» F1 Rewind: Hill’s near-win in Hungary

The ‘moral winner’ can often be quite distinct from the actual race-winner, and Formula 1 is littered with hard-luck stories of drivers robbed of race victories by one such calamity or other.

Today we celebrate such an example. It was a race that was shortlisted in our ‘Top 10 Last Lap Wins’ countdown: the 1997 Hungarian Grand Prix, which occurred on this day fifteen years ago.

The blisteringly hot temperatures gave the grid’s few Bridgestone runners a leg up in competitiveness and suddenly Damon Hill – the defending champion in the little-fancied Arrows – was right up there, qualifying a tremendous third.

On a track where overtaking is notoriously difficult, Hill made a good start to take second at Turn 1, and on lap 11 he forced his way past race leader Michael Schumacher.

Running untroubled almost to the end of the race, Hill had built up a lead of 35 seconds. But with three lap to run, his Arrows faltered: a hydraulics problem was affecting his throttle and gearshift.

He limped around the circuit losing twenty-seven seconds to Jacques Villeneuve in the next two laps, before the Canadian shot by on the final lap to take a surprise win. Damon stuttered home in second place, having come just a few miles short of taking Arrows’ first-ever win on its 299th Grand Prix.

The team would never win a race.

1997 Hungarian Formula 1 Grand Prix – Final Classification (77 laps):

	Driver	Team	Laps	Result	Grid
1.	Jacques Villeneuve	Williams Renault FW19	77	1:45:47.149	2
2.	Damon Hill	Arrows Yamaha A18	77	+ 9.079	3
3.	Johnny Herbert	Sauber Petronas C16	77	+ 20.445	10
4.	Michael Schumacher	Scuderia Ferrari F310B	77	+ 30.501	1
5.	Ralf Schumacher	Jordan Peugeot 197	77	+ 30.715	14
6.	Shinji Nakano	Prost Mugen-Honda JS45	77	+ 41.512	16
7.	Jarno Trulli	Prost Mugen-Honda JS45	77	+ 1:15.552	12
8.	Gerhard Berger	Benetton Renault B197	77	+ 1:16.409	7
9.	Eddie Irvine	Scuderia Ferrari F310B	76	Accident	5
10.	Ukyo Katayama	Minardi Hart M197	76	1 lap behind	20
11.	Jean Alesi	Benetton Renault B197	76	1 lap behind	91
12.	Tarso Marques	Minardi Hart M197	75	2 laps behind	22
13.	Mika Salo	Tyrrell Ford 025	75	2 laps behind	21
	NOT CLASSIFIED
DNF.	David Coulthard	McLaren Mercedes MP4/12	65	Alternator	8
DNF.	Jos Verstappen	Tyrrell Ford 025	61	Hydraulics	18
DNF.	Pedro Diniz	Arrows Yamaha A18	53	Alternator	19
DNF.	Giancarlo Fisichella	Jordan Peugeot 197	42	Spin	13
DNF.	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	Williams Renault FW19	29	Fuel valve	6
DNF.	Rubens Barrichello	Stewart Ford SF1	29	Engine	11
DNF.	Mika Häkkinen	McLaren Mercedes MP4/12	12	Hydraulics	4
DNF.	Gianni Morbidelli	Sauber Petronas C16	7	Engine	15
DNF.	Jan Magnussen	Stewart Ford SF1	5	Damage	17
	FASTEST LAP
	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	Williams Renault FW19	25	1:18.372