Gilles Villeneuve

Name: Gilles Villeneuve

Nationality: Canada

Date of birth: January 18, 1950 - Berthieville

Date of death: May 8, 1982 - Zolder Circuit, Belgium

Gilles Villeneuve rocketed to international prominence when he won the Formula Atlantic race on the demanding Trois Rivieres street circuit in 1976. In this event on the banks of the St Lawrence river he beat F1 regulars Alan Jones and James Hunt, the latter returning to the McLaren team to warn its management to keep an eye out for this promising young Canadian. McLaren duly offered Gilles his F1 debut in the 1977 British Grand Prix, but his full-time debut came with the Ferrari team the following year when he replaced the outgoing Niki Lauda. That same season he won the Canadian Grand Prix at Montreal and then went on to finish runner-up in the 1979 Championship behind Ferrari teammate Jody Scheckter.

Villeneuve stayed with the famous Italian team for the rest of his career, having struck up a fine personal rapport with the patriarchal Enzo Ferrari. He was killed in qualifying for the 1982 Belgian Grand Prix at Zolder.

His son Jacques became a leading F1 driver in the late 1990s.

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