Hill races towards the crossroads

MOTOR RACING: Williams' No 1 driver faces a `make or break' season. Derick Allsop reports

A widely held belief is that this could prove the most open contest for years, another that Damon Hill has it on a plate. The British driver may be forgiven for thinking he cannot win, but no matter how studiously he plays down the issue, he knows he has to.

Anything short of the Formula One world championship this year could end his dream of the title for ever.

Over the past two seasons, Hill has endeavoured to show not only that he is a match for Michael Schumacher, but also that he is worthy of entering the same arena. He has waged his campaign against a backdrop of doubts that he has the talent and the mental durability. Worse still for the 35-year-old, many of those doubts have been raised within his own camp.

And so we arrive at the starting line for a new season - in Melbourne on Sunday - with Hill apparently confronting two possible routes: one to the championship, the other to the sack.

It has to be said that if this genuinely is the case, then Williams-Renault were perhaps irresponsible in entrusting him with what amounts to their main prospect of success. They do, after all, have the best car and may feel they ought to have had the drivers' championship in each of the past two years. Such a team should have absolute faith in their driver.

They were not, however, prepared to meet Schumacher's financial demands for this year and whatever their interest in Jean Alesi, Gerhard Berger, Heinz-Harald Frentzen or anyone else, they kept Hill and replaced David Coulthard with the IndyCar champion, Jacques Villeneuve.

Hill has done his best to bury the theory of his "make or break" season beneath the mount of conjecture which habitually accompanies every facet of this cloistered environment. Williams, for their part, have done their utmost to present a united front.

For every mistimed tackle and wayward pass by Hill, Williams have been guilty of naive tactics and sloppy team-work. Both have publicly acknowledged their failings and resolved to remedy them.

Hill's personal preparations have been meticulous. He has driven impressively in winter testing, trained diligently and, possibly most importantly, overhauled his mental approach.

For a start, he takes the view he has not been an abject failure so far. "Yes, I want to improve myself because I didn't win the championship last year and that has made me more determined to win it this time," he said.

"But last year was not a total disaster. I proved myself to be a contender for the championship for the second year running. I have the best record, in wins and poles to starts ratios, of anyone competing in Formula One."

His current multi-million pound contract and his new home - overlooking Killiney Bay in the Republic of Ireland - also serve to put his "failure" into perspective.

Even before last season had finished, Hill was bemoaning the fact he had not been assured No 1 status over Villeneuve, which he felt yielded the advantage to Schumacher, the undisputed senior driver at Benetton- Renault then and Ferrari now.

The retuned, positive Hill said: "I'm confident in myself that I can win grands prix this season, but there's going to be competition. There's no way round that. Jacques is, I think, going to be a very good ingredient for the team. He's a good personality, he's quick, and he's going to make an impression, no question about it. He may well have the best first season of anyone in Formula One.

"But I've got more experience of Formula One, which I think I can put to good use. This is my fourth season and I can hopefully put it all together to really bring out the best in myself."

How, though, will he cope with Schumacher? It is possible he will not have to, such have been the pre-season problems at Ferrari. But Hill maintains he will not allow himself to be drawn into verbal sparring this season and is not about to drop his guard.

"I'm going to concentrate on myself from now on," Hill said. "But I find it hard to believe Michael and Ferrari won't be a serious threat. The investment they've made is stupendous and the personnel they've gathered will provide them with all the information they need for an extremely competitive operation."

Hill has declared peace with Schumacher and everyone else. Most significantly, he appears to be at peace with himself.

He is, though, anxious for the kind of flying start that propelled Britain's last champion, Nigel Mansell, also in a Williams, towards his goal four years ago. It would firmly establish his rank in the team and give him breathing space before Schumacher and Villeneuve built their expected momentum later in the season.

The more immediate and sustained threat could come from Jean Alesi or Gerhard Berger, the new Benetton pair. Mika Hakkinen's form in testing for McLaren-Mercedes suggests he, too, may be quickly out of the blocks.

"Benetton are going to be hard to beat and I think it will be a very broad contest," Hill said. "I don't envisage a domination by any one individual. The regulations, in reducing the opportunity for a huge performance advantage for any one team, have closed up the competition.

"We saw some fantastic, incredibly close racing last year and that's what people want to see. If people don't turn on the goggle-box then Formula One racing is going to fizzle out and I'm going to be out of a job. We are there to show off our skills. If I wasn't doing it, I wouldn't mind being a spectator this season."

But then he is doing it and, as most of the sport's followers are saying, he has to do it this time.

"Well, I'm nothing if not resilient," he said. "It's taken me I don't know how many years to get in to Formula One, and in the past three years I've finished third, second, second. There's also a new resolve within the team, a real togetherness.

"We are much better prepared as a team and I, as an individual, am much better pre- pared. It's mental as well as physical. They go hand in glove. Of course the championship is my goal. But you can't promise any more than to try to do your best."

Whether his best will be good enough depends on the reliability of the Ferrari, the ability of Benetton to rise to the challenge of life without Schumacher, and Hill's authority over Villeneuve. The reality cannot be ignored: This is the Englishman's best and possibly last chance.