Yu Chu Chin, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
On 28 April 2006, Damon Hill was elected president of the British Racing Drivers’ Club, succeeding Jackie Stewart in one of the more prominent roles in British motorsport administration. The 1996 world champion was stepping into a position with real weight behind it, at a time when Silverstone’s place on the Formula 1 calendar was far from guaranteed and the BRDC was navigating a complicated relationship with the sport’s commercial leadership.
What the BRDC actually is
The British Racing Drivers’ Club is the organisation that owns Silverstone. Founded in 1927, it exists as a members’ club for professional racing drivers with strong British connections, but its ownership of the home of the British Grand Prix means that its decisions have consequences that extend far beyond internal club business.
Damon Graham Devereux Hill
- Races (starts):115
- Wins:22
- Podiums:42
- Pole positions:20
- Fastest laps:19
- Driver of the Day:0
- World titles:1
- Points (total):360
Data source: F1DB (GitHub)
The president of the BRDC is not a purely figurehead role. At a time when Silverstone’s future on the Formula 1 calendar was being regularly questioned, and when the circuit itself needed substantial investment and development, the position carried genuine responsibility. Hill was not walking into a comfortable sinecure.
Following Jackie Stewart
Stewart had served as BRDC president and brought to the role the same directness and public visibility that had defined his driving career and his subsequent years as a team principal. He was never a man who sat quietly in the background, and his tenure had kept the BRDC in the conversation at a time when Silverstone needed advocates.
Hill brought different qualities. Where Stewart was combative and commercially sharp, Hill carried a quieter authority and a particular kind of public affection in Britain that came partly from his 1996 championship, partly from his father’s legacy and partly from his own personality, which had always been thoughtful and measured rather than instinctively confrontational.
Silverstone’s uncertain moment
By 2006, Silverstone’s relationship with Formula 1’s commercial rights holders had been difficult for some time. There were genuine questions about whether the British Grand Prix would retain its place on the calendar, and the circuit itself was in need of significant investment to meet the standards that the sport’s commercial structure was increasingly demanding of host venues.
Hill stepped into this situation as the public face of the organisation with the most direct stake in Silverstone’s future. It was not a glamorous brief, involving as it did negotiations, infrastructure conversations and the slow work of securing commitments from various parties who did not always share the same interests. But it was necessary work, and it required someone who could represent the BRDC credibly in those rooms.
Hill after the helmet
Damon Hill’s post-driving life had been characterised by a willingness to stay engaged with the sport rather than retreating entirely from it. He had worked in broadcasting, remained visible in British motorsport culture and brought to his public appearances the kind of reflective intelligence that had always made him an interesting figure to listen to. The BRDC presidency was a natural extension of that continued involvement, moving him from commentary to a position where he could actually influence outcomes.
For a driver whose career had been shaped so substantially by British motorsport, from his early struggles to make it to the top to his championship year with Williams, taking on a central role in protecting and developing the home of the British Grand Prix had a clear logic to it.
