Five years at the helm of the British Racing Drivers Club is enough for anybody. Damon Hill took over from Sir Jackie Stewart at a time of great uncertainty over Silverstone and the future of the British Grand Prix.

Indeed two years into his reign Hill saw the British Grand Prix taken from BRDC headquarters at Silverstone to Donington Park. Bernie Ecclestone, the F1 commercial rights holder and a long-time critic of the BRDC, stunned the racing world by announcing the 17-year switch on the morning of the 2008 grand prix.Silverstone was in shock. The global banking collapse ultimately put paid to the Donington initiative, and it was the skilful public relations of Hill that helped reposition Silverstone and change Ecclestone's thinking.

With Hill's quiet diplomacy a new deal was brokered that meant the race never left its spiritual home. As part of that the BRDC announced a new pit and paddock complex at Abbey that opened last month and which has transformed the old place. Next month spectators will get to see the new Silverstone in action for the first time dominated by the dramatic 'Silverstone Wing'.

'It has been a great privilege and honour to serve as BRDC president since 2006. As a club and business, we can be immensely proud of everything we have achieved for British motor sport over the past few years.
'The BRDC and Silverstone face a stable and exciting future, so the timing is right for me to hand over the reins and devote more time to my family, my own interests. However, I remain a committed member of the BRDC and look forward to watching the club go from strength to strength.'

Those interests include developing the career of his son Josh, who is bidding to complete the family hat-trick, following dad, and grandfather Graham to the F1 world championship. That's the plan. He is a long way from the F1 grid, but with his genes he has a fighting chance.