Hill: 'Gardening leave is not in spirit of the sport'

F1 News

Damon Hill finds gardening leave not in spirit of F1
15 August 2023 at 15:26
Last update 15 August 2023 at 15:48
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  • Olly Darcy
  • Editor

Switching teams is a regular occurrence for many F1 employees. There is a so-called 'gardening leave' for employees who move from one team to another to keep F1 team development secret. According to former F1 champion Damon Hill, this rule is not in the spirit of the sport.

Gardening leave is an English term widely used in Formula 1. What it boils down to is that employees of F1 teams who want to work for another F1 team are required to take a year off from working for an F1 team before joining the other team. These employees will then have to get through that year on their own, for example, by gardening.

Hill finds gardening leave bad for the sport

1996 F1 champion Hill thinks it is a strange rule in Formula 1. In the F1 Nation podcast, the Brit says: "This whole business of gardening leave and people not being able to go from one team to another, I don't think it's in the spirit of the sport. People should be able to go, 'Okay, I'm leaving and start immediately at another team."

Hill believes it is important that the rule goes out. After all, he says, "I think that would sharpen things up a bit and would probably bring the teams closer together. I just think that the whole business of teams being able to stop someone from using their skills and immediately go work somewhere else has made it harder for all the teams. The fluidity is going to bring teams closer together."