The Canadian Formula 1 driver Gilles Villeneuve was born in Chambly, Quebec on 18 January 1950. His father, who bought the young Gilles an in-need-repair 1958 MGA sports car, fostered his interest in cars. Stripping down the MGA and rebuilding the vehicle taught Gilles a lot and eventually he succeeded in making it roadworthy, even if he was not yet old enough to drive at least legally.
His early career in racing consisted of numerous crashes including crashing his MGA. He dabbled in drag racing before switching to racing snowmobiles.
It was in snowmobile racing that Villeneuve earned his fearless reputation. Of his time on snowmobiles, Gilles said, "Every winter, you would reckon on three or four big spills - and I'm talking about being thrown on to the ice at 100 mph. Those things used to slide a lot, which taught me a great deal about control. And the visibility was terrible! Unless you were leading, you could see nothing, with all the snow blowing about. Good for the reactions - and it stopped me having any worries about racing in the rain."
He still wanted to be a racecar driver and enrolled in the Jim Russell Racing School at Mont Tremblant to obtain his license. He started driving in formula Ford before switching to Formula Atlantic with the Ecurie Canada team. In 1976, he had a few drives in Formula 2 one of which bought him to the attention of F1 driver James Hunt.
In 1977, he started driving the third F1 car of the McLaren team alongside teammates James Hunt and Jochen Maas. Towards the end of the year, he switched to Ferrari where he remained for the rest of his, all too short, career. In his first outing in a Ferrari, he left the track when he hit a patch of oil. His second race, taking place in Japan, saw him cartwheeling of the track. The crash killed two spectators, although Villeneuve was unhurt. Villeneuve’s first F1 win was in front of his compatriots, at the 1978 Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal.
In 1979, Jody Schechter signed as number one driver for Ferrari and Gilles, as the number two driver, supported him in winning the World championship. It was in this year that Villeneuve drove one of his most amazing races. At the French Grand Prix, he took on the Renault driver, Rene Arnoux, in a grinding, bumping and breathtaking last lap duel for second place. He won three F1 races at the South Africa, Long Beach (USA East) and Watkins Glen (USA West) meetings. He also came second in total points to Jody Schechter, giving Ferrari the top two places in the driver’s championship.
The next year, 1980, was not a good one for Ferrari or Villeneuve and he only gained a few points for the whole year. Things got better in 1980 when he won both the Monaco and the Spanish Grand Prix.
In 1981, Villeneuve signed up as number one driver with Didier Pironi in the number two slot. At the San Marino Grand Prix at Imola as Villeneuve slowed down, with the race virtually won, his teammate, Pironi, disobeyed instructions and overtook him to take the win. Villeneuve was furious and, for once, his normal good humor left him.
It is entirely probable that Villeneuve was still seething, over this race, two weeks later at the Zolder track. During the qualifying session, on 8 May 1982, while pushing hard to take pole position Villeneuve’s Ferrari hit the slower March of Jochen Mass. Cartwheeling and disintegrating the Ferrari left the track. Doctors managed to revive Villeneuve by the track but he died in hospital that evening.
Gilles Villeneuve was a daredevil when it came to racing but he only put himself at risk. He was courteous and considerate to his fellow drivers. This made him popular with fans, teammates and rival drivers.
The Villeneuve name is well remembered in Canada and in the world of motor racing. The Montreal circuit was re-named in his honor and in 1997, Canada issued a stamp in his honor. His son, Jacques Villeneuve, carried forward his father’s ambitions becoming F1 World Champion in 1997.
Gilles Villeneuve’s philosophy of driving is best stated in his own words, “I never think I can get hurt – not seriously. If you believe it can happen to you, how can you do this job? If you’re never over eight-tenths or whatever, because you are thinking about a shunt, you’re not going as quick as you can. And if you’re not doing that, you’re not a racing driver. Some guys in Formula 1 … well, to me they’re not racing drivers. They drive racing cars that all. They’re doing half a job. And in that case I wonder why they do it all …”
Quotes from Gilles Villeneuve are from the Grand Prix Hall of Fame website.