Gilles Villeneuve – Grand Prix legend

He is remembered as one of the bravest driver in Formula One history. When Enzo Ferrari first noticed a driving talent of the young Canadian, he said that Villeneuve reminds him on Tazio Nuvolari - Italian driver who before World War II was a symbol for courage on the race track. Gilles Villeneuve has quickly become a favorite driver of the old man from Maranelo. Also, he quickly arrived in his team.

Gilles Villeneuve was born on January 18th, 1950, in small town called Richelieu, in the largely French-speaking province of Quebec in Canada. He married Joann Barthe when he was only 20 years old. He started to race early, driving the Ford Mustang in local drag racing events. In Formula One, he arrived in 1977 driving a McLaren at the British Grand Prix. The following year he became a member of the team from Maranelo where he stayed until the end of his career and his life.

During six years in Formula One, Villeneuve scored six wins and he never became champion. In 1979 he finished second in the championship, just four points behind his teammate Jodi Scheckter. Although Scheckter was more successful, Villeneuve was the star of the team and one of the biggest stars in Formula One during that decade. It can be said that the young Canadian replace Niki Lauda at the place of Ferrari's main driver. His famous duel with Rene Arnoux at the end of the Grand Prix of France in 1979, many fans of Formula 1 are considered as the best duel of all time.

The audience thought that Villeneuve was the bravest driver in Formula One, and they loved him. But not just the audience. Niki Lauda once said, "He was the craziest devil I ever came across in Formula 1."

Unfortunately, beginning of the eighties brought the tragedy. On May 8th, 1982, during the final qualifying session for the Belgian Grand Prix at Zolder, Villeneuve suffered a fatal accident. Once again, fans of Formula One have left without their favorite driver, and without the driver who was the bravest of the race track. Talking about the loved ones he lost, Enzo Ferrari once said "I look behind and I see the face of this great man - Gilles Villeneuve.”

The legend of Gilles Villeneuve continued its life more than ten years later. In 1995, Jacques Villeneuve, Gilles's son, won the Indy 500 race and the CART championship. The following year he came in Formula One, and in 1997 he became F1 world champion, becoming the part of F1 history just like his father.