Who is Jacques Villeneuve?

Who is Jacques Villeneuve?

Jacques Villeneuve was born in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec, Canada on 9 April, 1971. He is the son of the former F1 driver Gilles Villeneuve, who drove for Ferrari before his death at the 1982 Belgian Grand Prix. As well as being an amateur musician, Jacques followed in his father's footsteps and raced in F1 from 1996-2006, most notably winning the 1997 Drivers' World Championship with Williams.

Jacques grew up around motor racing, with his dad Gilles racing in F1, and his uncle Jacques Villeneuve Sr. also a professional driver. September 1985 was when Villeneuve started racing, competing in a 100 cc go-kart at Imola. After enrolling at the Jim Russell Racing Driver School, he made his racing debut in the Italian Touring Car Championship at age 17. Despite performing poorly, the Canadian signed with Prema in the Italian Formula Three, racing for them for three years, earning three podiums.

In 1992, after Prema did have the funding to compete in Formula 3000 which Villeneuve wished to compete in, he drove for Toyota in the Japanese Formula 3 Championship and had his most successful season so far. He won three races and finished no lower than sixth nine times, earning him 45 points and second in the drivers' standings. After moving to America to get used to open-wheel racing in 1993, Villeneuve raced in the Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) from 1994-1995. After not winning a race in 1994, he won the title in 1995 with 172, earning four victories and six pole positions.

That success got him a move to Formula 1, where he raced from 1996-2006. Villeneuve spent the first three years of his F1 career at Williams, and in his 1996 rookie year, he achieved four Grands Prix victories and finished runner-up behind teammate Damn Hill.

However, 1997 was his career-defining year. Hill moved teams before the season, making the Canadian the number-one driver, and he was involved in a title battle with Michael Schumacher throughout the year. At the season-ending European Grand Prix, Villeneuve was a point ahead of Schumacher, knowing if he finished in the top six and ahead of Schumacher, the title was his.

In qualifying, Villeneuve, Schumacher, and Villeneuve's teammate, Heinz-Harald Frentzen, set identical lap times. But because the Canadian set the lap time first, he started on the pole. In the race, a collision between Villeneuve and Schumacher meant the German ended up in the gravel unable to continue, handing the title to Villeneuve to become the first Canadian to win the driver's title, as well as win the F1 World Championship, the CART title, and the Indianapolis 500 alongside Mario Andretti.

Villeneuve never returned to those heights after 1997, leaving Williams after a disappointing season in 1998 for British American Racing (BAR). However, from 199-2003, the Canadians only tallied a total of 39 points in five seasons with the team. After he was released from BAR, he raced for Renault in the final three races of the 2004 season after Jarno Trulli was sacked, but he was lapped each time and was unclassified. However, he raced for Sauber in 2005 and 2006, his final two years in F1, scoring 16 points in the two seasons. The Canadian failed twice to return to F1, first in 2010 with Stefan Grand Prix, the second in 2011 with his team in partnership with Durango, an Italian Auto Racing team.

Post-F1, Villeneuve raced in NASCAR, as well as finishing second in the 2008 24 Hours of Le Mans, and he has been involved in many Sports Cars series since, racing as late as 2023 when he entered into the first three rounding of the FIA WEC, but withdrew for the rest of the season. In 2023, Villeneuve was also spotted at the Las Vegas Grand Prix marrying his third wife, Giulia Marra.