Gilles Villeneuve

World Championships	0 (2nd in 1979)
Grand Prix Starts	68 (67 starts)
Grand Prix Wins	6
Pole Positions	2
Nationality	Canadian

纪念Gilles Villeneuve
2007年5月8日是Gilles Villeneuve逝世25周年纪念日，1982年5月8日在比利时的Zolder赛道做排位赛时发生事故不幸当场去世。时年32岁!在他的GP生涯里只有67次出赛,6分站冠军，13次领奖台，2次杆位，107分的记录，但他却是那一时代人们心目中最伟大的车手，他是唯一一个有资格把自己的名字印在法拉利标志旁的车手，这点也许连舒马赫也没可能做到。在Enzo Ferrari的办公桌上除了放着他儿子的照片，还有就是Gilles Villeneuve的照片，可见Gilles在Enzo Ferrari心目中的地位，事实上Enzo Ferrari也的确视Gilles为自己的儿子，有传闻说Enzo Ferrari在临终前说以后一定不能让Gilles的儿子加入法拉利车队因为他们是在有太多不起Gilles的地方。

Gilles Villeneuve - a tribute

1.jpg
(1 / 12) - Gilles Villeneuve (CDN) made a most impressive GP debut in the third works entered McLaren M23, qualifying ninth and finishing eleventh, albeit he would have finished in the points were it not for a faulty temperature gauge. It was his only race for the McLaren team. British Grand Prix, Rd 9, Silverstone, England, 3 July 1977. World © Phipps/Sutton

2.jpg
(2 / 12) - Gilles Villeneuve (CDN) Ferrari poses for a photograph with some young fans. Canadian Grand Prix, Rd 16, Montreal, Canada, 8 October 1978. World © Phipps/Sutton

3.jpg
(3 / 12) - Gilles Villeneuve (CDN) Ferrari 312T3 took his maiden GP victory in his home GP. Canadian Grand Prix, Rd 16, Montreal, Canada, 8 October 1978. World © Phipps/Sutton

4.jpg
(4 / 12) - Gilles Villeneuve (CDN) Ferrari (Right) with his wife Joanne. Formula One World Championship, c. 1978. World © Phipps/Sutton

5.jpg
(5 / 12) - Gilles Villeneuve (CDN) Ferrari suffers a puncture on lap 49 of the race. Formula One World Championship, Rd12, Dutch Grand Prix, Zandvoort, Holland. 26 August 1979. World © Phipps/Sutton

6.jpg
(6 / 12) - (L-R) Alan Jones (AUS) Williams Cosworth, and Gilles Villeneuve (CDN) Ferrari, battle for the lead. Austrian Grand Prix, Rd 11, Osterreichring, Austria, 12 August 1979. World © Phipps/Sutton

7.jpg
(7 / 12) - Gilles Villeneuve (CDN) Ferrari finished in eighth position. German Grand Prix, Rd 10, Hockenheim, Germany, 29 July 1979. World © Phipps/Sutton

8.jpg
(8 / 12) - Second placed Gilles Villeneuve (CDN) Ferrari 312T4 leads third placed Rene Arnoux (FRA) Renault RS12. In the closing laps of the race the pair would become embroiled in one of the most exciting race battles of all time. French Grand Prix, Rd 8, Dijon-Prenois, France, 1 July 1979. World © Phipps/Sutton

9.jpg
(9 / 12) - (L to R): Race winner Jody Scheckter (RSA) Ferrari talks with Mauro Forghieri (ITA) Ferrari Designer and seventh placed team mate Gilles Villeneuve (CDN) on the grid before the start of the race. Belgian Grand Prix, Rd 6, Zolder, Belgium, 13 May 1979. World © Phipps/Sutton

10.jpg
(10 / 12) - Pole sitter and race winner Gilles Villeneuve (CDN) Ferrari 312T4. United States Grand Prix West, Rd 4, Long Beach, California, USA, 8 April 1979. World © Phipps/Sutton.

11.jpg
(11 / 12) - Race winner Gilles Villeneuve (CDN) celebrates on the podium. South African Grand Prix, Rd 3, Kyalami, South Africa, 3 March 1979. World © Phipps/Sutton

12.jpg
(12 / 12) - Gilles Villeneuve (CDN) Ferrari 126C2 on the fatal day. Belgian GP, Zolder, 8 May 1982. World © Phipps/Sutton

History Gilles Villeneuve:the legend of an extraordinary driver His first steps in the world of motorsports came on ski-mobiles.Villeneuve raced and won before switching to Formula 1 as an unknown.Then came Enzo Ferrari to take a gamble on his raw talent. Here we will outline the career of the most loved driver in the Prancing Horse's history through the recollections of the men who worked with him and knew him well.In the world of sport and in motorracing in particular, what counts most of all are titles. The record books filled, the feats completed and the races won.This is usually the means by which achievement is measured in judging the worth of an athlete or driver.It is an unwritten rule and, perhaps,quite a cold one, like taking the reading from a stopwatch, but certainly one most often used.Without a doubt, only some, maybe very few, sportspeople manage to disprove this theory.It is easier to find examples in the world of film, theatre or the arts where subjective elements overshadow objective ones. The legend that was Gilles Villeneuve became one such example because Gilles, aside from the (admittedly limited) results, especially if he is compared to his colleagues from his or any era, came to rise above almost all of them.His extraordinary uniqueness was knowing how to embody to perfection,for millions of fans, that which in the collective imagination and common sense racing was the essence of speed itself.One could compare him to the heroes of Greek mythology, those who managed to give life to dreams.He realised the ambitions of mere mortals.With his acts, his unmatched courage,his generosity and that impression he gave of being forever an adolescent,Gilles carried the dreams of an entire generation of Prancing Horse fans.Further, he remains one of the most admired and revered drivers of all time.In order to understand how acompletely unknown Canadian of humble origins came to become a motor-racing star, it is necessary to go He took part in the course and once it was over, decided to participate in the championship that was just about to start. Years later he would declare: "I came off the track many times but I had lots of fun and won about 70% of the races I competed in".Precisely, seven out of ten. The results naturally encouraged young Gilles.During his early career he had met and married Joann and the two had produced a son, Jacques. The next step for Gilles was to try his luck in Formula Atlantic, the biggest single seater category in all of Canada. The series featured cars with tubular chasses, slick tyres and 1.6 Cosworth engines. Gilles,with a mortgage to pay, convinced the owner of Ecurie Canada to entrust him with a March car for the season's opening races. The season, however,would be full of accidents and poor results. He came last in the championship and was quite badly injured on a couple of occasions.Gilles continued to compete and win on ski-mobiles as this was his only source of income, one necessary to pay off his debts. His tenacity and the support of his friends meant that he could at last afford to buy his own March-Cosworth. In this car he would appear as a private driver in the 1975 season, having only one mechanic with him, one he usually used for ski-mobile events. After a difficult start, mainly due to the lack of funding available to him, he secured his first win. More good performances followed, form that led Ecurie Canada to extend him an invite to drive the following season. 1976 was the first season in which Gilles competed as a professional driver. With the support of an important local company and his friendship with its owner and his future manager, Gilles began the season in amazing form. back to his origins and analyse the main stages of his career. This has to be seen in the context of the era in which Gilles appeared in Formula 1. This, with great pleasure, is what we will be attempting to do here. We will be including the testimonies of the technicians and the Scuderia Ferrari team members who shared those marvellous years with him. Joseph Gilles Henry Villeneuve was born on 18 January 1950 in Richelieu,Quebec. His family owned small business enterprises. The uncontrolled passion for mechanics and speed,Gilles had inherited from his father, Seville. However, this love for thrills had never been manifested in any type of sporting activity. Gilles too had never before competed until his seventeenth birthday when he gave up studying and, almost as a joke, his father bought him a ski-mobile.This first contact made an impact on young Gilles who, if the truth be told, had already displayed his daring skills on the icy roads around Berthierville at the wheel of an MGA that he himself had modified. The decision to take part in his first races organised for those vehicles popular in a country that for most of the year is wrapped in polar temperatures, was immediate. The success was also immediate, fruit of his extraordinary control of the skimobile in the almost impossible conditions that the events were held in. Between 1969 and 1970, Gilles became the champion of Quebec. This title was followed soon after by the world crown in the 440 cc. The Canadian's talent was clear for all to see and induced his technician to suggest a good driving school that disputed Formula Ford races on the all new Mont Tremblant circuit. Gilles sacrificed much in order to follow this advice. His raced so well that McLaren called him up for a Formula 2 GP race at Pau, one of the best settings for emerging European drivers. A series of inconveniences meant that things did not go as Gilles would have wanted and he had to wait until the season's end and the traditional Trois- Rivières race to measure himself against the best that Europe had to offer.In between, Gilles had run into a superb spell of form in Canada with four successive victories that saw him move into the overall lead. He would hold this top spot until the end of the championship to claim the first Ford Atlantic crown of his career. The race that would lead to Gilles' Formula 1 debut was that very Trois- Rivières event. Thanks to a majestic display, the Canadian got the better of drivers of the calibre of Patrick Tambay, Alan Jones, James Hunt (who would soon go on to win the world title) and Vittorio Brambilla. The first to note the youngster's potential was Teddy Mayer, then an important figure at McLaren. He would offer Gilles a contract for five Formula 1 races as the team's third driver. Gilles would also appear in some Formula 2 events and have the chance to defend his Formula Atlantic crown. However, the start of the 1977 season was particularly tough. His Chevron car was not very competitive and his adversaries had improved and were determined to rob him of the title. One in particular, Keke Rosberg, seemed especially determined and able to trouble him. The two would battle it out throughout the season. Keke would later reflect that: "Gilles was extraordinarily courageous, one of the most difficult drivers to race against and totally loyal. A great driver".This opinion was shared by Chris Amon, then the owner of a Can-Am car's victories were mainly down to their technical merits and not those of the driver. Taking on an almost unknown driver would prove the validity of his claim. At the end of August on the advice of Chris Amon and Walter Wolf, and to widespread astonishment, Gilles was called to Maranello to sign the contract. Villeneuve recalled the moment well:"Enzo Ferrari called me in person and he asked if I was ready to race for Ferrari. At first I thought it was a friend playing a practical joke and then I realised it was true. Of course I said yes and jumped on a plane that same day". So, in this most incredible way,the story between Gilles Villeneuve and the Reds of Maranello began. Even more surprising was the epilogue of the relationship between the scuderia and Niki Lauda. The Austrian abandoned the team on the eve of the third last race of the season, held at Watkins Glen. This hastened the arrival of Villeneuve, even though he had not tested the 312 T2 and did not know the circuit. Unsurprisingly, the races at Watkins Glen and Mosport proved disappointing and threw up some technical problems.The season's final race, at Fuji in Japan,went even worse. Gilles' car, after a clash with Ronnie Peterson's Tyrell, flew into the crowd, killing a number of spectators. The press, particularly the Italian press, cranked up the story in questioning how Enzo Ferrari could possibly have entrusted the car to such a young and inexperienced driver. In the opinion of some observers, he was also lacking talent. The Drake, profound connoisseur of the human emotion and always one to not pay attention to criticism, brushed off the debate and confirmed that the team for the following season would be Reutmann-Villeneuve. scuderia in which Villeneuve would compete in some races that year. "I knew of only one other driver who displayed the same control of the car as Gilles. His name was Jimmy Clark".Fuelled by this rich praise, Villeneuve finally made his Formula 1 debut at the wheel of the number 40 McLaren. As has already been stated, he was the team's third driver. In his first two sessions as a recruit Gilles got to know the car and the circuit. Then, on the Saturday and to general amazement, he set the third fastest time. He was only four tenths off the lap time set by poleman Hunt, the world champion and the team's number one driver. Despite a few technical problems that saw him take eleventh at the finish, his incredibly aggressive style and marvellous control of the car did not escape media attention. Villeneuve's name was on everyone's lips. This recognition did not,somewhat surprisingly, translate intothe English outfit renewing his contract for the following year.Gilles was disappointed and could not understand the decision. At the age of twenty-seven, his career appeared to have stalled. He managed, in part, to put things right owing to an incredible end to the season when, in the final race, he claimed the Formula Atlantic title for the second consecutive season.However, his passion was now only for Formula 1 and another year spent in Formula Atlantic would have, in his eyes, been an unchallenging exercise.It was at this point that a miracle occurred: Enzo Ferrari, now in open dispute with Niki Lauda even though he was set to collect his second world crown for the Prancing Horse, decided to offer the young Canadian a drive for the Maranello team Ferrari's plan was clearly that of trying to prove that his The drivers would be at the wheel of the newly unveiled 312 T3. In reality,Ferrari had also taken on board the thoughts of the then Direttore Sportivo, Antonio Tomaini and of Mauro Forghieri, both of whom usually reserved opinion as to the selection of the drivers. This time they were struck by Villeneuve's extraordinarily sensitive handling and were equally impressed by his technical knowledge and desire to learn more about the functioning of every single component of the car. "He is a diligent student and the more that time goes on, the more I like him", declared Tomaini at the beginning of the season. Forghieri was soon to reveal his own positive thoughts: "Villeneuve is improving. He has made giant strides in just a short space of time. We are all very pleased with him and he will certainly do well". The start of the 1978 season would not be without its talking points with Villeneuve clashing with Peterson -"that man is a public hazard" – and with Lauda, at whom he also directed some pointed comments. With the number 12 Ferrari leading after thirty eight laps, the clash with Clay Ragazzoni at the GP of the United States at Long Beach only increased the tension.Fortunately, the third place claimed at the Austrian GP at Zeltweg behind Peterson and Depailler and in torrential rain, began to calm things. Villeneuve was beginning to startle the team and mechanics and his knowledge of the 312 T3 grew race on race, so much so that on many occasions he was quicker than Reutmann in qualifying. The season had its dramatic moments, the most tragic of which came at Monza where Ronnie Peterson, a driver who had always inspired Gilles, lost his life.The title would, in fact, elude him that season as it went to his team mate.A series of unfortunate episodes that,coming as they did halfway through the season, conditioned what could have been, after the GP of the United States,a lone ride to the title.Yes,bad luck ruined the season in part but it was an unforgettable year, one where loyalty between the team and the drivers was a defining factor.No-one would escape Gilles on the last twenty laps of the Italian GP when he,still in the title race himself, was backing up his team mate.Scheckter was leading and the protection Villeneuve offered allowed the South African to take the long awaited title.Winning the championship was, for Gilles, only a matter of time. His popularity was at an all-time high and in Formula 1 circles he was, without a doubt, the most desired driver, both by the teams and the sponsors.Despite the pre-season expectations,the next year, 1980, would prove disastrous for Ferrari.The T5 single seater was atemperamental car and contributed to Scheckter's decision to announce his retirement. For Villeneuve, retirement was not an option. He fought like a lion and thus further enhanced his reputation. More spectacular crashes, like the one he was involved at Imola, saw him escape unharmed. This led one journalist to synthesise perfectly Gilles' philosophy with these words: "Villeneuve rarely took fear, a factor that limited most of the human race, into consideration.If this had not been the case, he would not have been the driver whose memory is now a treasure for us". At the GP of the United States at Watkins Glen, Reutmann collected his first and only win with Ferrari, demonstrating the new found competitivity of the T3. It was the prelude to Gilles' great day. On 8 October 1978 at the all new Montreal track in Canada came the last race of the season. His home Grand Prix inspired Gilles from the qualifying session on (in which he took third). He was decisive in wining his first race in Prancing Horse colours. The crowd of over eighty thousand loved it as Gilles, in his own inimitable style, not only won, but continually drove his T3 at over 260 km/h. Villeneuve later stated that the race: "was the happiest day of my life". The 1978 season over, the scuderia Ferrari went into the successive year with what Mauro Forghieri described as the "the best pairing we have ever had". Scheckter and Villeneuve formed an unbeatable partnership, both on and off the track. This was down to a profound friendship and mutual respect that allowed Ferrari to claim both the Drivers' and the Constructors' titles at the end of a memorable season. By the end of the season, Villeneuve had scored three wins: Kyalami, Long Beach and Watkins Glen. He also took the Race of Champions at Brands Hatch, an event that did not count towards the championship. Aside from the results, what would become known as 'Villeneuve fever' because of his incredible performances like the epic duel with Frenchman Renè Arnoux's Renault at Digione. There was also the lap on three wheels at the GP of Holland where Gilles would not throw in the towel despite suffering a puncture that would have denied him a possible victory. Yes, a real treasure, as was his unique style of approaching races, transmitting to the public the essence of themselves. He always chased pure speed, the absolute limit of the car and the mechanics. He was not calculating but open and raced only to demonstrate that he was the fastest, the best, the most loved. Gilles was indeed the most loved, and not only by the public. Enzo Ferrari saw in him the same acts and heart that characterised Tazio Nuvolari. This was the feeling among the rest of the team too. His friend and team mate reflected later that "races for him were romantic affairs. We were good friends and did the same job in the same team but we had a totally different approach to races".Surrounded by huge popularity and warmth, Gilles' character remained unchanged. He was the same adolescent who race ski-mobiles and his hobbies were the same.He enjoyed pushing things to the limit and taking on any engine driven machine, be they off-shore, helicopters,off-road or the brand new Ferrari 208 which he drove superfast on the motorway from Monte Carlo to Maranello. This was Gilles, always pushing the car and himself. He was like this both on and off the track. His friend and fellow driver, PatrickTambay, said of Villeneuve that"during his lifetime, Gilles did everything at 300 km/h: skiing, driving speedboats, playing backgammon… I said that he was mad but he was just born like that". Coming back to the results, in 1981 Ferrari brought in the Frenchman Didier Pironi, at the time one of the brightest talents around and a good friend of Gilles. The season continued with a series of retirements and a few crashes. In Canada, however, came another extraordinary Villeneuve feat when, with his vision almost totally obscured by a damaged wing, Gilles managed to complete an entire lap, pull into the pits, and go on to finish on the podium. A winter of relaxation culminated with a superb showing in Istrana. Gilles, on board his Ferrari and in front of 100,000 fans, took on and beat an F104 Italian airforce jet. It was the best way to prepare for the coming season, one where everything seemed to be in place for the long anticipated world title. The 126 C2 seemed to be the car to beat and, despite some problems in setting up the car in the first three races (in race three at Long beach, Villeneuve's third spot was later cancelled out by the car having an illegal double rear wing), the single seater appeared able to collect its first points of the season. The fourth round of the season took place at Imola and was boycotted by almost all the English teams after a dispute with the international Federation culminated in protest. The only adversaries faced by the Ferraris were the two yellow Renaults. The French cars started on the front row but they both retired soon after with problems to the overpowered V6. The rest of the race was a procession with the two Ferrari drivers continually swapping positions until, a few laps from the end, the 'slow' sign was shown. Villeneuve was leading; Pironi was second. However, the Frenchman overtook Villeneuve two laps from the end, claiming not to have seen the sign. For Gilles this was too much. Is friend had betrayed him in the most subtle of ways and, furthermore, in front of his own public. The car that year was the newly designed 126C, equipped with a turbocompressed 1.5 litre engine to put it on a par with its main rivals. The singleseater designed by Forghieri proved to be immediately competitive though partly hindered by the engine. Still quite raw, though potent, it was very feisty and put at risk the entire chassissuspension package. Gilles' sense of equilibrium managed somehow to keep the car on the track. He starred in Brazil and Argentina before taking pole in the GP of San Marino. Despite the problems in setting up the car and given the only relative reliability of the engine, Gilles and the technicians gradually got more and more out of the 126 C. However, it was still difficult driving it on the limit. These limits Gilles would reach and then overtake in the GPs of Monaco and Spain. Two excellent wins, the result of incredible tenacity and absolute precision tied to his innate speed and greater maturity, made Villeneuve at that precise moment, the best driver in circulation. At Jarama, the scene of his last win, came his crowning glory. He started on the fourth row but,thanks to a lightning start, moved up to third. By lap 14 he was leading the race. From that point until the finish line Gilles, in a car that was much inferior to the others on the circuit, fought off the attacks of Lafitte, Watson, Reutmann and De Angelis. This, in fact, was that final race order as they swarmed across the line separated by only 1"240. Looking back on the race, Jacques Lafitte stated that: "I know that humans cannot perform miracles but Gilles, at times, really did stupefy us". Following the GP, 'Time' magazine dedicated its No.35 edition of 31 August 1981 to him. Before him, only one other driver had enjoyed the honour: Jim Clark. Recalling the episode, the famous sports journalist, Franco Lini, would declare: "Gilles was totally dedicated to that which he believed in: racing, his family and his friends. This was why he was so annoyed with Pironi who he felt had let him down". The atmosphere in the team at the time could have been cut with a knife.Marco Piccinini, Enzo Ferrari's right hand man, tried all he could to make peace between the two drivers but Gilles would have none of it. At Zolder it would be 'all out war', he confided to a friend on the eve of the GP of Belgium. This is how it turned out, as with ten minutes to go before the end of the qualifying session, Villeneuve decided to go back out onto the track to beat his rival's time. After a first lap at a reduced pace to get the tyres up to temperature, Gilles set off on his fast lap. After the first few curves, the time was not exceptional and so Gilles pushed even harder going into the last section of the circuit. As Villeneuve came into the fearsome Terlamenbocht curve, he was confronted with Jochen Mass' car, slowing on its re-entry lap. It was 13.52 on Saturday 8 May 1982.Gilles was living up to his philosophy which he revealed to a journalist a few weeks earlier that he could "not slow down when I am going fast. The only hope is the other driver is looking in his rear view mirrors". This was what Gilles must have thought at that precise moment, going into the final curve.The problem was that Mass was not looking in his rear view mirrors.The impact between the two cars was sickening. Gilles was thrown out of the cockpit of his number 27 Ferrari. With his death, the dream of many fans also died.Without the little Canadian, what for many was the most romantic epoch in the history of motor-racing had come to an end. One man alone, with the weight of grief and years on his shoulders, better than anyone summed up 'comet Gilles'. That man stated: "Villeneuve, with his temperament, immediately won over the fans and soon became Gilles! Yes,there were those who labelled him 'aviator' and those who thought he was crazy. However, with his generosity, his daring style and that destructive capacity that he had when driving, crunching the axle shaft, changing gear quickly, the clutch, brakes. He taught us what a driver had to do in order to defend himself in unexpected situations, in a state of necessity. He was a driver who battled and gave a lot. He added much to Ferrari's reputation and I thought a lot of him". That man was Enzo Ferrari. Text - FERRARIWORLD.COM 分站冠軍 1978 Canada 1979 S.Africa 1979 US Weet 1979 US East 1981 Monaco 1981 Spain 我從不認為我不會讓自己受到嚴重的傷害。但如果你老是覺得這些事可能會發生在你身上，那你如何能夠從事這份職業？如果你從不曾拿出百分之百全力以赴，那是因為你猶豫退縮，那你將再也不會更快。如果你不這麼做，你就不是賽車手。 在F1的某些傢伙...喔，對我來說，他們不是賽車手，他們只是駕駛賽車如此而已。他們只將工作完成一半。在這種情況下，我想知道他們為何還繼續下去... -Gilles Villeneuve-"

[ 此帖被enzoferrari在2007-12-26 21:21重新编辑 ]

Felipe Massa 缺少霸气
Robert Kubika 太嫩
Nick Hedfield 虽是老车手,不过觉得他欠缺冠军的气质
相比之下,我看好Lewis Hamilton
尽管我不喜欢McLaren,也不是Hamilton的车迷

小黑已经被英国autocar选为史上最著名的100位F1车手

发现英国的媒体非常瓜，选什么都是偏自己国家的

汗...
无语了~
不过除了小黑,找不出现役英国车手的代表性的人物

17楼的竟然是 杜蕾斯 车子～！  哇塞！