DAMON HILL will only have a short time to savour his newly won world championship before the Formula One teams get into top gear in preparation for the 1997 season which starts in Melbourne next March.

Many drivers may be able to snatch a few weeks holiday, but for Heinz Harald Frentzen, Hill's successor at Williams Renault, the transition to his new job will feel almost seamless.

With the dust still settling over the German driver's sixth place finish in Sunday's Japanese Grand Prix at the wheel of a Sauber Ford, Frentzen is due at Estoril next week to have his first test run.

For his part, Hill will be able to take a few weeks off. "I have told him that he should get away, and that I don't want to see him for a month," said Tom Walkinshaw the owner of the TWR Arrows team for which the new world champion will drive in 1997. Then we can get down to some work for next year."

In fact, with the new Yamaha engined Arrows not scheduled for completion until the second week in January, Hill might be away from the cockpit for some time. Yet Walkinshaw will be equally anxious for Hill to try the new Japanese Bridgestone tyres his team will be using for the first time next season, so it is likely that one of this year's team cars will be retained for that purpose.

Yet it is not only new cars, but new drivers who are a priority for many teams. After being thwarted in his efforts to sign up Hill, Eddie Jordan is bidding to secure the services of former Formula Lotus driver and IndyCar revelation Alessandro Zanardi to drive alongside Ralf Schumacher next season.

The highly rated Italian already has a contract in place with the Chip Ganassi Racing team for 1997 and negotiating a release could be an expensive proposition for the Silverstone based Jordan squad. However, it is believed that Zanardi's deal contains a buy out clause in the event of an realistic Formula One opportunity coming his way.

Meanwhile, the Brazilian driver Rubens Barrichello is set to leave Jordan and join Jackie Stewart's new Ford supported team. A formal announcement of the Brazilian's change of camp is expected this week. Barrichello's move could bring in the region of $7 million in associated sponsorship to help with Stewart's budget, a valuable consideration for any new team.

Italian driver Giancarlo Fisichella is also looking for a drive after impressing the Benetton team with his speed in a recent test session in Portugal.

At the other end of the spectrum the Williams team took a trip down memory lane last week when 42 year old Riccardo Patrese tried his hand in a current FW18 at Silverstone.

Patrese, who drove for Williams from 1988 to 1992, posted a best time of 1 minute 28.0 seconds, good enough for a place in the leading bunch on the starting grid for this year's British grand prix.

Benetton will be doing much the same during the off season when Alessandro Nannini has a try in one of the current Renault engined B196s. Nannini won the 1989 Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka, but his career was terminated the following autumn when one of his arms was severed in a helicopter accident.

Thanks to skilled micro surgery, the arm was successfully reattached and he has since raced for Alfa in the ITC. He may later also try a Minardi.

Former Northern Ireland grand prix winner John Watson has suggested, only half jokingly, that Formula One might take a leaf out of golf book and establish a senior tour for retired drivers in historic grand prix machines.

. The Japanese Grand Prix - the last to be covered by the BBC attracted a peak audience of 1.6 million in Britain for its five o'clock early Sunday morning broadcast. The two hour programme averaged an audience of 1.3 million.