Gilles Villeneuve (Joseph Gilles Henri Villeneuve)

Joseph Gilles Henri Villeneuve (January 18, 1950 – May 8, 1982) was a world-renowned Formula One racing driver.

Villeneuve was born in the small town of Berthierville, Quebec, Canada. His first Formula One win came in his native province in the 1978 Canadian Grand Prix, held in Montreal. All told in his short career, he won six Grand Prix races. In 1979 he finished second by four points in the championship to teammate Jody Scheckter. 

Life and career
Villeneuve began his Formula 1 career with McLaren at the 1977 British Grand Prix, after he impressed James Hunt by beating him in a Formula Atlantic race at Trois Rivieres in 1976. Hunt spoke to the McLaren management and arranged for Villeneuve to be entered in a third McLaren M23 at the race. McLaren decided not to opt for Villeneuve's services again, but Enzo Ferrari jumped at the chance to sign him as Niki Lauda's replacement at Ferrari for 1978.

He scored his first Grand Prix victory at his home race at the end of the season, before being joined by Jody Scheckter for 1979 after Carlos Reutemann moved to Lotus. After the tragic death of Ronnie Peterson, Villeneuve was seen as his natural successor as the fastest natural driver on the grid.

Remembered for his frenetic style which seemed more like that of a rally driver, his wheel-banging duel with René Arnoux in the last laps of the 1979 French Grand Prix at the Dijon circuit, when he stubbornly refused to accept his 312T4 was slower than Arnoux's faster Renault was one of the most intense moments in Formula One racing. Despite this, his six Grand Prix wins represent some of the most tactically astute and mechanically sensitive in the history of the sport. Perhaps his greatest achievements came in 1981, where he wrestled an unwieldy turbo Ferrari to victory at Monaco, followed by a classic of defensive driving at the Spanish Grand Prix, keeping 5 quicker cars behind him using his tactical acumen and the superior straightline speed of his car.

Villeneuve went into 1982 a clear favourite for the crown. He was widely regarded as the best Formula One driver in the field, and Ferrari, after two years of mediocre cars, produced an excellent design. After glimpses of promise in the opening races, Villeneuve was back at the front for the FOCA-boycotted San Marino Grand Prix only for his team-mate Didier Pironi to disobey team orders and beat him to the line. It is Villeneuve's widely believed claim that he was merely coasting at that point, in the knowledge that victory was in the bag and trusted Pironi to do likewise under orders. Feeling betrayed and angry, Villeneuve vowed never to speak to Pironi again.

Tragedy struck at the next race on the calendar. On May 8, 1982, on his final qualifying lap for the Belgian Grand Prix at Zolder, the front left wheel of his car came into contact with the right rear wheel of Jochen Mass's car, which was on a slow 'in' lap. Villeneuve's car was launched into the air before nose-diving into the soft earthen embankment just outside the armco and somersaulting along the side of the track. The violence of the accident reduced the car to its cockpit, and ripped Villeneuve's seat from the back of the monocoque. Villeneuve, still strapped to his seat, was thrown across the track and into the catch fencing just outside the corner. When the medical team arrived, he was not breathing. He died shortly thereafter in hospital. Mercifully, his fatal injuries were likely caused by the force of his car landing for the first time after the initial impact.

His spectacular driving is still considered an art form among Formula One fans. He is still remembered at Grand Prix races, especially those in Italy.

The racetrack on Île Notre-Dame, Montreal, used for the Molson Indy and Grand Prix du Canada, was renamed in his honour at the Canadian Grand Prix of 1982 after his death.

Near the race track there is also a museum in his honour.

Villeneuve was inducted into the Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame at their inaugaural induction ceremony at the Four Seasons Hotel, Toronto, Ontario, August 19, 1993.

At the funeral in Berthierville, former teammate, Jody Scheckter, delivered a simple eulogy and prophecy. “I will miss Gilles for two reasons. First, he was the fastest driver in the history of motor racing. Second, he was the most genuine man I have ever known. But he has not gone. The memory of what he has done, what he achieved, will always be there.”

More than a decade later, Scheckter’s prophecy remains true. There is still a huge demand for Villeneuve memorabilia at the race-track shops, and several books have been written about him. There is a bronze bust of him at the entrance to the Ferrari test track; a challenging corner at the Imola Track, site of the San Marino Grand Prix, is named Curva Gilles Villeneuve; a Canadian flag is painted on the spot where he started his last race. In Berthierville, a museum was opened in 1992 and a lifelike statue stands in a nearby park named in his honour.

"Gilles was the perfect racing driver ... with the best talent of all of us.” This was the assessment of Niki Lauda whom Villeneuve replaced in 1977 as a member of the Ferrari team of Formula One drivers. It is an opinion shared by many other Grand Prix drivers and veteran journalists who covered the sport.

Like certain other great drivers, including Clark and Senna, Villeneuve was a curious mixture of seemingly disparate personality types. Lauda wrote of him, "He was the craziest devil I ever came across in Formula 1... The fact that, for all this, he was a sensitive and lovable character rather than an out-and-out hell-raiser made him such a unique human being". Flying, snowmobiling or driving, he was a risk-taker of classic proportions. Yet his fellow drivers said that on the track he was scrupulously fair and did not put anyone's safety other than his own in jeopardy. This combination of traits made him exceptionally popular not only with fans but with teammates and opponents as well. He still remains even today a fan favorite in Canada, Italy and in the rest of the F1 world.

People about Villeneuve
"I know no human being can do miracles but Gilles could really surprise us sometimes."
- Jacques Laffite, 1982

"He was a totally uncomplicated non-political guy with no hangups whatsoever. He was totally and completely honest. If he were testing, and the car was rubbish, he'd come in and say 'Look, it's rubbish; I don't mind, don't get me wrong, I'll drive it all day and love every minute of it, but I thought that you ought to know the car's rubbish.' The Old Man (Enzo Ferrari) loved him for this."
- Harvey Postlethwaite

"Niki Lauda always said that Villeneuve was the best of their ERA. ... Behind the wheel of a racing car he was fearfully quick, never stopped trying, and could extracticate himself from the most precarious situations with deft brilliance."
- Alan Henry

"His car control was extraordinary, ever compared with the many talented drivers I have had the opportunity to drive against over the years. He drove a Grand Prix car to the absolute limit of its ability."
- Jackie Stewart

"He also never drove anywhere at anything less than an absolutely flat-out pace, be it on the road or the track..."
- Harvey Postlewaithe

"In a situation like that I know I would have been scared stiff. But I am sure that when Gilles felt his Ferrari take off, his last thought was anger, plain and simple, because he knew that he has spoiled that one perfect lap."
- Eddie Cheever

"His death has deprived us of a great champion - one that I loved very much. My past is scarred with grief; parents, brother, son. My life is full of sad memories. I look back and see the faces of my loved ones, and among them I see him."
- Enzo Ferrari

"His death signifed the passing of a certain approach. He was the last person who had the totally un-inhibited joy of driving a racing car."
- Alan Henry

"Quite seriously, I've never felt anything like the same about racing ever since. I nearly packed it up."
- Nigel Roebuck

"I was at home in Monaco that Sunday. A friend of mine called from Zolder and said 'Gilles has had a big accident, and it doesn't look good at all.' So I phoned Joann, and shot up to her place very quickly. From then on it was chaos and disaster. You don't want to think about it."
- Jody Scheckter

"The kids were just 8 and 10 years old and seemed to be doing much better than I expected. That first night they both went upstairs to bed, and later I went up to check on them. They were asleep. When I saw Melanie I started crying. She had a picture of her dad with her. She was holding it in her arms."
- John Lane

"Gilles was the fastest driver in the history of motor racing. But more important for me is that he was the most genuine person I have ever known."
- Jody Scheckter

"I will drive flat out all the time. I love racing."
- Gilles Villeneuve

Family
His brother Jacques, known as "uncle Jacques", also had a successful racing career winning championships in the Formula Atlantic and Can Am series as well as becoming the first Canadian to win a race in the CART series. "Uncle" Jacques was inducted into the Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame in 2001.

In June 1997, Canada issued a postage stamp in honor of its favorite racing son.

His son, Jacques, also had a successful racing career winning the Indianapolis 500 and CART championships in 1995. He then followed in his father's footsteps and joined the Formula One circuit in 1996 where he had pole position in his first race, winning the World Championship in 1997.

http://www.gilles.villeneuve.com/english/
http://www.gillesvilleneuve.com