Jacques Villeneuve explains why battling Damon Hill was harder than fighting Michael Schumacher

Damon Hill and Jacques Villeneuve have discussed their time as Williams team-mates and fighting for the drivers' championship in 1996.

The Canadian driver made his Formula 1 debut with the Grove outfit in 1996, joining Hill as they both fought for the championship title. It was the Briton who ultimately won, and Villeneuve finished second, with Michael Schumacher in third.

"I always found it a lot harder to fight your own team-mate because it's the same car," Villeneuve said on the Williams Team Torque podcast. "It's the same car, you share the setups, you work as a team, but you still need to beat the other side of the team.

"And then it's tough for the mechanics and the engineers because they're supposed to work for the team, but of course, it becomes a little bit personal. I've always found that a little bit more difficult than fighting a driver that's from a different team, like Michael."

The 1997 champion later added: "It's all down to the respect whether there's respect or not. If you respect your team-mate, he's a guy to beat. You want to be better because he's good, not because you don't think he's any good.

"When I got into F1, I'd been watching you racing since my Formula 3 days because we both had the same sponsor when I started racing when they wanted the sons of ex-racers.

Damon Hill, Williams, Jacques Villeneuve, Williams

Photo by: Sutton Images

"I'd been watching you get to F1 because at the time I was in Japan and racing in the States, and I'd seen the hardships you've been through."

Hill explained that the similarities in their childhoods led to mutual respect between the two of them. Both Hill and Villeneuve followed their fathers, two-time champion Graham Hill and six-time grand prix winner Gilles Villeneuve, into the racing world. They also both tragically lost their fathers at a young age.

"Jacques' dad was a racing driver. He was very sadly killed when Jacques was only very young. My dad was a racing driver, and I lost my dad," Hill said.

"So, I always felt there was some sort of common experience there. But we came into this sport with, I think, a strong sense of sportsmanship from both our dads."