Jacques Villeneuve, as we saw in a retrospective video, peaked early. Two seasons with a Newey Williams and after that some pretty bad choices with his career. Craig Pollock to blame? Maybe, who knows. JV admits they were bad choices, but no regrets.
But before he turned up in F1, he’d got people noticing him. Not just for his connection to Gilles Villeneuve, a hero to many in Italy, but also because he’d been Rookie of the Year in Indycar in 1994, won the Indy 500 and CART title in 1995, and then announced himself to the F1 world by putting his car on pole for the 1996 Australian Grand Prix.
So Villeneuve was a driver that had got an element of something about him. But how did he go from racing in the States to racing in Europe, and do what so few before or since have done: Been successful in F1 after racing in the US?
Let’s have a look. If you want to watch the Villeneuve retrospective, it’s here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GiPEF6r4AQk
Enjoy! And remember to like and subscribe for more!
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23 Comments
OLD Canadian smoker here … we had both Player's (several varieties) and JPS … we all assumed they were related, and that JPS was the "premier import" brand, with Player's being the local "Canadian" brand, if that makes sense.
Idea for a video: 1995 indy 500 where penske didint qualified.
10:53 – I'll take my board.
It’s gotta suck realizing you made a typo in your thumbnail eh?
Jacques was my favourite driver in F1 when I was growing up him and Montoya then later Michael Schumacher.
Well done on the Bourbonnais pronunciation! As a French Canadian, it's much less… exotic, though. The British equivalent would probably be something like Nigel : popular in the middle of the 20th Century.
Also, if anyone's interested, Jacques Villeneuve's accent is more translatlantic than French Canadian; the kind of accent that sounds foreign no matter where you go (think of Katharine Hepburn), probably owing to being raised in Monaco and Switzerland.
His father Gilles, though, had a very thick, blue collar French Canadian accent. They didn't sound anything alike.
Thanks for Weezering me.
Rydell was phenomenal in f3, you dismiss him very unfairly. Do z video on him and you will see
Here in Canada when I started smoking around 2000 when I was 18 Players along with DuMaurier were the 2 name brands. John Players Special was considered a value brand.
Nothing 'controversial' when you win a title after your rival tries to crash into you and you still get to the finish and win the championship! Heroic, more like.
Interestingly, Villenueve's move to F1 was just before the start of the American open wheel civil war. I often wonder if he heard the rumblings and if that played a role in his decision.
cart in the 90’s is my favorite era of open wheel
Something I never understood is the claim that they did not have money for gokart, but could afford a Swiss boarding school. I think Madame Villeneuve just did not want him to race (which I can understand).
I do not think I will ever like JV. Similarly to Hill, the way he used the media against MSC was not something I have ever been a big fan of. His personality also rubbed me the wrong way, but since I saw the documentary about his dad, I understand him a bit better.
Apparently, Gilles was horrible to him, especially in comparison to his sister. His mum is also a very vindictive person, even if I take into consideration how she lost her husband. Plus, his dad's death was not only broadcast live, but photos were available of it even before the internet and now you can watch it in UHD on YT. I can't – and don't want to – imagine how that feels. Yet noone was talking of him or to him without comparing him to his father.
As for Hill, his dad also being idolised, despite the reason for his chrash was that stereotypical British upper-class behaviour. Of course once money was the line, the legendary class cohesion evaporated fast…
Seeing Villeneuve flat our in the mecachome williams flat out at spa !!!
Unnotably didnt mention Nelson Piquet Jr 😂
Didn't he race for Team Green in 1995, Forsythe having split off with Fabi (?) in 1995?
I still remember, Cleveland 1995, last lap, he passed 2 cars at the chicane to take the lead. I couldn't believe what I was seeing.
I think this pass should be in some top 10s but it's never mentioned anywhere.
Great video. I think that era of CART was amazing. Road courses, street circuits, Short ovals and superspeedways. Multiple chassis, multiple engine suppliers. And in all of it, Jacques was the last champion before the split.
I often wonder about how much Gilles' legacy was made by Enzo Ferrari. If McLaren had signed him up after debut and he had the exact same career would he be thought of as Jacques dad today?
If Daemon Hill got into formula 1 so late then so can i (i have never raced cars except for sim racing in my entire 18 years alive)
Whe did not really see JV pre Atlantic in Quebec and then for sure he had a op cars all top 3 where players back driver JV and Claude Bourbonnais where running same color as JV in Indy player's use to have multiple player branded cig bit like Jhonny walkers different labels players where the standard jps where fancy and more expensive
Jacques deserves all the accolades; it's too bad Jacques never got the trifecta – Le Mans entry and win. Imagine the challenge of being compared to his dad who was my hero. It's weird seeing these recent F1 years Jacques as commentator with grey hair eh 🙂
Back then Formula Atlantic was basically just the American version of F2/F3, back when lower formula still ran different chassis. I think all cars had Cosworth inline fours. There were some very good names in it. Keke Rosberg, Gilles Villeneuve, Danny Sullivan, Geoff Brabham and a lot of others came out of it. But there were a lot of drivers who were in the series full-time; it wasn't just for up and comers. They had huge fields at Long Beach in the 79s. In the early 80s Super Vee became more popular, but I don't know why, but probably engine costs had something to do with it since the chassis were basically the same Marches and Ralts. I'm a way, I think this two series were a precursor to the Indycar split, now that I think of it.