventh on the list of ‘most races without a win.’

Hill did hint in his X post about ‘new challenges’ which would lead people to believe that he will stay in Formula 1. You can still find drivers like 85-year-old Jackie Stewart on the grid, proving that the 1996 Champion can still have plenty of years in the sport.