F1 Hero Series: Gilles Villeneuve

Justin:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3tXJm9tYGM

5 minutes and 10 seconds - this pass tells you everything about Gilles Villeneuve.

The guy just raced. He was a pure F1 racer. He went as hard and fast as he could - end of. If he had to finish 5th to win a world title, he would rather go hell for leather and try and win the race and fail. You could say this was a massive achillees heel - would he ever have won a world title driving like this? Who knows?

He despised politics in F1 and nothing made him more happy than getting in the car and thrashing the hell out of it, at the expense of many fine F1 drivers. He'd usually be driving a bucket of shit Ferrari - the only time he wasn't was 1979 when Scheckter won the title. He was more a tactical driver who went as fast as was needed - team orders helped him win the 79 title too, but thats another story. It's a bit like Hamilton and Button now - Hamilton goes for it (until this year at least) and burns his tyres out, whereas Button has a much more smooth, considered approach.

Gilles Villeneuve was purely a balls out racing legend. He overtook where people didn't think it possible. He won and got good points in a Ferrari that was by no means the best car on the grid (as touched upon in a previous blog...remind you of anyone?).

To put it bluntly - I see Gilles racing and the F1 fan in me just stands on in utter amazement.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NiVyLEM-0wE
This win in Spain in 1981 has to be his greatest. From 2 minutes onwards in the footage....he had a train of cars behind him and didn't put a foot wrong. Lets be clear - it was a train of faster cars.

I delved more into/ got into the legend of Gilles through his son Jacques coming into F1 in 1996 (even though during his career Jacques never spoke about his Father - it's only recently he has opened up about him). Jacques racing style was very much like his Dad's it has to be said - and I'll visit Jacques in this hero list another time.

It seems that whilst many of those who raced alongside him thought he was the most ridiculous talent of the era, there were some who called him reckless and blatantly dangerous. He was always pushing himself beyond what the car was capable of - as Jacques would always do...."exploring the limits of the car".

Those that knew him, and indeed those same colleagues who appreciated his blatant talent, speak of his extraordinary car control - but whilst he'd push the limit, he'd never put anyone else in danger.

I openly admit, as touched on earlier, that Gilles may have struggled to win a title had he carried on at Ferrari - he seemed far too loyal to them. Had he gotten himself into the best cars, as all the greatest generally do, then he'd have been able to drive as fast as he liked, as hard as he liked, as the car would finally have matched his outstanding talents. 1982 was the year that had 11 different race winners, so he may have done it, who really knows?

James Hunt spotted him driving in Formula Atlantic in....76/77 I think, if memory serves, and Mclaren did try to sign him.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbRnPwS178g

Another legendary bit of footage - some of his colleagues thought this was dangerous, and you can't disagree with that. However, it's his inbuilt never say die attitude...."Oh I have 3 wheels, lets get to the pits, get another and go racing!"

You can see Jacques was a chip off the old block - trying to go through Eau Rouge flatout (in the days when it was still a big risk) just because he wanted the challenge and excitement.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dPJMxJlcr0&feature=related

Of course, one cannot speak of Gilles without touching upon his tragic death.

This absolutely titanic battle (always nice to hear James Hunt go "ooooohhhhhh") completely and totally soured Villeneuve's relationship with his team-mate. Villeneuve believed Pironi had disobeyed a direct team order/ agreement. If you search for the podium footage you can see the hurt in Gilles eyes. They never spoke again.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ua70zL52pt0
Many people have stated their belief that at Zolder Villeneuve was going absolutely over flat out to beat Pironi, which lead to him crashing.

He was just 32 when he died, 30 years ago.

I'll leave it to Niki Lauda ( 3 times world champion...knows what he is talking about) on ending what has been an emotional blog for me.

"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"

And Scheckter....

"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."

Good news - this blog is officially international with readers from the USA, Brazil, Germany, Latvia...fantastic.