who, in their own words, look after the \u201cCrown Jewels\u201d<\/a> \u2013 special reunions are becoming more and more frequent.<\/p>\nHill and the FW18 meet again<\/p>\n
And so, some 30 years after Hill\u2019s crowning F1 moment, Williams Heritage lovingly restored Chassis 4 from the pool of remaining FW18s, just in time for their former driver to get back behind the wheel at last month\u2019s Goodwood Festival of Speed.<\/p>\n
It marked the latest milestone project for the ever-growing Heritage team, run by Director Jonathan Kennard, who as \u201ca massive Damon fan growing up\u201d happily talked F1.com through the process in a gap between Hill\u2019s outings.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s an incredibly special car and chassis for us, winning four Grands Prix with Damon in the middle part of the year,\u201d says Kennard. \u201cNaturally, we\u2019ve got a real soft spot for it.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt hadn\u2019t run for a few years, so it was a case of getting it into the workshop, understanding what we\u2019ve got around us, what condition the whole car was in, stripping it back to the bare chassis \u2013 so much so that we actually took the paint off and repainted it again.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve got the archive of the design, so if we had a question on that side of things \u2013 not just the design, but the engineering side \u2013 like, \u2018Why did we do something the way we did it in 1996?\u2019, we could look up the engineers\u2019 notes and find the answer quite quickly. To have that resource in Heritage, literally in the office next door, is wonderful.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe then built the car back up with some of the original guys that worked on it in \u201996, and it\u2019s been a bit of a labour of love. But it\u2019s an important car, and we wanted to make sure it was absolutely perfect.\u201d<\/p>\n
On the subject of driver\/team reunions, he continues: \u201cTo still be able to call on Damon and other drivers like that \u2013 we had Juan Pablo Montoya [and the FW26 from 2004] a couple of years ago \u2013 and get them back in our cars is really important for us.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s wonderful as well to see the relationship between those drivers and the mechanics that we still have in our team. There\u2019s a lot of ribbing between them and Damon here, and it\u2019s a really good camaraderie that is 100% still there, 30 years on.\u201d<\/p>\n
As for Hill himself, the now 65-year-old cut an emotional figure throughout the weekend \u2013 from seeing the restoration for the first time, to getting back into the car, and finally sending it up Goodwood\u2019s famous hill.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s very personal to me, that car,\u201d Hill comments. \u201cAlthough I don\u2019t own one, I definitely regard it as my car. It\u2019s a bespoke car for my dimensions, and I really appreciated that when I was racing, because everything was in the perfect spot. I really feel at home in it.<\/p>\n
\u201cI did drive the car [at Goodwood] when Frank was here, 10 or so years ago, and that was extremely emotional \u2013 getting back in the car for the first time since getting out of it at Suzuka.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven now it has that power to bring [out] all the emotions. Going up the hill, when you open it up, you realise it was a pretty frisky little thing! It was just beautifully proportioned, the weight of it and the power of it. It really goes and it really works. It\u2019s fantastic.\u201d<\/p>\n
Echoing Kennard\u2019s sentiments, he adds: \u201cThe mechanics looked after me during that championship year, and they made sure everything worked. I\u2019m very, very grateful to them, and it\u2019s great to see some of them still here helping me, and looking after me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Five months of hard graft<\/p>\n
So, following those kind words, how do the mechanics feel about the project?<\/p>\n
Ian Mellor, a trusted Williams crew member back in the day, laughs when recalling the moment Hill first saw the refreshed FW18: \u201cDamon was about to put his phone on the car and went, \u2018Ah, I guess it has been repainted?\u2019 I said, \u2018Yes, Damon!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
On a more serious note, Mellor impressively runs through the full list of checks and changes made to the car \u2013 powered by a Renault V10 engine \u2013 over a period of around five months.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was brought into the workshop in February time,\u201d he says. \u201cThe chassis went off for NDT (Non-Destructive Testing). While that was away, the hydraulics were all serviced over at the main factory, the [suspension] wishbones NDTd, brake lines pressure checked, the [suspension] upright stripped, NDTd and rebuilt, the gearbox stripped, NDTd and rebuilt\u2026<\/p>\n
\u201cIt also had a brand-new fuel cell, all the pumps in the fuel tank were checked and serviced, the radiators were sent away to be cleaned and flushed, the same with the hydraulics, and then when all the components came back, we reassembled the car!\u201d<\/p>\n
Looking over his shoulder at the finished article, he smiles: \u201cIt\u2019s a pretty iconic car, and it\u2019s our most successful car, so it\u2019s quite a privilege to put it back on the track.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven in the paddock today, I heard a mechanic [from another team] say, \u2018Wow, look at the prep on the Williams cars\u2019. We take a lot pride in it, because obviously we still carry Frank\u2019s legacy, and we worked for him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Colin Watts, who like Mellor worked with Hill through 1996, chips in: \u201cTo see Damon today, and to say hello again\u2026 We do see him now and again, but it\u2019s a fantastic thing that he still remembers us and comes up to say hello. It brings a tear to your eye!<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a great season. It was the most successful season we\u2019ve had: 12 wins out of 16 races, with Damon getting eight of those, and winning the Constructors\u2019 by over 100 points. It doesn\u2019t get a lot better than that, does it?\u201d<\/p>\n
At this point, Mellor and Watts point to their younger colleague, Ollie Goodenough. In his mid-20s, he represents the next generation of mechanics who will play a key role in keeping Williams\u2019 legacy \u2013 and the stories about their various cars \u2013 alive for years to come.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a massive privilege to be a part of it, to be surrounded by such knowledgeable people, to share some of the memories, and to be passed down some of the antics and the great success that went on at the time,\u201d he explains. \u201cI can tap into that time capsule.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe diversity and range that we have at Heritage is a massive factor for me being in this department, as opposed to maybe pursuing something else. It\u2019s exciting to work on so many different projects. I don\u2019t think I intend on giving that up \u2013 it\u2019s why I do what I do.\u201d<\/p>\n
He adds: \u201cMy job is a bit different to what some of my mates do! I think they can\u2019t quite get a grasp of it. It\u2019s definitely an encapsulating experience.\u201d<\/p>\n
Heritage\u2019s back to the future story<\/p>\n
One man particularly inspired by the work of Mellor, Watts, Goodenough and the rest of the Heritage operation is Williams team boss James Vowles<\/a>, who joined Hill in sampling the rebuilt FW18 across the Goodwood weekend.<\/p>\n\u201cIt\u2019s not just the outside that\u2019s immaculate,\u201d he makes clear, with the classic blue-and-white livery glistening in the summer sun. \u201cIt\u2019s an incredible racing car. From the gear shifts to the clutch, to the control, to the directness of feedback, to the balance. It responded beautifully. I\u2019m so impressed with our team \u2013 they\u2019ve done an incredible job.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe other thing is that it\u2019s a dream come true. There are elements of this job that are breathtaking, that you can\u2019t believe you have an opportunity to do, and today\u2019s one of those. I remember watching Damon fight for his championship on TV as a young boy, and to have the opportunity to drive it, I just would never have imagined it.\u201d<\/p>\n
So, with another successful restoration under their belts, what\u2019s next for Williams Heritage?<\/p>\n
\u201cAs the director of the department, I feel a very big responsibility to get it right and look after Frank\u2019s legacy, whilst becoming quite a modern department at the same time,\u201d says Kennard. \u201cIt\u2019s weird saying Heritage is a modern department, but that\u2019s the way we\u2019re going.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve made a lot of changes over the last couple of years, and we\u2019re in a really good position, but we don\u2019t want to ever forget our history, obviously. It\u2019s making sure that is looked after and Frank can look down with some pride at what we\u2019re doing still.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pointing to the team\u2019s 50th anniversary in 2027, he adds: \u201cWe\u2019ll be celebrating it as it needs to be celebrated. From a Heritage standpoint, it\u2019s really to have as many running cars as we possibly can, while also carrying on the day-to-day work that we\u2019re doing.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur goal is to celebrate all of Heritage, and all of Williams\u2019 history, really. There\u2019s a lot of love for Williams, for Frank and Patrick, and for everything that we\u2019ve done. We need to do a lot between now and then, but it\u2019s definitely worth celebrating.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Back in 1996, Williams wrote one of the most successful chapters in their F1 story \u2013 claiming 12…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":583684,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[85,46,105],"class_list":["post-583683","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/583683","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=583683"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/583683\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/583684"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=583683"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=583683"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=583683"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}