{"id":23162,"date":"2025-04-15T22:39:14","date_gmt":"2025-04-15T22:39:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/23162\/"},"modified":"2025-04-15T22:39:14","modified_gmt":"2025-04-15T22:39:14","slug":"five-revelations-by-f1-1997-world-champion-jacques-villeneuve","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/23162\/","title":{"rendered":"Five revelations by F1 1997 world champion Jacques Villeneuve"},"content":{"rendered":"

There is no shortage of creativity at French Formula 1 broadcaster Canal+, which recently set up an interview \u2013 or should we say \u2018questioning\u2019 \u2013 with its own pundit Jacques Villeneuve<\/a>, pretending he was in police custody.<\/p>\n

Looking back on his career, the 1997 world champion delved into a few noteworthy aspects and events of his time as a racing driver.<\/p>\n

Gilles\u2019 unwanted legacy
\n \"Gilles <\/p>\n

Gilles Villeneuve with wife Joanna and children Melanie and Jacques<\/p>\n

Photo by: Ercole Colombo<\/p>\n

Jacques\u2019s father was Ferrari<\/a> legend Gilles Villeneuve, who won six grands prix before his untimely death in a collision during qualifying for the 1982 Belgian Grand Prix. He was just 32 years old.<\/p>\n

Jacques was 11 at the time and was not deterred from motor racing \u2013 but felt the weight of expectations on his shoulders, particularly from the media.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat weighed on me was not being Gilles\u2019 son, because I was super proud of being my father\u2019s son,\u201d Jacques explained. \u201cWhat weighed on me was that I was never allowed to give a real answer when it came to my father. I was told \u2018Oh, you race because you want to perpetuate what your father did, that\u2019s great\u2019. \u2018No, I race because I like it\u2019. \u2018What? Are you insulting your father?\u2019 \u2018No, I like racing, I\u2019m not emulating him\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s when I realized that too many people \u2013 especially older journalists \u2013 still lived with that romanticism. Either I said what they wanted to hear or they got upset, so I chose not to answer anymore. I wasn\u2019t free to say what I really thought.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read Also:<\/p>\n

Giving up on an F1 victory on debut
\n \"Jacques <\/p>\n

Jacques Villeneuve, Williams FW18 Renault leads Damon Hill, Williams FW18 Renault<\/p>\n

Photo by: Motorsport Images<\/p>\n

Reigning Indy 500 winner Villeneuve made a highly scrutinized F1 debut at the 1996 Australian Grand Prix on the all-new Albert Park track. The Canadian became the third and currently latest rookie to get pole position on debut (excluding the first-ever world championship race and the Indy 500), outpacing Williams<\/a> team-mate Damon Hill<\/a> by 0.138s. Ferrari\u2019s Eddie Irvine<\/a> was half a second off the pace.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe car was competitive, clearly,\u201d Villeneuve said. \u201cAlongside me was Damon Hill, who was super fast and knew the car well. What helped me compared to F1\u2019s current rookies was that we would do miles and miles of testing from January \u2013 five days a week we were at Estoril in Portugal. So we got there with a good amount of running under our belt.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe other thing that played to my advantage was that it was a new circuit; Damon had no points of reference, and that\u2019s how I made the difference. However, in the following two grands prix, I was one second off in qualifying!\u201d Villeneuve\u2019s deficit to Hill was 1.143s at Interlagos and 0.561s in Buenos Aires.<\/p>\n

Starting from pole in Melbourne, Villeneuve led for most of the first 53 laps \u2013 out of 58 \u2013 but had to cede the win to his team-mate due to a technical issue on his FW18, which allegedly put him at risk of retiring from the race.<\/p>\n

\u201cMelbourne annoyed me a little bit, because we had the race in the bag,\u201d he added. \u201cThere was an oil leak in the corners, the red light was coming on for oil pressure, so the team told me to slow down and let Damon through, otherwise the engine would break down. I found out recently from some engineers that even if I hadn\u2019t slowed down the engine actually wouldn\u2019t have broken down, that it was maybe better for the harmony in the team not to take that risk.\u201d<\/p>\n

Villeneuve was however keen to play down any suggestion of a conspiracy.<\/p>\n

He also clarified he was not so bothered. \u201cI knew 1997 was going to be my year, 1996 was Damon\u2019s and I had a lot to learn from him. Had it been in 1997 or against another team-mate, I maybe would have minded, but not against Damon. He was here, he was extremely experienced, and I had a lot to learn.\u201d<\/p>\n

How he ended up with blond hair
\n \"Jacques <\/p>\n

Jacques Villeneuve, Williams celebrates victory<\/p>\n

Photo by: Sutton Images<\/p>\n

Blond hair has always been, in a way, Villeneuve\u2019s trademark \u2013 merely because, although he wore it over a short period of his life, this was when he won the world championship.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first time was in 1997, right after the grand prix in Montreal,\u201d he recalled, having retired from his home race when on lap 2 he crashed into the \u2018Bienvenue au Quebec\u2019 wall \u2013 which would be nicknamed the \u2018Wall of Champions\u2019 when three of them hit it in 1999.<\/p>\n

\u201cI went home and saw a movie, Trainspotting. I found it very funny, and their hair was bleached blond. \u2018Oh, that\u2019s cool, why not?\u2019 I went to my hairdresser\u2019s, said \u2018Hey, do this for me\u2019. \u2018Are you crazy?\u2019 \u2018No, do it.\u2019 But I didn\u2019t let my management know, nor the team, nor my sponsors. We had a photoshoot planned just before Magny-Cours; I got there \u2013 \u2018Hi, it\u2019s me!\u2019 \u2013 and there was a bit of a shock.\u201d<\/p>\n

Four months later, Williams-Renault\u2019s French contingent celebrated Villeneuve\u2019s world title with blond wigs.<\/p>\n

Schumacher\u2019s post-Jerez betrayal
\n \"Michael <\/p>\n

Michael Schumacher and Jacques Villeneuve in the press conference<\/p>\n

Photo by: Ercole Colombo<\/p>\n

Jacques Villeneuve\u2019s career highlight certainly was defeating Ferrari\u2019s Michael Schumacher<\/a> for the 1997 title, in controversial circumstances that would be debated by pundits and fans alike for decades.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt started in the previous race in Japan,\u201d the Williams driver detailed. \u201cI was nine points ahead, it was 10 points for a win at the time. We almost had the championship in the bag.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut on Friday morning, on the first out-lap, on the long back straight, there was a car stopped on the side with yellow flags. The car was stopped, fine, we kept going. Then, the stewards decided to disqualify me from the whole weekend. That seemed a little harsh \u2013 I never had such a penalty, and there has never been the like since then. All of us at Williams felt a bit like the dice were loaded.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe still decided to race so that we could potentially appeal. The goal was to drive slowly and for someone to overtake Michael so that he wouldn\u2019t win the race. But all other drivers were scared of playing along, so everyone was driving slowly.\u201d<\/p>\n

What Villeneuve didn\u2019t mention is that he had previously ignored yellow flags a little too often, and consequently was under a suspended one-race ban. Furthermore, the incident involving Jos Verstappen<\/a>\u2019s stricken Tyrrell actually happened on a lap where Villeneuve set a personal best.<\/p>\n

Regardless, the incident fired Villeneuve up. \u201cWe went to the last race one point down, and that\u2019s when the political games started.<\/p>\n

\u201cSchumacher went to Ferrari because Ferrari needed to win, they hadn\u2019t won for a long time. That\u2019s why I then decided to put quite a bit of pressure on Schumacher, reminding the media and the federation how he had won his two championships against Damon Hill. By driving him into the wall,\u201d he added, referring to the decisive collision in the 1994 title race in Adelaide.<\/p>\n

After a remarkable three-way tie in qualifying for the last 1997 round at Jerez \u2013 with Villeneuve awarded pole position by virtue of setting his time before Schumacher and Williams team-mate Heinz-Harald Frentzen<\/a> \u2013 Schumacher took the lead at the start and led his rival until Villeneuve dove down the inside on lap 48. The German drove into the Williams but failed to take it out of the race and got stuck in the gravel.<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

The controversial collision between Michael Schumacher, Ferrari F310B, and Jacques Villeneuve, Williams FW19 Renault<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember having looked at him. I remember driving down to the braking point and seeing him stood on the wall, watching me. This image really struck me. I was laughing, I was happy!\u201d<\/p>\n

All Villeneuve had to do was finish sixth to score one point, and he eventually took third behind the McLarens.<\/p>\n

\u201cI slowed down to preserve the car. The mount that held the battery was broken, so the battery was held by two electrical cables only, and it was being tossed around. But I slowed down, I braked earlier, I didn\u2019t go full throttle, I avoided the kerbs. That\u2019s what allowed me to finish the grand prix.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

However, Villeneuve\u2019s post-race party took an unexpected turn when Schumacher joined to celebrate his opponent\u2019s world championship.<\/p>\n

\u201cMichael came with his wife, wearing one of the yellow wigs from the Renault mechanics,\u201d Villeneuve said. \u201cHe wasn\u2019t staying at this hotel, he just showed up. He joined me behind the bar, put his hand around me, made cocktails while his wife took pictures. Fair play, the championship\u2019s over, we move on.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne week later, I woke up to German tabloids with the picture, captioned: \u2018Proof I didn\u2019t do anything wrong, Jacques is not upset\u2019. That annoyed me. They used my moment \u2013 my party, my championship \u2013 as a photo op to absolve him of guilt. That\u2019s what really damaged and prevented any possible relationship.\u201d<\/p>\n

Schumacher went on to be disqualified from the 1997 championship by the FIA. Villeneuve still sees him as his greatest rival \u2013 but insists he never would have joined the Ferrari driver as a team-mate despite his father\u2019s link to Maranello, as he would not have accepted number-two status and felt there was no room for a Villeneuve alongside Schumacher.<\/p>\n

Coming to blows with feisty Montoya
\n \"A <\/p>\n

A tough morning session for Jacques Villeneuve<\/p>\n

Photo by: Brousseau Photo<\/p>\n

During his short-lived F1 career, which spanned just five years and a half, Juan Pablo Montoya could be quite feisty \u2013 both on and off the track. Villeneuve experienced it first-hand at the 2001 Canadian Grand Prix, when the Colombian was a rookie.<\/p>\n

\u201cMontoya went out of the pits and blocked me on purpose,\u201d Villeneuve claimed. \u201cMy lap was ruined. I slowed down in a chicane to say, \u2018Oh!\u2019, and he drove into me, breaking my suspension!<\/p>\n

\u201cHe said a few things to me that he shouldn\u2019t have, so I grabbed him by the scruff of the neck, the stewards came \u2013 that was during the drivers\u2019 briefing \u2013 then I explained what he\u2019d said and everything eased off.\u201d<\/p>\n

In this article<\/p>\n

Ben Vinel\n<\/p>\n

Formula 1\n<\/p>\n

Juan Pablo Montoya\n<\/p>\n

Michael Schumacher\n<\/p>\n

Jacques Villeneuve\n<\/p>\n

Gilles Villeneuve\n<\/p>\n

Williams\n<\/p>\n

Be the first to know and subscribe for real-time news email updates on these topics<\/p>\n

Subscribe to news alerts<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There is no shortage of creativity at French Formula 1 broadcaster Canal+, which recently set up an interview…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":23163,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4103],"tags":[4199,707,4200,14658,14657,14656,5909,79,16,15,4857],"class_list":{"0":"post-23162","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-f1","8":"tag-f1","9":"tag-formula-1","10":"tag-formula1","11":"tag-gilles-villeneuve","12":"tag-jacques-villeneuve","13":"tag-juan-pablo-montoya","14":"tag-michael-schumacher","15":"tag-sports","16":"tag-uk","17":"tag-united-kingdom","18":"tag-williams"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23162","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23162"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23162\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23163"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23162"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23162"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23162"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}