Damon Hill won the 1996 Formula 1 World Drivers’ Championship, becoming the first champion whose father was also an F1 champion.
Hill’s father, Graham Hill, won the World Drivers’ Championship in 1962 and 1968. Damon won the family’s second title in 1996 with Williams, taking eight victories and finishing 19 points ahead of teammate Jacques Villeneuve.
The championship made the Hills the first father-and-son pair to win Formula 1 drivers’ titles. Damon had finished runner-up in 1994 and 1995 before finally securing the championship. His 1996 title was clinched at the Japanese Grand Prix, where he won the race.
Villeneuve became champion the following year, after joining Williams for the 1996 season. Other father-and-son Formula 1 drivers have competed at world championship level, but the Hills were the first pair in which both generations won the drivers’ championship.