Damon Hill in 1998

Well it's a new team and engine for Damon and he will be looking for some better results than he had last year. The team had not carried out as much testing as they would have liked and this showed up in qualifying where the two Jordans came 9th and 10th, with Damon just behind Ralf Schumacher. Damon raced well in what looked to be a difficult car and he made it to the end which is a big improvement on last year where he failed to make the start in the Arrows. Reliability will be a key factor and it seems so far that the Jordan has this but is lacking in speed

Finihsed 8th

The second race of the season arrived and Damon was expected to do a lot better than Australia, following good testing results in the meantime. However, the car did not seem to suited to Brazil and Damon was struggling. He managed to qualify in 11th place a couple of 10ths behind Ralf. Damon could only look for a points finish but the car was not handling well and he ended up in a lowly 10th place. Following scrutineering Damon was disqualified as his car was under weight. Damon will be glad to see the back of Brazil and hope for better things in Argentina.

Disqualified from 10th due to underweight car

Well there's not much to say except to express disappointment about another lacklustre performance from Damon. There have been some improvements with Ralf squeezing the car into 5th place on the grid with Damon a bit behind in 9th. However in the race they were not able to improve. Damon must obviously be frustrated and he let it show by underbaking and going into Johnny Herbert. Damon was able to continue but Johnny was forced to retire. Let's hope that Jordan can sort things out ready for the start of the European season.

Finished 8th

Jordan came to the start of the European season with an improved longer wheel-base car. Times were encouraging and Damon was looking competitive for the first time this season. Qualifying was competitive but Damon got the car to 7th and was ahead of team-mate Ralf. Damon was positive for the race. Unfortunately, Damon's luck was not with him and Wurz unexpectedly slowed in front of him at the start as he was stuck in 1st gear and he lost a nose cone. A pit-stop was needed but Damon drove flat out to make the places up and was running ahead of Ralf in 7th place towards the end, despite Ralf making one less pit stop. However, the car had a problem and Damon was forced to retire 5 laps from the end.

Finished 10th

Damon must surely have come to Spain expecting to score his first points of the season with an improved Jordan. Qualifying went reasonably well with Damon outperforming Ralf Schumacher again for 8th place on the grid. Damon builds on his relationship with Frentzen after being brake tested and gives him a nice little wave!!! Times between the teams other than McLaren seem to be pretty tight and it looked like there would be some good racing for those points finishes. Damon didn't make a brilliant start dropping to 10th, however he was having a good race with Johnny Herbert. However, Frentzen who was a lap down after spinning at the start tries to race Damon coming out of the pits and he is forced off the circuit. Damon and Frentzen's relationship could make for very interesting viewing in the races to come, let's just hope Damon avoids him in the race so he can get home in the points.

Retired

Monaco was not a great race for the Jordan team. Both cars struggled to be on the pace all weekend and they obviously need to improve their set-up for the more twisty circuits. Damon qualified only in 15th place but ahead of team mate Ralf Schumacher. This meant that Damon would be unlikely get to the points during the race. As usual there were many retirements but not enough to Damon any higher the 8th at the end. Jordan need to do a lot of work before the next race. Damon would also have been slightly annoyed that his old team Arrows got both their cars home in the points.

Finished 8th

After a dismal Monaco, Damon was hoping to improve things in Canada. Qualifying was better with Damon in 10th place, although team-mate Ralf managed to get the car in 5th place. In what was a chaotic race Damon managed to avoid all the trouble and was running in a fine 3rd place and must have been hoping that he would be getting his first points for Jordan. However there was big disappointment for Eddie Jordan and particularly for Damon when the car was forced to retire with engine sensor problems. Still chin-up, at least the car now seems to be getting back to speed.

Retired, engine sensor problems

With more disappointment for Damon in Canada must surely have thought his luck was going to change. Qualifying went very will Ralf and Damon in 6th and 7th place, respectively. However, although running in contention for the points in the race Damon was again forced to retire on lap 19 with throttle problems. Next stop, Silverstone, and all the British fans are going to be hoping the Damon gets his first points for Jordan, like he did with Arrows last year.

Retired, throttle problems.

The British fans descended on Silverstone expecting Damon to score his first points for Jordan, repeating his achievement with Arrows last year. Saturday was dry and qualifying went well for Damon with 7th place, although a few tenths of a second would have seen him even higher on the grid. Nevertheless he was in fine shape for those points. Sunday was a whole different ball game and in atrocious wet weather at Silverstone, Damon was the first to succumb to the puddles of water, stabbing the throttle a little too hard and spinning his Jordan off the circuit into retirement. This was the first of three disappointments for the rain soaked fans. Damon's team-mate Ralf Schumacher got the first points for Jordan which bodes well for some points for Damon in Austria.

Retired, spun off.

Well all us Damon fans were hoping that Austria would provide Damon with his first points for Jordan. Sadly a poor qualifying position of 15th owing to adverse weather conditions and Damon being the first man to go out in the rain, it looked like we would not be seeing any points. In the race Damon made a brilliant start and was behind his team mate Ralf in 9th at the end of lap 1. However, for some reason Damon seemed to lose a touch halfway through the race, and he only managed to get the car home in 7th, just outside the points. Damon must surely be disappointed with that and he will be looking for a better run in Germany.

Finished 7th

Jordan have scored points in the last 2 races and Damon will have been wanting to make sure he got his share in Germany. Qualifying started things promisingly with a fine 5th place, just behind team-mate Ralf. Damon made a good start in the race and was running well in 5th place. Team-mate Ralf was hassling the two McLaren's but he was on a 2 stop strategy, which proved to be the wrong option. Damon kept good speed with a one-stop strategy and was able to keep Micheal Schumacher in the Ferrari firmly at bay. With Ralf making that extra stop Damon found himself taking 4th place and 3 well-deserved points. Well done Damon! Can we have a podium in Hungary please?

Finished 4th

The Jordan team have now managed to get the car working quite well. In Hungary Damon qualified in his best position yet, with a fine 4th place. It was all looking good for Damon to get that first Jordan podium. At the start of the race Damon got off the line well but was held up slightly trying to pass Michael Schumacher, this allowed Eddie Irvine to sneak past and Damon ended up in 5th. So he needed to do some work to get back into a podium place. Eddie Irvine retired allowing a place to be made, however there was pressure from behind in the shape of Jacques Villeneuve. Damon did a good job to keep him behind and was still in 4th after the first round of pit stops, unfortunately Damon lost that place to Villeneuve in the 2nd of the pit stops. Mika Hakkinen suffered a problem and was passed towards the end of the race, but Damon was only able to finish in 4th. Nevertheless, it was a good drive with some well deserved points and Jordan have shown their car works well in both high downforce and low downforce set ups, by finishing 4th in the last 2 races.

Finished 4th

Belgium proved to be Damon's day! Hooray! It all started well with a brilliant qualifying session to beat Michael Schumacher for 3rd place on the grid. It was looking good for a podium. There was total carnage in the first start and Damon was extremely lucky to avoid the spinning McLaren of David Coulthard. This meant that Damon would be starting with his race car unlike most other drivers. The 2nd start was brilliant and Damon managed to take the lead into the first corner. He stayed there too, despite pressure from Michael Schumacher behind and it wasn't until lap 7 before the rain master managed to sneak by at the bus stop. Damon kept cool and new that 2nd would be better than no result. Anyway, Michael Schumacher came up on David Coulthard on lap 25 and drove into the back of him, allowing Damon back into the lead. He stayed there and allowed Jordan to take a brilliant 1-2, their first ever. The Jordan is performing extremely well now and we might expect a few more podiums in the last few races. Well done Damon, a fine victory!

Finished 1st (yes 1st!)

Well Damon has won for Jordan and it looks like Jordan are competing with the big boys now. Another good result would go down well to gain on that 3rd place in the constructors championship. However, it started badly in qualifying with only 14th place on a drying monza track. Ralf Schumacher faired better and got his Jordan up to 6th. In the race Damon opted for a 2 stop strategy against Ralf's 1 stop one. It would later prove to be the wrong choice. Damon was storming through the field and was up 5th before his first stop. However, he then came out of the pits in the traffic once again and he was unable to fully capitalise on his extra speed. Despite this and with the luck of a few retirements Damon was able to finish in the points in 6th place. A nice drive and really could have been higher with a one stop strategy.

Finished 6th

Damon came to the Nurburgring with a stinking cold, which wasn't going to help things much. With 3rd spot in the contructors championship up for grabs, Jordan would have been hoping for some points. However, Williams and Benetton had something to say about that and qualifying between these 3 teams we very close. However Damon lost out and he had to settle for only 10th place on the grid. The race went OK from there but the teams ahead were reliable and quick and Damon couldn't do any better then finish 9th.

Finished 9th

The Jordan has begun performing very well in the later part of the season and Damon will have been hoping for a good result to take them into the winter period on a high note. Qualifying went well but it was going to be a stuggle to get into the top six, with the two Williams's also running well with that 3rd spot in the constructors championship to protect. Therefore Damon was on the grid in 8th just behind team-mate Ralf. The Jordan race setup was very good and seemed to have the edgeon Williams. There was a good scrap between the two Jordans and Williams. Damon's team-mate for next year, Frentzen managed to keep Damon behind right until the last lap when Damon managed to get past to take 4th place in the race, 6th place in the world championship and 4th place in the constructors for the team. A good result and provided Jordan can keep the momentum going in the winter they should be in good shape for the 1999 season.

Finished 4th