Hill was a late entry to the rarefied world of Formula One after starting out in motorcycle racing. He sparred with Michael Schumacher repeatedly as championship rivals, with the German clinching his first title in Adelaide in 1994 after colliding with Hill's Williams.

``The difference between the rivalry between Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost and mine with Michael is that I was never held in esteem by Michael,'' Hill wrote last year.

The son of the late World champion Graham Hill, he had racing in his blood but little financialmuscle behind him and had to pay for his early career by working as a London motorcycle despatch rider.