Hill ‘forgets’ Schumacher: the first Benetton driver that comes to his mind is Herbert. Hill ‘forgets’ Schumacher: the first Benetton driver that comes to his mind is Herbert.

Provocation or truth?
Gerhard Berger, Jean Alesi, Nelson Piquet, Riccardo Patrese, Alessandro Nannini: these are just a few of the drivers who took the wheel of Benetton cars, the F1 team founded by Luciano Benetton in 1986, which competed in the World Championship until 2001 before “transforming” into Renault (the base in Enstone remained the same and is still used today by Alpine).

Benetton’s achievements include two Drivers’ World Championships and one Constructors’ Championship, all thanks to Michael Schumacher in 1994-1995. In 1995, alongside Schumacher in the team managed by Flavio Briatore was Johnny Herbert, who finished fourth in the Drivers’ standings with two wins and two other podium finishes to his name.

And it’s precisely Johnny Herbert who was mentioned by Damon Hill on X, responding to a question from the F1 History account asking which driver reminds people of Benetton. Clearly, the Briton decided to showcase some classic British humor. Damon Hill lost the Drivers’ Championship to Michael Schumacher in both 1994 and 1995, before becoming World Champion for the first time in 1996 when the German switched to Ferrari.