0:00:37 > 0:00:40'It was late last night when Hill's own Piper Aztec
0:00:40 > 0:00:43'smashed into a screen of trees and burst into flames.
0:00:45 > 0:00:47'The plane burnt out in minutes,
0:00:47 > 0:00:49'but from the start, there was little doubt
0:00:49 > 0:00:53'that Britain had lost one of its greatest racing personalities.
0:00:56 > 0:01:00He was a regular bloke, with an irregular and extraordinary ability.
0:01:02 > 0:01:04An absolute icon of that period.
0:01:06 > 0:01:10He used to be in the middle of it all.
0:01:10 > 0:01:13He was the man.
0:01:15 > 0:01:18Graham was a giver.
0:01:18 > 0:01:20Full of humour and style.
0:01:22 > 0:01:25And he was a bloody good racing driver.
0:01:44 > 0:01:46I'd never been to a motor race,
0:01:46 > 0:01:49I'd never seen a motor race until the very first race I was in.
0:01:49 > 0:01:52It had never been a lifelong ambition or anything.
0:01:52 > 0:01:53So I was sitting on the start line,
0:01:53 > 0:01:56you know, wondering what the blazes was gonna happen
0:01:56 > 0:01:58and watching the flag, and somebody told me
0:01:58 > 0:02:01that the engine revs had 6,000 revolutions per minute,
0:02:01 > 0:02:03so I wound it up to 6,000 revs a minute
0:02:03 > 0:02:05and sat there, looking at the starter.
0:02:05 > 0:02:08He dropped the flag, I slipped my foot off the clutch
0:02:08 > 0:02:11and went up the road like a rocket! And I was in the lead, wasn't I?
0:02:15 > 0:02:17The popular image of the late Graham Hill
0:02:17 > 0:02:19was that of a fun-loving, fast-driving,
0:02:19 > 0:02:23quintessential Englishman with a keen sense of humour.
0:02:23 > 0:02:27Inevitably, the full picture was more complex.
0:02:29 > 0:02:31He was many things to many people.
0:02:33 > 0:02:35For my whole life, I've met people who've said,
0:02:35 > 0:02:37"Oh, I knew your dad, he was great."
0:02:37 > 0:02:39I've never met anyone that said,
0:02:39 > 0:02:41"Actually, this is the truth about your dad."
0:02:41 > 0:02:46He was a bit of a rascal, whatever you want to call that.
0:02:46 > 0:02:48He was just such a lot of fun.
0:02:48 > 0:02:52And yet frightening when he was serious.
0:02:52 > 0:02:58If things went wrong, he would get very, very angry indeed.
0:02:58 > 0:03:02Oh, my God, he was impossible.
0:03:02 > 0:03:06He was never punctual, ever, ever, ever.
0:03:06 > 0:03:07- He just broke the...- The rules.
0:03:07 > 0:03:10He broke the rules, yeah. Exactly. He broke the rules.
0:03:13 > 0:03:16Who really was this man that lived by his own set of rules?
0:03:16 > 0:03:19What was he like to live and work with?
0:03:19 > 0:03:2330 years on from his untimely death, those that knew him best
0:03:23 > 0:03:29have decided to tell their side of his story.
0:03:29 > 0:03:34A story which began in the suburbs of north London in 1929.
0:03:34 > 0:03:36The son of a city stockbroker,
0:03:36 > 0:03:38Graham's childhood contained few clues
0:03:38 > 0:03:41that he would one day move amongst the most glamorous
0:03:41 > 0:03:43and influential people in the world.
0:03:47 > 0:03:51War broke out when he was 10, but the conflict had just ended
0:03:51 > 0:03:53by the time he was old enough to enlist.
0:03:53 > 0:03:56He spent his late teens as a technical apprentice
0:03:56 > 0:04:01at Smiths Industries, making clocks, before King and country called.
0:04:01 > 0:04:04When I first met Graham, he was doing his National Service
0:04:04 > 0:04:10in the flagship of the home fleet, which was HMS Swiftsure,
0:04:10 > 0:04:14and he was a petty officer, and he had to do two years,
0:04:14 > 0:04:17and we met at a rowing club.
0:04:17 > 0:04:21In addition to rowing, a passion for motorbikes provided some outlet
0:04:21 > 0:04:23for his adventurous spirit.
0:04:23 > 0:04:26But Graham was still searching for the ultimate thrill,
0:04:26 > 0:04:28until one day, he found it.
0:04:28 > 0:04:32I picked up a magazine that happened to be passing through the office
0:04:32 > 0:04:33and I saw an advert which said,
0:04:33 > 0:04:36"You can drive a racing car at Brands Hatch
0:04:36 > 0:04:38"for five shillings a lap."
0:04:38 > 0:04:40So I went down and had a quid's worth,
0:04:40 > 0:04:45which entitled me to four laps, and it was those four laps
0:04:45 > 0:04:50that the bug bit. It was then that I decided this is what I wanted to do.
0:04:51 > 0:04:54So then I sort of chucked up my job
0:04:54 > 0:04:57and I went as a sort of freelance mechanic,
0:04:57 > 0:05:01working on people's cars for the sake of a drive.
0:05:01 > 0:05:03I wouldn't accept money. I'd barter with them, saying,
0:05:03 > 0:05:08"If I prepare your car for you, will you let me drive it?"
0:05:17 > 0:05:19It was hard. It was very hard.
0:05:19 > 0:05:23People didn't get into motor racing as they do now, with backing.
0:05:29 > 0:05:33He was driving anything that anybody would offer him.
0:05:33 > 0:05:35And he did a few races,
0:05:35 > 0:05:38and one day, on his way back from Brands Hatch,
0:05:38 > 0:05:41he got a lift with a chap who turned out to be Colin Chapman,
0:05:41 > 0:05:45who built Lotus racing cars.
0:05:45 > 0:05:51And he gave him a job as storeman in the Lotus engineering factory.
0:05:51 > 0:05:55Then they said "Well, you can have a drive," and he was quite good at it,
0:05:55 > 0:05:57so they signed him up.
0:05:59 > 0:06:01But he had no money.
0:06:01 > 0:06:04In those days, you couldn't commit yourself to a marriage
0:06:04 > 0:06:08unless you had at least enough to pay for the reception,
0:06:08 > 0:06:09which I paid for.
0:06:11 > 0:06:14Graham threw everything he had into the sport,
0:06:14 > 0:06:17gaining valuable experience and steadily climbing
0:06:17 > 0:06:19the motor racing ladder.
0:06:20 > 0:06:22The whole atmosphere just entranced him
0:06:22 > 0:06:24and he was just completely hooked.
0:06:24 > 0:06:27And so it went on.
0:06:27 > 0:06:32And in 1958 at Monaco, he lined up in his first Formula 1 Grand Prix.
0:06:36 > 0:06:38Well, a great start, and off I went.
0:06:38 > 0:06:43And after 75 laps, I found myself in fourth place.
0:06:43 > 0:06:47I thought, "This is great, Formula 1 racing's a piece of cake."
0:06:47 > 0:06:49And then my back wheel fell off.
0:06:49 > 0:06:54The trouble was, Colin could build a very light, very competitive car,
0:06:54 > 0:06:57but he couldn't build one that would last a race,
0:06:57 > 0:06:58and it simply fell to pieces.
0:06:58 > 0:07:01And it fell to pieces race after race after race.
0:07:01 > 0:07:05And Graham got increasingly disgruntled by that.
0:07:05 > 0:07:11It was becoming harder and harder for him to contain his frustration.
0:07:11 > 0:07:15Graham recorded some of his frustrations in a series of diaries,
0:07:15 > 0:07:19now in the hands of his son, Damon.
0:07:19 > 0:07:25This book is from 1959.
0:07:25 > 0:07:28What he's recorded in this particular piece
0:07:28 > 0:07:32is something to do with his relationship with Colin Chapman.
0:07:32 > 0:07:36There appears to be a breakdown in the relationship
0:07:36 > 0:07:39where he says something to the effect of,
0:07:39 > 0:07:43"As the designer, I felt he should have been working on the cars
0:07:43 > 0:07:45"to try and discover why they were so slow."
0:07:45 > 0:07:48And he goes on to say, "I suggested to him
0:07:48 > 0:07:50"that he had lost interest in Formula 1 racing.
0:07:50 > 0:07:52"He assured me that he had not,
0:07:52 > 0:07:55"and that he was very busy with the new factory."
0:07:55 > 0:07:58Needless to say, my dad wasn't racing for Lotus the next year!
0:08:01 > 0:08:04With clouds of discontent gathering over the Lotus factory,
0:08:04 > 0:08:08Graham was offered a drive with rival team BRM.
0:08:08 > 0:08:11It was a gamble, but he took it.
0:08:11 > 0:08:14When I joined BRM, everyone was saying,
0:08:14 > 0:08:17"Well, that's a mistake," you know, "He's joined a losing team."
0:08:17 > 0:08:21It wasn't beating the foreign cars, Ferraris, Lancias and Maseratis,
0:08:21 > 0:08:24it was being thoroughly trounced.
0:08:25 > 0:08:28Graham adopted a hands-on approach to the task
0:08:28 > 0:08:31of producing a car capable of winning races,
0:08:31 > 0:08:35working closely with the team's chief designer, Tony Rudd.
0:08:35 > 0:08:38It proved to be a formidable partnership.
0:08:39 > 0:08:44Graham and Tony Rudd clicked immediately.
0:08:44 > 0:08:46They worked very well together,
0:08:46 > 0:08:50and they both had this same burning desire to win.
0:08:54 > 0:08:56'The Grand Prix of Italy at Monza,
0:08:56 > 0:09:00'counting in the World Driving Championship, a 310-mile race.
0:09:04 > 0:09:08'Surprise of the racing season is the sensational advance of Graham Hill.'
0:09:08 > 0:09:11'Driving a BRM, he was in the lead early in his race.
0:09:13 > 0:09:15'Hardly challenged, Hill won easily.
0:09:15 > 0:09:17'He's set for the World Championship.'
0:09:22 > 0:09:26They were racers through and through, and they found their quarry,
0:09:26 > 0:09:30which was the World Championship, and they bloody well won it.
0:09:31 > 0:09:35We were so excited. I mean, he was beside himself,
0:09:35 > 0:09:38and I was so thrilled and everybody was thrilled for him,
0:09:38 > 0:09:40so it was a fantastic occasion.
0:09:42 > 0:09:46These are cuttings when Graham won the World Championship
0:09:46 > 0:09:49in South Africa, with the lovely BRMs.
0:09:49 > 0:09:50Look at that.
0:09:50 > 0:09:53They've been up in that wardrobe for years,
0:09:53 > 0:09:55since I've been here, 13 years.
0:09:55 > 0:10:01Amazing how we used to keep them... religiously.
0:10:03 > 0:10:05Tony Rudd.
0:10:08 > 0:10:12Oh, look, this is outside our home at Mill Hill.
0:10:15 > 0:10:17He looks so young.
0:10:25 > 0:10:28But what are people's reactions to you?
0:10:28 > 0:10:31I mean, you stop at a set of traffic lights, and you do this,
0:10:31 > 0:10:33and they see it's Graham Hill there, or...
0:10:33 > 0:10:37Well, it varies, it depends on what I've just done, but I mean...
0:10:37 > 0:10:40But you can see, you're sitting there waiting
0:10:40 > 0:10:43and then you see a lot of white things moving like this
0:10:43 > 0:10:45and you look across, and everyone's going like this,
0:10:45 > 0:10:48and then they all start going over the wheel...
0:10:48 > 0:10:51Revving up, when the lights go green, there's great waves
0:10:51 > 0:10:53and they wave you on like this.
0:10:53 > 0:10:56It's...you know, I mean, I get thoroughly spoilt.
0:11:01 > 0:11:05Graham was now a top contender on the Formula 1 grid.
0:11:05 > 0:11:08But back at Team Lotus, former boss Colin Chapman
0:11:08 > 0:11:12had found a talented new driver by the name of Jimmy Clark.
0:11:17 > 0:11:20The early '60s bore witness to titanic battles between the two,
0:11:20 > 0:11:23with Clark taking the Drivers' Championship twice,
0:11:23 > 0:11:26and Graham runner-up three years in a row.
0:11:27 > 0:11:29But there was one race on the calendar
0:11:29 > 0:11:32where Graham was second to no-one.
0:11:32 > 0:11:35Monaco.
0:11:35 > 0:11:39Here, the tight, twisting Mediterranean street circuit
0:11:39 > 0:11:43provided exactly the kind of challenge that Graham thrived on.
0:11:54 > 0:11:58Graham simply outclassed all his rivals to win,
0:11:58 > 0:12:01not just once, but three times in a row.
0:12:03 > 0:12:06When he won for the third time, that really was a performance
0:12:06 > 0:12:10that matches with the best of all the greats, going back through history.
0:12:10 > 0:12:12Fantastic day.
0:12:15 > 0:12:18As the Monaco public hailed their new hero,
0:12:18 > 0:12:21few of them could appreciate the hard work of the mechanics
0:12:21 > 0:12:23taking place behind the scenes.
0:12:26 > 0:12:28It was hard work, there's no doubt about it.
0:12:28 > 0:12:32I don't know if the mechanics these days work the hours we used to,
0:12:32 > 0:12:36but if we were working late, Graham would come back
0:12:36 > 0:12:38and check out, see what we were doing.
0:12:39 > 0:12:42That's one way I think he got the better out of us,
0:12:42 > 0:12:43through doing that.
0:12:43 > 0:12:45He was very, very demanding,
0:12:45 > 0:12:47and he could be very brief and abrupt with them.
0:12:47 > 0:12:52On the other hand, he'd be the bloke to pitch up at the transporter
0:12:52 > 0:12:54with a crate of beer.
0:12:54 > 0:12:58He was one of us. I think he was happier in the carriages
0:12:58 > 0:13:02than he was mixing with the royalty.
0:13:02 > 0:13:05But he was hard, he was a hard man.
0:13:05 > 0:13:10And on race morning, or immediately before a race, don't go near him.
0:13:10 > 0:13:14Intense focus, incredibly short fuse.
0:13:14 > 0:13:19As a young journo, he crushed me a couple of times before I learned.
0:13:21 > 0:13:23Few could challenge Graham's authority,
0:13:23 > 0:13:25either off or on the track.
0:13:25 > 0:13:29But in 1965, the team signed up a pint-sized Scotsman
0:13:29 > 0:13:31with big potential.
0:13:34 > 0:13:39I could have gone to Cooper, I could have gone to Lotus,
0:13:39 > 0:13:40but I chose to go to BRM
0:13:40 > 0:13:44because I thought it would be a more thorough apprenticeship.
0:13:44 > 0:13:46I thought I would get more testing.
0:13:46 > 0:13:52I saw Graham as a good man to understudy.
0:13:52 > 0:13:58Graham recognised the challenge was coming from Jackie.
0:13:58 > 0:14:03He never really showed it, but I could sense it.
0:14:03 > 0:14:07And Jackie was very quick.
0:14:12 > 0:14:15I mean, it really was a bit irksome at times
0:14:15 > 0:14:18to see this young whippersnapper from the Highlands
0:14:18 > 0:14:21come and beat everybody, you know.
0:14:22 > 0:14:24I explained to Graham
0:14:24 > 0:14:28that because he was a bigger driver,
0:14:28 > 0:14:35and they were small cars in those days, he had a bigger windscreen,
0:14:35 > 0:14:37and Jackie's car would be quicker than Graham,
0:14:37 > 0:14:40and Graham said, "Well, what are you gonna do about it?
0:14:40 > 0:14:42"Chop me bloody head off?"
0:14:42 > 0:14:47For a number one driver to suddenly be threatened
0:14:47 > 0:14:55by the new little whippersnapper, if you like, a younger driver,
0:14:55 > 0:14:57was a very difficult thing, I would have thought,
0:14:57 > 0:15:00for anybody to deal with.
0:15:00 > 0:15:03And Graham dealt with it fantastically.
0:15:03 > 0:15:06But although they were intensely competitive,
0:15:06 > 0:15:10they genuinely seemed to have had this remarkably friendly,
0:15:10 > 0:15:13supportive relationship one to the other.
0:15:15 > 0:15:17This is a very painful business for me,
0:15:17 > 0:15:20to come here and present this award to Jackie.
0:15:20 > 0:15:24I'm only too delighted to see that it's for one month!
0:15:24 > 0:15:26AUDIENCE LAUGH
0:15:26 > 0:15:31But he thoroughly deserved it, he's had a fantastic season.
0:15:31 > 0:15:33But for Christ's sake, lay off!
0:15:33 > 0:15:35AUDIENCE LAUGH
0:15:38 > 0:15:41Graham wasn't above playing mind games, you know.
0:15:41 > 0:15:44He'd hop out of his car on the starting grid
0:15:44 > 0:15:48and wander across, and sniff around his rivals' cars on the grid.
0:15:48 > 0:15:50Then he'd suddenly glance at a tyre,
0:15:50 > 0:15:55and his eyes would go wide, and then he'd give a little knowing smile
0:15:55 > 0:15:58and just make sure that the driver sitting in the car
0:15:58 > 0:16:00had seen that knowing smile.
0:16:00 > 0:16:03Then, without saying another word, he'd just walk back to his car
0:16:03 > 0:16:05with an extra spring in his step.
0:16:05 > 0:16:10But Graham understood there was a time and place for gamesmanship.
0:16:10 > 0:16:13When team-mate Jackie Stewart crashed
0:16:13 > 0:16:16during the 1966 Belgium Grand Prix, he came to the rescue.
0:16:16 > 0:16:21He'd aquaplaned off, and he found, in the ditch, Jackie's car
0:16:21 > 0:16:24with Jackie trapped inside it.
0:16:24 > 0:16:27Graham saw me from inside his car.
0:16:27 > 0:16:30He looked down and saw me in this drop-off area.
0:16:30 > 0:16:35Could have continued, but didn't. He came to help me.
0:16:35 > 0:16:40And Jackie was sitting, sort of half way up to his waist in fuel,
0:16:40 > 0:16:43and he was trapped, he couldn't get out.
0:16:43 > 0:16:47And it took them 25 minutes at least to get me out the car.
0:16:47 > 0:16:50The steering wheel trapped me in the car.
0:16:50 > 0:16:55They eventually found some way of taking the steering wheel off
0:16:55 > 0:16:56and getting him out.
0:16:56 > 0:17:01And Graham said, when they got him out, they took his overalls off
0:17:01 > 0:17:04because they were soaked in petrol.
0:17:04 > 0:17:07In those days, we were using high-octane aviation fuel,
0:17:07 > 0:17:10and that is very corrosive, and it was burning my skin off.
0:17:10 > 0:17:12So Graham took all my clothes off.
0:17:12 > 0:17:15Literally, I was lying naked in the back of a farm truck.
0:17:15 > 0:17:19And the story is, and it's a true story, nuns arrived
0:17:19 > 0:17:23and found me naked in the back of this truck.
0:17:23 > 0:17:25And you can imagine what the nuns were thinking.
0:17:25 > 0:17:28Poor injured racing driver being taken advantage of
0:17:28 > 0:17:31by devilish-looking racing driver with moustache.
0:17:31 > 0:17:36In spite of being keen rivals, the bond and mutual respect
0:17:36 > 0:17:40amongst drivers of that era was, in fact, remarkably high.
0:17:40 > 0:17:45They were a close-knit fraternity, a unique band of brothers.
0:17:45 > 0:17:49I mean, I love the other drivers, I was going to say intimately,
0:17:49 > 0:17:51but that's not the right word I was looking for.
0:17:51 > 0:17:55I know them quite well, and we're just good friends. But, er...
0:17:55 > 0:18:00Graham, Jackie and Jimmy in particular became firm friends.
0:18:00 > 0:18:02With their sharp suits and even sharper wit,
0:18:02 > 0:18:05they were the Three Musketeers of Formula 1.
0:18:07 > 0:18:10We just had fantastic times together.
0:18:12 > 0:18:14And we all moved around together.
0:18:14 > 0:18:17We either played golf together, or shot together,
0:18:17 > 0:18:19or we partied together.
0:18:21 > 0:18:24Graham was extroverted,
0:18:24 > 0:18:29and he, therefore, was the kind of leader of the pack.
0:18:29 > 0:18:35Yeah, Graham was always up to something.
0:18:35 > 0:18:40Team owner John Coombs recalls one of Graham's more infamous antics
0:18:40 > 0:18:42that went disastrously wrong.
0:18:42 > 0:18:44A charity party,
0:18:44 > 0:18:50and the entertainment was strippers.
0:18:50 > 0:18:54And I'll never forget Graham getting up
0:18:54 > 0:18:57and suddenly taking his trousers off.
0:18:57 > 0:19:01And then decided to run down the table to the lady at the end.
0:19:01 > 0:19:04What he intended to do when he got there, I don't know.
0:19:04 > 0:19:06And he suddenly tipped over some glasses,
0:19:06 > 0:19:09tripped up, and the glass broke,
0:19:09 > 0:19:14and the stem of this long glass and goblet went right up his leg,
0:19:14 > 0:19:18right into the calf of his leg, the muscle of his leg.
0:19:18 > 0:19:22Of course, we had to take him to hospital and get this taken out.
0:19:22 > 0:19:23It was sticking in like a dagger!
0:19:25 > 0:19:29You know, you have to say, he got a reaction from people.
0:19:29 > 0:19:33Otherwise he wouldn't have done it, and he knew that made people laugh
0:19:33 > 0:19:35and it seemed to break the ice, or it broke something,
0:19:35 > 0:19:38and that's what I think my dad loved.
0:19:38 > 0:19:42I think he actually knew that here he was, with an opportunity
0:19:42 > 0:19:48to crack a smile, and so he did more and more outrageous things.
0:19:48 > 0:19:52Graham embraced the swinging '60s with a passion.
0:19:52 > 0:19:56He found a kindred spirit in the sculptor David Wynne,
0:19:56 > 0:20:00who recalls his friend having a keen eye for the ladies.
0:20:00 > 0:20:03He had a keen eye for the ladies.
0:20:03 > 0:20:06It's not only fair, it's dead on the mark.
0:20:06 > 0:20:09I loved women, he loved women,
0:20:09 > 0:20:14and he took much more liberties than I ever did.
0:20:16 > 0:20:18If you put it that way!
0:20:18 > 0:20:22The girls flocked round him, old gentlemen flocked round him,
0:20:22 > 0:20:27the young boys flocked round him. He was the man.
0:20:30 > 0:20:32There was David Niven and people like that,
0:20:32 > 0:20:36and, you know, Errol Flynn, all these guys with moustaches
0:20:36 > 0:20:39and who kind of had that sort of image.
0:20:39 > 0:20:42And I think that my dad sort of slotted into this idea
0:20:42 > 0:20:46of a kind of cad, kind of British person
0:20:46 > 0:20:48who could be a charmer one minute,
0:20:48 > 0:20:53the next minute, be standing on the table, dropping his pants.
0:20:53 > 0:20:55No, not really, no.
0:20:55 > 0:20:58It is a way of life, if you like, it's a profession,
0:20:58 > 0:21:00and it's something I really enjoy doing,
0:21:00 > 0:21:03it gives me a great kick out of life and it pays well.
0:21:03 > 0:21:06You have to put this in, because, I mean, I'm able to afford
0:21:06 > 0:21:09to go motor racing, cos I get paid very well for doing it,
0:21:09 > 0:21:12so this puts the icing on the cake.
0:21:12 > 0:21:16Graham was always intensely interested in making money.
0:21:16 > 0:21:21And the biggest money in motor racing was in America.
0:21:23 > 0:21:27'Racing's greatest day begins, the Indianapolis 500 Classic.
0:21:30 > 0:21:33'Number 24, Graham Hill of London leads,
0:21:33 > 0:21:35'number 19, Jim Clark of Scotland.
0:21:35 > 0:21:41'The chequered flag ends it, Hill the winner, winning over 156,000.
0:21:41 > 0:21:44'Hill takes the Classic 500 on his first try.'
0:21:47 > 0:21:49Well, he wouldn't let me go there.
0:21:49 > 0:21:52He said it wasn't a place for women.
0:21:52 > 0:21:54To begin with, when he went there,
0:21:54 > 0:21:57they didn't have doors on the toilets.
0:21:57 > 0:22:01The cubicles had no doors on them.
0:22:01 > 0:22:05Now, in Europe, there was a little dignity involved,
0:22:05 > 0:22:08that you had a door to the loo.
0:22:08 > 0:22:13Graham absolutely got obsessed by this.
0:22:13 > 0:22:17He solved that one. There were doors on the toilets the next day.
0:22:17 > 0:22:21He thought it was terribly rude,
0:22:21 > 0:22:23and they thought it was terribly English.
0:22:25 > 0:22:28Prize money from the Indy 500 enabled Graham to splash out
0:22:28 > 0:22:30on his own twin-engine aircraft.
0:22:30 > 0:22:32Yeah, he bought himself a plane.
0:22:32 > 0:22:35I think Jackie Stewart was learning to fly.
0:22:35 > 0:22:39Jimmy flew, and so Graham had to fly.
0:22:39 > 0:22:41It cut down the travelling.
0:22:41 > 0:22:44And he just loved the flying.
0:22:44 > 0:22:46I wasn't too keen.
0:22:46 > 0:22:48A packed international racing schedule
0:22:48 > 0:22:51ensured Graham made much use of his new plane.
0:22:51 > 0:22:54He was always on the move.
0:22:54 > 0:22:57He was also, by now, the father to three children,
0:22:57 > 0:22:59Brigitte, Damon and Samantha.
0:22:59 > 0:23:02But the time they could spend together was all too rare.
0:23:04 > 0:23:05How about the family?
0:23:05 > 0:23:08How do they find your being away as often as you are?
0:23:08 > 0:23:11Difficult to say, I think.
0:23:11 > 0:23:13I think they're quite used to it, the young ones,
0:23:13 > 0:23:17it's always been the same for them, so they don't know any different.
0:23:17 > 0:23:20They probably assume everybody's daddy does the same thing.
0:23:20 > 0:23:23I know they seem to be fairly pleased to see me.
0:23:23 > 0:23:28I think it gives them a bit of relief when I do go away!
0:23:29 > 0:23:32I think we were... I was aware of long absences,
0:23:32 > 0:23:34I was aware of him not being there,
0:23:34 > 0:23:40and I think that there were times
0:23:40 > 0:23:42when you wanted him to be there.
0:23:42 > 0:23:47And I remember Christmases, him flying off on Boxing Day
0:23:47 > 0:23:50you know, it was Christmas Day, and then you're back onto the next.
0:23:50 > 0:23:52But that's the way it was.
0:23:52 > 0:23:55We were aware in the family that he had a mission,
0:23:55 > 0:23:56that he was someone going somewhere,
0:23:56 > 0:23:58so whenever we did anything together,
0:23:58 > 0:24:00it was in almost a military operation.
0:24:00 > 0:24:04And he was the commander, and we jumped when he said,
0:24:04 > 0:24:08"Right", you know, "In the car," or, "In the plane."
0:24:08 > 0:24:11He was very Victorian, actually, in that respect,
0:24:11 > 0:24:17because he expected them to get up when he arrived home and say hello.
0:24:17 > 0:24:20And children just don't do that sort of thing,
0:24:20 > 0:24:23especially when they're engrossed in a television programme.
0:24:23 > 0:24:26So we used to always say, "Ah, I hope he doesn't,
0:24:26 > 0:24:29"that's not him, is it, coming down the drive?" You know?
0:24:29 > 0:24:33One place Graham felt he was losing control was at BRM.
0:24:33 > 0:24:39Their best days were now behind them and it was time to find a new team.
0:24:39 > 0:24:43He surprised everyone by rejoining his old one, Team Lotus.
0:24:43 > 0:24:47Colin Chapman had approached me
0:24:47 > 0:24:50to see if I'd join his team, with Jimmy Clark.
0:24:50 > 0:24:52And it was a hell of a decision to make,
0:24:52 > 0:24:54having been with the team for seven years,
0:24:54 > 0:24:57and there I was, going to move to another team,
0:24:57 > 0:24:59somebody else's team, with another driver,
0:24:59 > 0:25:02the regular number one.
0:25:02 > 0:25:06Colin Chapman's number one priority was caring for Jimmy.
0:25:06 > 0:25:08I don't think there was a problem,
0:25:08 > 0:25:11it's just that Jimmy was the chosen one.
0:25:18 > 0:25:21He was so talented, you see, and he was so...
0:25:21 > 0:25:25Which was infuriating, actually, because it was so easy for him.
0:25:27 > 0:25:30In theory, it seemed like the ultimate dream team.
0:25:30 > 0:25:34Two World Champions, a brilliant designer,
0:25:34 > 0:25:36and some quick, new machinery.
0:25:37 > 0:25:40But it wasn't long before the old problems resurfaced.
0:25:40 > 0:25:44Chapman's cars were fast, but still fragile.
0:25:44 > 0:25:46'More bad luck for Hill,
0:25:46 > 0:25:50'whose engine has gone beyond the point of no return.
0:25:50 > 0:25:51'A season's run of ill fortune
0:25:51 > 0:25:55'hasn't affected the patience and good humour of this popular driver.'
0:25:58 > 0:26:01But when the camera stopped rolling and the crowd had dispersed,
0:26:01 > 0:26:04patience and good humour were often in short supply.
0:26:06 > 0:26:10If things went wrong, he would get very, very angry indeed,
0:26:10 > 0:26:13and the atmosphere within that team and around him
0:26:13 > 0:26:16could be absolutely foul, I think.
0:26:16 > 0:26:19Graham's former race mechanics at Team Lotus
0:26:19 > 0:26:22remember some of those testing times.
0:26:24 > 0:26:25Graham was a great guy.
0:26:25 > 0:26:29No mistake about that, you know?
0:26:29 > 0:26:34Wonderful bloke to be with, terrific company, etc, etc, etc.
0:26:34 > 0:26:38Put him in a car and he's bloody impossible...
0:26:39 > 0:26:46because he kept records of everything he ever did
0:26:46 > 0:26:49in every car he'd ever driven, you know?
0:26:49 > 0:26:53You'd say, "What did you have here last year, Graham?"
0:26:53 > 0:26:55and he could tell you the ride heights
0:26:55 > 0:26:58and the spring rates, you know.
0:26:58 > 0:27:03Lovely man, but he was a nightmare to work for during the race meeting.
0:27:03 > 0:27:06- Really was.- He could be difficult. - Difficult.
0:27:06 > 0:27:10And I know I've got a bit of a reputation for being awkward,
0:27:10 > 0:27:13so I'm told.
0:27:13 > 0:27:15And I think this is because, you know, I expect,
0:27:15 > 0:27:18I set very high standards for myself
0:27:18 > 0:27:22and I expect other people to come up to that same standard.
0:27:22 > 0:27:23So you're bound to be...
0:27:23 > 0:27:26If you don't get what you want, you're bound to press for it
0:27:26 > 0:27:30and although it might mean somebody else working that little bit harder,
0:27:30 > 0:27:32they might think I'm being particular,
0:27:32 > 0:27:34but I want everything to be exactly right,
0:27:34 > 0:27:38and that's the way I drive and the way I expect things to be done.
0:27:38 > 0:27:41On the whole, I think it pays off.
0:27:41 > 0:27:44Graham's opinions on improving the car's performance
0:27:44 > 0:27:47were not always welcomed by his designer, Colin Chapman.
0:27:47 > 0:27:49Clashes were inevitable.
0:27:50 > 0:27:55He'd been kingpin at BRM for years,
0:27:55 > 0:27:58and he was used to getting his own way.
0:27:59 > 0:28:04Now, when he came to us, we had a different way of working,
0:28:04 > 0:28:08because the guy who set the cars up
0:28:08 > 0:28:11was actually the old man, not the driver.
0:28:11 > 0:28:14Brian would come along all smiles.
0:28:14 > 0:28:16"How're we doing, lads?
0:28:16 > 0:28:20"Now, what have we got on?" And he'd start to look at the car.
0:28:20 > 0:28:22"What springs have you got on there?"
0:28:22 > 0:28:25And you would end up changing the springs,
0:28:25 > 0:28:28changing the roll bars, altering the ride heights.
0:28:28 > 0:28:32Started practice with an unknown car, basically.
0:28:32 > 0:28:34And then there's a shout from the pit counter.
0:28:34 > 0:28:36"What the hell are you doing there?"
0:28:36 > 0:28:42You know, "It's my car and you'll do what I tell you".
0:28:42 > 0:28:49So things could get, you know, a little bit fraught
0:28:49 > 0:28:50on that sort of basis.
0:28:50 > 0:28:54When temperatures reached boiling point,
0:28:54 > 0:28:55Graham had the perfect solution.
0:28:55 > 0:28:57Throw a party.
0:29:00 > 0:29:03When the race was over, Graham would enjoy life.
0:29:03 > 0:29:06He loved parties. Great party man.
0:29:06 > 0:29:07And gave some good parties.
0:29:07 > 0:29:11When Graham arrived, the party was...the room was alive.
0:29:13 > 0:29:15I think we had some of the best parties
0:29:15 > 0:29:18that anyone ever gave at Mill Hill.
0:29:18 > 0:29:20And we had all the racing drivers.
0:29:20 > 0:29:25Jimmy used to bring a different girl every time, and things like that.
0:29:26 > 0:29:29There's loads of pictures of people like Jim Clark
0:29:29 > 0:29:32jumping up and down on trampolines in the back garden,
0:29:32 > 0:29:35and the whole Formula 1 fraternity in our back garden,
0:29:35 > 0:29:38jumping up and down on trampolines!
0:29:40 > 0:29:42And there was a woman there.
0:29:42 > 0:29:46She had a very thin, narrow, long, black dress on,
0:29:46 > 0:29:50and she just ripped it up the sides, and did the limbo
0:29:50 > 0:29:54under this sort of bamboo stick. It was wonderful.
0:29:54 > 0:29:58The police turned up and they were invited into the party,
0:29:58 > 0:29:59and before you knew it...
0:29:59 > 0:30:04Two of the girls disappeared, and they'd gone with the policemen.
0:30:04 > 0:30:08They ended up staggering out of the party many hours later,
0:30:08 > 0:30:10and the next day, they had to come back
0:30:10 > 0:30:14cos they'd forgotten their helmets and their truncheons!
0:30:14 > 0:30:17Riotous times. There were some riotous times.
0:30:17 > 0:30:19It was wonderful.
0:30:21 > 0:30:25We had children and life was lovely, you know.
0:30:25 > 0:30:26We had money, we had a house.
0:30:26 > 0:30:29Things were very on the up and up,
0:30:29 > 0:30:32and, you know, we were living in the sort of luxury
0:30:32 > 0:30:35that we never dreamt that we would have.
0:30:35 > 0:30:39You know, it was wonderful times. Wonderful times.
0:30:41 > 0:30:44- There you are. - Oh, there's me! Oh, gosh.- Wow.
0:30:44 > 0:30:46Oh, glamour puss.
0:30:46 > 0:30:48Absolutely.
0:30:50 > 0:30:52THEY LAUGH
0:30:55 > 0:30:59- There's daddy.- There's daddy. Gosh, look. Yeah.
0:31:03 > 0:31:06# Guantanamera
0:31:06 > 0:31:10# Guajira, Guantanamera
0:31:12 > 0:31:15# Guantanamera
0:31:15 > 0:31:20# Guajira, Guantanamera
0:31:20 > 0:31:23# Yo soy un hombre sincero
0:31:24 > 0:31:28# De donde crece la palma
0:31:28 > 0:31:33# Yo soy un hombre sincero
0:31:33 > 0:31:37# De donde crece la palma
0:31:37 > 0:31:42# Y antes de morirme quiero
0:31:42 > 0:31:45# Echar mis versos del alma
0:31:47 > 0:31:51# Guantanamera
0:31:51 > 0:31:53# Guajira, Guantanamera
0:31:56 > 0:32:00# Guantanamera
0:32:00 > 0:32:05# Guajira, Guantanamera... #
0:32:26 > 0:32:28But Graham had been in the game long enough
0:32:28 > 0:32:31to know that the sport he loved had a serious downside.
0:32:33 > 0:32:35It was extremely dangerous.
0:32:44 > 0:32:48I mean, you know, I get afraid and I think everybody gets afraid.
0:32:48 > 0:32:50Everybody, any normal person does.
0:32:50 > 0:32:52If you don't get afraid,
0:32:52 > 0:32:54you've got no imagination and you won't last long.
0:33:03 > 0:33:07And we saw so much of death, it was hideous.
0:33:13 > 0:33:18There's no question that the danger element was felt.
0:33:18 > 0:33:22As I grew up, I must have become gradually more and more aware
0:33:22 > 0:33:24of the fact that he was doing something not only unusual
0:33:24 > 0:33:27that people reacted to, but also that it was dangerous.
0:33:32 > 0:33:37But then, in April '68, it happened to Jimmy Clark.
0:33:40 > 0:33:45And that just didn't seem possible, because Jimmy was just the best.
0:33:51 > 0:33:53And Graham said, if it can happen to Jimmy,
0:33:53 > 0:33:55it makes you realise it can happen to any of us.
0:34:00 > 0:34:03You know, it's a terrible time for any driver.
0:34:03 > 0:34:06And it's very difficult to describe loss
0:34:06 > 0:34:13and how it affects you, but you've just got to draw a blank across it.
0:34:15 > 0:34:21Jimmy going and Graham taking the team over and replacing Jimmy
0:34:21 > 0:34:27put unbelievable weight on Graham.
0:34:27 > 0:34:31He literally picked those mechanics up, you know, by their trouser legs
0:34:31 > 0:34:34and, "Come on, we've got to do something about this!"
0:34:34 > 0:34:36And he was amazing, you know.
0:34:36 > 0:34:39That's when the toughness came in, you know.
0:34:39 > 0:34:43It's a character of the man, really amazing.
0:34:45 > 0:34:48When he won the next race after Jimmy's death,
0:34:48 > 0:34:51the Spanish Grand Prix, that was fantastic.
0:34:51 > 0:34:53Come back and hit them where it hurts straight away.
0:35:19 > 0:35:24It came down to the very last race in Mexico City.
0:35:24 > 0:35:28And we raced...
0:35:28 > 0:35:29and Graham won.
0:35:38 > 0:35:42And that was when he won his 1968 Championship.
0:35:44 > 0:35:46It was the right thing.
0:35:46 > 0:35:51He was a very worthy and a very good World Champion for the sport.
0:35:55 > 0:35:57And he was very much the people's champion.
0:35:57 > 0:35:59Very much the people's champion.
0:36:01 > 0:36:05Graham's second World Championship cemented his popularity
0:36:05 > 0:36:06throughout the entire world.
0:36:06 > 0:36:11But nowhere was he more revered than at Monte Carlo.
0:36:11 > 0:36:14Going to Monte Carlo was like going home.
0:36:14 > 0:36:15It really was.
0:36:15 > 0:36:17Coming out of the Hotel de Paris
0:36:17 > 0:36:21and walking down that hill to the pits,
0:36:21 > 0:36:23people were throwing roses at Graham.
0:36:23 > 0:36:28I was quite emotional about the fact that they loved him so much.
0:36:28 > 0:36:30And they did, you know.
0:36:30 > 0:36:32"Graham Hill!" You know.
0:36:32 > 0:36:34And he used to wave away.
0:36:35 > 0:36:37He just loved it.
0:36:37 > 0:36:41And then, of course, the moment he got there with his car,
0:36:41 > 0:36:42different character.
0:37:04 > 0:37:06When he won there for the final time,
0:37:06 > 0:37:10that was really, absolutely, the pinnacle of his career.
0:37:10 > 0:37:18And that really was absolutely his stage, you know,
0:37:18 > 0:37:22and he just sort of bestrode it like a colossus, quite honestly.
0:37:32 > 0:37:34Graham Hill was Mr Monaco.
0:37:34 > 0:37:39I mean, he won the Monaco Grand Prix five times
0:37:39 > 0:37:41and it was kind of his patch.
0:37:50 > 0:37:53The penniless part-time mechanic from north London
0:37:53 > 0:37:55had indeed come a long way.
0:37:58 > 0:38:02By the end of the '60s, you know, my father was a wealthy man,
0:38:02 > 0:38:07and he was enjoying the spoils of success.
0:38:07 > 0:38:09That shifted him into another arena.
0:38:09 > 0:38:11You see, I think he was starting to find
0:38:11 > 0:38:14that there was a Graham Hill that didn't need to race a car.
0:38:14 > 0:38:19He used to do a lot of work for charity, a lot of work for charity.
0:38:19 > 0:38:23And of course, there was always the dinner dances to go to.
0:38:23 > 0:38:26And people enjoyed his company.
0:38:26 > 0:38:29What I thought I'd do, I thought I'd bang on for a bit,
0:38:29 > 0:38:34and then if you have any questions that you might like to ask,
0:38:34 > 0:38:37I'll give a little opportunity to get them in.
0:38:37 > 0:38:40But don't worry if you can't think of any,
0:38:40 > 0:38:43because I've got several that I can ask myself
0:38:43 > 0:38:47and I'd like to know the answers to anyway.
0:38:47 > 0:38:51Graham was incredibly funny and had a great turn of words,
0:38:51 > 0:38:55and had that po-face that suddenly would open up
0:38:55 > 0:38:59and break into the most fantastic smile.
0:38:59 > 0:39:02And he stood up, looked around,
0:39:02 > 0:39:10and with his little smile he could put on, said, "Ladies and gentlemen,
0:39:10 > 0:39:13"it gives me great pleasure..."
0:39:13 > 0:39:16And sat down!
0:39:16 > 0:39:19I find it very difficult to talk really seriously
0:39:19 > 0:39:22for any length of time on any one subject
0:39:22 > 0:39:25without slipping in something ridiculous.
0:39:25 > 0:39:29I find I really can't do that.
0:39:29 > 0:39:31It's as though I'm sending myself up, you know.
0:39:31 > 0:39:34If I start to think, "Well, you pompous twit,
0:39:34 > 0:39:36"banging on like this," and then, you know,
0:39:36 > 0:39:39slip something in which breaks it down.
0:39:39 > 0:39:45He broke up any sense of pomposity or...he just broke the ice.
0:39:45 > 0:39:48- He broke the rules. - Yeah, exactly, broke the rules.
0:39:52 > 0:39:55Graham appeared to be living a charmed life,
0:39:55 > 0:39:58but as a glorious decade of achievement drew to a close,
0:39:58 > 0:40:05his luck finally ran out during the American Grand Prix at Watkins Glen.
0:40:08 > 0:40:11Car turned upside down, Graham got thrown halfway out
0:40:11 > 0:40:15and his legs went the wrong way from his knees.
0:40:15 > 0:40:20Just cracked his knees in the wrong direction. A hideous accident.
0:40:23 > 0:40:24He could have lost his knees,
0:40:24 > 0:40:28but they were absolutely brilliant there at the hospital.
0:40:29 > 0:40:32They had to give him something like five pints of blood
0:40:32 > 0:40:36before they could fly him back to England.
0:40:36 > 0:40:37He was very ill.
0:40:37 > 0:40:39Very seriously ill.
0:40:41 > 0:40:45And when I arrived at the hospital,
0:40:45 > 0:40:51there were all these girls in his ward, you know, in his room.
0:40:51 > 0:40:56And television cameras. And I said, "What are these people doing here?"
0:40:56 > 0:40:59We went and saw him in hospital and there was banners everywhere
0:40:59 > 0:41:01wishing him well, and there was press,
0:41:01 > 0:41:05and he almost seemed to be involved in some sort of carnival.
0:41:05 > 0:41:08His name is Graham Hill, and here he is!
0:41:08 > 0:41:10APPLAUSE
0:41:12 > 0:41:15I'd like to say how sorry I am that I didn't dress for dinner.
0:41:15 > 0:41:19I've got a cast right up to here, I don't know whether you can...
0:41:19 > 0:41:21No, no, I don't want to look, no thanks!
0:41:21 > 0:41:23LAUGHTER
0:41:23 > 0:41:26Graham, are you going to be driving again?
0:41:26 > 0:41:27Well, I expect to be, yes.
0:41:27 > 0:41:31I mean, it was like, "Great, now I can show everyone
0:41:31 > 0:41:33"how determined I am to get well again."
0:41:33 > 0:41:36And that's exactly what he did.
0:41:36 > 0:41:39Up here, in, and straighten.
0:41:39 > 0:41:43Hard, and keep your toes up.
0:41:43 > 0:41:45Now turn your toes down here, out,
0:41:45 > 0:41:48and bend under the bed as hard as you can. Good.
0:41:58 > 0:42:02Just coming up to 3.2 miles.
0:42:08 > 0:42:11His aim, you see... he always had an aim,
0:42:11 > 0:42:14and that was to race in March in South Africa.
0:42:16 > 0:42:19Graham wasted no time in getting back to the things he loved,
0:42:19 > 0:42:22and in typical style, was determined to fly,
0:42:22 > 0:42:24even before he could walk.
0:42:32 > 0:42:34He had, by then, started to shoot.
0:42:38 > 0:42:40He'd go to a pheasant shoot, and he had a Land Rover.
0:42:40 > 0:42:46And on the top of it he had put, like, a secretary's circulating seat,
0:42:46 > 0:42:50so he could swing around if the pheasants were flying.
0:42:53 > 0:42:55Blast!
0:42:55 > 0:42:59It must have been enormously painful, because, in those days, you know...
0:42:59 > 0:43:03modern knee surgery is still one of the most painful things to have.
0:43:03 > 0:43:08And he endured that and then went back to drive racing cars.
0:43:09 > 0:43:10No, it's all right.
0:43:12 > 0:43:16I think a mark of Graham's extraordinary enthusiasm
0:43:16 > 0:43:19and extraordinary will to go racing
0:43:19 > 0:43:23was the fact that he came back at all after that accident.
0:43:23 > 0:43:26Yeah. Well, me...
0:43:26 > 0:43:31- That heel rest isn't... isn't belted in.- No, it's not.
0:43:36 > 0:43:38Graham had by now been replaced at Team Lotus,
0:43:38 > 0:43:42but an opportunity to race in 1970 was provided
0:43:42 > 0:43:45by private entrant Rob Walker.
0:43:45 > 0:43:49I didn't really want him to do it, but I couldn't stop him.
0:43:53 > 0:43:55But it was very hard, very hard for all of us.
0:43:55 > 0:43:57Motor racing regulations today
0:43:57 > 0:44:00would never allow a driver in Graham's condition
0:44:00 > 0:44:02to take part in a Grand Prix.
0:44:02 > 0:44:04Nonetheless, he managed to bring his car home
0:44:04 > 0:44:06in a point-scoring sixth place,
0:44:06 > 0:44:11a performance that Graham himself ranked amongst his very best.
0:44:13 > 0:44:17He couldn't get out of the car at the end of the race.
0:44:17 > 0:44:19They had to lift him out of the car.
0:44:19 > 0:44:21Incredible, wasn't it?
0:44:30 > 0:44:33With the new decade came a new generation
0:44:33 > 0:44:35of talented young drivers.
0:44:35 > 0:44:36Jochen Rindt.
0:44:36 > 0:44:38Emerson Fittipaldi.
0:44:38 > 0:44:40Nikki Lauda.
0:44:42 > 0:44:46And a more familiar face had finally come of age.
0:44:46 > 0:44:50With Jackie Stewart now is a former world motor racing champion,
0:44:50 > 0:44:52his rival and colleague, Graham Hill.
0:44:52 > 0:44:54APPLAUSE
0:44:58 > 0:45:01Firstly, Jackie, I'd like to congratulate you
0:45:01 > 0:45:03on your fantastic success this year.
0:45:03 > 0:45:05You won six Grand Prix, which is, you know,
0:45:05 > 0:45:07it's hogging it slightly. What do you...
0:45:07 > 0:45:09LAUGHTER
0:45:10 > 0:45:11How do you view...
0:45:11 > 0:45:14I mean, there's...seven Grand Prix is the sort of record.
0:45:14 > 0:45:16You're obviously hoping for this.
0:45:16 > 0:45:19Where do you think you could have done it and it didn't happen?
0:45:19 > 0:45:21LAUGHTER
0:45:27 > 0:45:28I don't think that's a fair question.
0:45:28 > 0:45:30APPLAUSE
0:45:33 > 0:45:38Actually, what I think it did to him was make him realise
0:45:38 > 0:45:42that he wasn't as young as he would like to be.
0:45:43 > 0:45:46By whatever standards you apply,
0:45:46 > 0:45:50Graham was over the hill by '71, '72.
0:45:50 > 0:45:53I mean, the fat lady was beginning to sing, really.
0:45:53 > 0:45:56A miserable two-year stint with the fledging Brabham team
0:45:56 > 0:45:59did nothing to enhance his trophy collection.
0:45:59 > 0:46:03And now, in his early 40s, questions concerning his retirement
0:46:03 > 0:46:05began cropping up with increasing regularity.
0:46:05 > 0:46:08Graham's response was clear.
0:46:16 > 0:46:19He confounded his critics with a remarkable win at Le Mans,
0:46:19 > 0:46:22becoming the only racing driver in history
0:46:22 > 0:46:25to win the famous 24-Hour Race, the Indy 500
0:46:25 > 0:46:28and the Formula 1 World Championship,
0:46:28 > 0:46:31a feat that is unlikely ever to be equalled.
0:46:32 > 0:46:35Back in the Formula 1 paddock, it meant nothing.
0:46:35 > 0:46:39Hard-nosed team bosses were looking to the future,
0:46:39 > 0:46:42and Graham was yesterday's man.
0:46:42 > 0:46:45In fact, nobody was prepared to give him a drive
0:46:45 > 0:46:47and pay him for doing it.
0:46:47 > 0:46:50The only way Graham could stay in Formula 1,
0:46:50 > 0:46:55it became apparent, was to operate his own car and his own team.
0:46:57 > 0:47:01Graham was without doubt one of the most experienced drivers around.
0:47:01 > 0:47:04But as far as managing a racing team was concerned,
0:47:04 > 0:47:07he was venturing into new waters.
0:47:08 > 0:47:12I did actually read about it. I must confess, I thought you were mad.
0:47:12 > 0:47:15I mean, you know, we just wonder, really,
0:47:15 > 0:47:18if you honestly have thought out just what a job you've taken on,
0:47:18 > 0:47:22- because it is different, it's a hell of a challenge.- Mmm, mmm.
0:47:22 > 0:47:25You've got to be in the front office and the back office,
0:47:25 > 0:47:28stage director, driver and the whole shooting match.
0:47:28 > 0:47:30Yes, I'm beginning to find out
0:47:30 > 0:47:34the cost and the economics of motor racing.
0:47:37 > 0:47:41That was incredible hard work and a great struggle,
0:47:41 > 0:47:47and I wish that when he started doing it, that I had said to him,
0:47:47 > 0:47:50but I didn't dare, "Don't do it."
0:47:51 > 0:47:53You reckon there's no way we can get there
0:47:53 > 0:47:57now we've had to dismantle the car and then take the engine off?
0:47:57 > 0:47:59No. We've just got a lot of work to do.
0:47:59 > 0:48:01And we need more time to do it.
0:48:01 > 0:48:04- That's very disappointing, isn't it?- It is.
0:48:06 > 0:48:09Graham's time was rapidly running out.
0:48:09 > 0:48:12Each day in his life was an exercise in juggling his many roles.
0:48:12 > 0:48:16Racing driver and team manager, husband and father.
0:48:18 > 0:48:20He had an office at home,
0:48:20 > 0:48:25and I feel that that's where he, if he was going to have a mood,
0:48:25 > 0:48:29that's where he would shut the door and that's where he would do it.
0:48:29 > 0:48:34No, I knew, I think when he was in the office and the door was shut,
0:48:34 > 0:48:39- you left him there.- He was working. - He was working.
0:48:42 > 0:48:43He would have been in the office,
0:48:43 > 0:48:47which, we had a little office by the front door, and it was just stuffed
0:48:47 > 0:48:50with pictures and papers, and so to see my dad,
0:48:50 > 0:48:53you'd have to go into the office, and so I'd toddle in there,
0:48:53 > 0:48:55and he'd be on the phone,
0:48:55 > 0:48:58and I think my memory of him is that he was on the phone a lot!
0:49:00 > 0:49:02He loved his motorbikes.
0:49:02 > 0:49:05When he'd come home, I used to go out with the bikes
0:49:05 > 0:49:10with daddy and Damon, and you could see that he was actually relaxed,
0:49:10 > 0:49:13just standing up on his bike,
0:49:13 > 0:49:20going up and down hills and just enjoying himself.
0:49:20 > 0:49:23Yeah, I remember lots of joy with him...
0:49:25 > 0:49:27which was lovely.
0:49:30 > 0:49:33Such moments were short-lived.
0:49:33 > 0:49:36All too soon, there was another problem to solve,
0:49:36 > 0:49:39another deadline to meet, another race to run.
0:49:50 > 0:49:54By the mid '70s, Formula 1 had changed.
0:49:54 > 0:49:58There was more frustration and aggravation, perhaps,
0:49:58 > 0:50:00than fun involved,
0:50:00 > 0:50:06and the days when a team could be run by a former driver
0:50:06 > 0:50:10were really fast ebbing away.
0:50:22 > 0:50:25And when a racing driver, even a great racing driver,
0:50:25 > 0:50:32gets to a situation in his career where he's driving an also-ran,
0:50:32 > 0:50:37which, even with the best good fortune in the world,
0:50:37 > 0:50:39you're not going to cut it.
0:50:39 > 0:50:43And I think that arrived for Graham at Monaco '75,
0:50:43 > 0:50:48when he, ironically, demeaningly, failed to qualify.
0:50:57 > 0:50:59'It's a very, very disappointing game.
0:50:59 > 0:51:01'It's a shatteringly disappointing game.
0:51:01 > 0:51:03'You can really be doing well,
0:51:03 > 0:51:05'and every time something lets you down,
0:51:05 > 0:51:08'the car lets you down, something fails.
0:51:08 > 0:51:11'And you just never seem as though you're going to win a race
0:51:11 > 0:51:12'or get anywhere.'
0:51:15 > 0:51:18It's always difficult to know when to stop, though.
0:51:20 > 0:51:22He just didn't want to give it up.
0:51:22 > 0:51:25And then, of course, he had to.
0:51:25 > 0:51:28Couldn't race and run the team as well. Very hard.
0:51:28 > 0:51:31He realised that the gung-ho, jolly japes,
0:51:31 > 0:51:35jumping in a racing car and racing your mates thing,
0:51:35 > 0:51:39he'd have to say goodbye to, and that was hard, I think, for him.
0:51:39 > 0:51:42Well, I do miss it and I miss, as I say,
0:51:42 > 0:51:46the physical sensation of controlling a racing car
0:51:46 > 0:51:49through corners and down straights,
0:51:49 > 0:51:54and I've missed the competitive stimulus that it gives also,
0:51:54 > 0:51:56and also trying to do it better than somebody else.
0:51:56 > 0:52:00And something I've done for so many years, almost all my adult life now,
0:52:00 > 0:52:02and now I've got to look forwards,
0:52:02 > 0:52:05and I've got to make myself another life, if you like.
0:52:05 > 0:52:08And of course, I'm still running my own Formula 1 team.
0:52:08 > 0:52:10And so, I'm still in motor racing.
0:52:10 > 0:52:13I haven't cut the ties like that, you know, I'm still in there.
0:52:13 > 0:52:15But in a different role altogether.
0:52:20 > 0:52:24He'd thrown himself into this new project, race team,
0:52:24 > 0:52:26which took up more of his time.
0:52:26 > 0:52:29And I was getting to the age, I was 15, so I was just...
0:52:29 > 0:52:33I'd been to a few races with the team and I was getting into it.
0:52:33 > 0:52:38And I can remember him packing to go testing,
0:52:38 > 0:52:42getting his kit together, and I'd go off to school.
0:52:42 > 0:52:45That was the last time I saw him.
0:52:51 > 0:52:54He was flying back from the Paul Ricard circuit
0:52:54 > 0:52:56with his mechanics and his young driver with him.
0:52:59 > 0:53:03And he crashed, tragically and fatally for everyone on board.
0:53:03 > 0:53:07'At daylight, with fog persisting,
0:53:07 > 0:53:10'the detailed investigation got underway.
0:53:10 > 0:53:14'What is known is that, as the plane came in over the golf course
0:53:14 > 0:53:17'toward Elstree Airfield, it was already too low.
0:53:17 > 0:53:20'In dense fog, it clipped a group of trees,
0:53:20 > 0:53:24'hit the ground and careered along the fairway to the 4th green.'
0:53:24 > 0:53:30I was watching television with my sister, Samantha,
0:53:30 > 0:53:33and a news flash came on the television.
0:53:33 > 0:53:36Damon came through the kitchen door and said,
0:53:36 > 0:53:39"Mummy, they say there's a plane crash at Elstree,
0:53:39 > 0:53:41"and they think it's Daddy."
0:53:41 > 0:53:44Just as I got there, the phone went.
0:53:44 > 0:53:48And that's when I kind of knew this was not good.
0:53:48 > 0:53:54And so that's really when our world was pretty smashed to bits.
0:54:00 > 0:54:03At his funeral, which was at St Albans Abbey,
0:54:03 > 0:54:07I don't think I've ever seen so many people.
0:54:07 > 0:54:11There were so many people, and there were barriers,
0:54:11 > 0:54:16and there were just people, you know, it was just a huge event.
0:54:16 > 0:54:24And...you know, this was... this was our daddy, you know?
0:54:24 > 0:54:27Couldn't quite get to grips with that.
0:54:31 > 0:54:33To lose a friend like that,
0:54:33 > 0:54:36and the character of Graham,
0:54:36 > 0:54:42was just so shattering, unbelievable.
0:54:42 > 0:54:46For me, that was the saddest day of motor racing.
0:55:17 > 0:55:2330 years on from the accident, a small group of family and friends
0:55:23 > 0:55:26have gathered outside the Hills' former home in north London.
0:55:26 > 0:55:30The occasion is a special one, for Graham is about to be honoured
0:55:30 > 0:55:33by the unveiling of an English Heritage blue plaque.
0:55:35 > 0:55:39Well, I'd like to welcome you all on behalf of English Heritage,
0:55:39 > 0:55:43This is, in fact, the first ever plaque to a racing driver
0:55:43 > 0:55:47that we've unveiled, and actually one of the very few plaques
0:55:47 > 0:55:49to a sporting personality,
0:55:49 > 0:55:51so it really is a very special occasion today.
0:56:04 > 0:56:08He's still very much in people's memory,
0:56:08 > 0:56:11and I think that's wonderful. He hasn't disappeared.
0:56:14 > 0:56:17He really did enjoy his life,
0:56:17 > 0:56:22and I have a belief that racing drivers never die.
0:56:22 > 0:56:25The spirit's too strong and they never go away,
0:56:25 > 0:56:31and I still see Graham regularly, as I do a whole lot of friends,
0:56:31 > 0:56:33and he's still the same.
0:56:35 > 0:56:38Many people loved him, many people loved him.
0:56:38 > 0:56:42And he had a quality, a humanity, I think,
0:56:42 > 0:56:47which is the thing that makes sportspeople transcend whatever it is
0:56:47 > 0:56:51that they've done, and I think my dad had that ability
0:56:51 > 0:56:56to transcend just the mere fact of being a sportsperson.
0:56:57 > 0:56:59Graham, you have one son, Damon.
0:56:59 > 0:57:01Are we ever going to see another Hill in the sport?
0:57:01 > 0:57:04Would you like to see Damon in goggles and helmet?
0:57:07 > 0:57:09Frankly, I don't think I would, no.
0:57:14 > 0:57:19I'm honestly sure that it makes me the only woman in motor racing
0:57:19 > 0:57:24that has a World Champion husband and a World Champion son,
0:57:24 > 0:57:26which is very special, isn't it?
0:57:28 > 0:57:33Now, unfortunately, the man who polled the most votes this year
0:57:33 > 0:57:37is a man who, for reasons you all know, cannot be with us tonight.
0:57:37 > 0:57:39He's a man who established a record
0:57:39 > 0:57:42that will never be equalled, I feel, in motor racing.
0:57:42 > 0:57:47He won five Monaco Grand Prix. His name is Graham Hill and here he is.
0:57:47 > 0:57:49APPLAUSE
0:57:50 > 0:57:53Well, you seem to be having a fairly jolly time.
0:57:53 > 0:57:55You're laughing a lot, I notice.
0:57:55 > 0:57:59Anyway, I don't know what's going to happen to you lot after this,
0:57:59 > 0:58:01but...the rest of the evening for you,
0:58:01 > 0:58:03but I know what's going to happen to me.
0:58:03 > 0:58:07I'm going to have a couple of little darlings come in and rub my bottom.
0:58:07 > 0:58:09LAUGHTER
0:58:09 > 0:58:11So, if you can beat that, good luck!
0:58:11 > 0:58:13LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE
0:58:42 > 0:58:46Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:58:46 > 0:58:49E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk