Damon Hill insists he currently has no plans to race again, but is not ruling out the possibility of competing in the Grand Prix Masters series altogether.
The 1996 world champion tested one of the 600bhp GP Masters machines at Silverstone on Thursday ahead of this weekend’s event for retired Formula 1 drivers.
There had been speculation that he would use the test session to get a feel for the car, before deciding whether he wanted to make his debut in the series alongside the likes of Nigel Mansell and Emerson Fittipaldi.
But in an exclusive interview to appear on ITV-F1.com on Friday, the BRDC president confirmed he would not be racing this weekend and said that while he still loves driving, he would not yet be going back on a vow he made when he retired from F1 in 1999.
“No I’m not going to be racing no,” he said.
“I took a decision not to race a long time ago.
“But it was definitely worth coming back and trying it out.
“So I’ve got to say a big thank you to the GP Masters for giving me the chance to sample it and give me something to think about, anyway.
“This series has created a space for old timers like myself to do what they love, so there's a possibility there.
“So I wouldn’t rule it out, but I can’t honestly say that right now I need to race.
“That is the bit that is missing.
“I love driving, I love pushing the limit and all the rest of it but racing for me…I don’t have an ambition to do it and I think that’s an important part of the equation.
“You never know,” he added.
Since calling time on his F1 career almost seven years ago, Hill has only made fleeting appearances behind the wheel of a race car – most recently in a Mercedes-Benz DTM machine at Brands Hatch.
The 45-year-old says he thoroughly enjoyed his run at Silverstone and was amazed at how quickly his racing driver instincts came flooding back to him after such a long time out of the cockpit.
“I thought it was fantastic,” he enthused.
“It’s thrilling to get back in a car after not having driven for so long and get familiar with that feeling of driving at high speed – you can see why you love doing it now.
“You just don’t forget.
“It’s just so ingrained, it’s extraordinary how it’s sort of all just there and the memories of how to do it, it’s still sort of hardwired into you.”
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