His career aged like milk, he basically had Nico Rosberg’s career but in reverse. I think Villeneuve was still quite good up until 2001, but just didn’t have good machinery. I think 2002 onwards was when he got worse.
his williams f1 car was atleast 2 seconds faster on average than the ferrari, the season coming to a titledecider just shows his inability behind the wheel of an f1 car
matrixpolaris he also didnt have 1st driver status and was probably one of the unluckiest drivers on the grid that year but id say that he wasnt too great of a driver either
Just a small fact mistake: BAR didn't just replace Villeneuve with Sato in Japan 2003. When Villeneuve learnt of Sato joining for the next season, he decided to quit one race early instead.
One of my strongest memories of Villeneuve was just how dismissive he was of Button when he joined the team, a quote: "He (Button) brings to the sport what the boy bands bring to music. He is young and cute which is not bad, I guess, for the girls." Button then proceeded to absolutely batter him, poetic justice at it's very best.
@Mike Jones That's fair enough but it was his attitude that irritated people, not his wages. I actually like how he says what he thinks and plenty of times he has said things everyone else is thinking but dare not say, I like that. He was very rude, and very wrong about Button though.
That reminds me of when Justin Bell told his dad, Derek Bell, that he wanted to race just like him. Derek went to him and said "how the fuck are we going to tell this to your mother?" 😂
Fun fact: Because Jacques was two laps down, and made up those extra two laps, people used to call the 1995 Indianapolis 500 the Indianapolis 505, since two laps make up 2.5 miles, and he did that extra distance.
@UCY_7a4hLkBKSckUJTwcRCGg actually that is exactly how it worked. they just straight up took 2 laps from him while on track. He didn't stay stationary, in the pits. just 2 laps gone from his lap count. look at the 1:54:24 mark in the video below. he was 3rd then instantly 27th th-cam.com/video/lfCnsGtUj1s/w-d-xo.html
I grew up in Quebec in the 90's (and JV was my racing hero) and you can't imagine how big he was in Quebec at the time. He was by far the biggest sports star in Quebec at the time
Yes, and that explains in part why he's not as popular as other canadian athletes. He's from Quebec, and there are many canadians who dislike the quebequois.
He really isn’t very talented by F1 standards and wouldn’t have won without a Newey rocketship (like a certain former German driver). But he was far more sporting than Schumacher, which I think counts for a lot.
Full disclosure: I am Canadian Great summary of his career, pretty fair overall. I was fortunate to work with him in 2014 and, while expecting an unreasonable diva from everything I had heard, he was very pleasant and humble, told good jokes and signed a few autographs for me. I was young when he was at his peak but I still knew who he was and I think Canadians are still proud to call an F1 champ their own.
Brundle was always biased against Michael. Of course he wanted to knock them both out to win the title. But so did Prost and Senna in Suzuka. Michael did it himself in 1994. But 1997 was the first of this 4 crashes were you could not lable it as racing incident. But you cannot only blame Michael when two other driver did the same 10 to 8 years before.
@@krumhorniger1863 the context of prost and senna makes it a lot different I think though. Senna felt robbed because of the dq the year before and had pretty decent cause to be pissed at the FIA.
@@dw4484 but the result was the same Senna crashed out Prost on purpose because the FIA did not gave him what he wanted I cannot want something from a person then he does not give it to me and I shoot him I can say I felt robbed so it is okay I will go in jail anyway I does not want to say Senna was a bad person but he and also Prost did the same move as Schumi did so Brundle cannot talk like this about Michael when all the great champions did something like that
@@krumhorniger1863 I mean yes I agree with the result being the same, you're argument is totally valid. The context just matters to me a lot which is just my opinion of course. I'm pretty sympathetic to senna I guess for getting punted off the year before/getting screwed by the FIA, where as I feel like Schumacher was on the long end of the stick with the FIA a lot.
Thank you so much Josh for making this video. As a Canadian who was introduced to F1 by literally following Jacques into F1 having only watched him race Indy cars and Toyota Atlantic before, this was a great reminder to the younger generation who know him only as some crazy old uncle-that Jacques Villeneuve was a great driver that achieved so much early on. No one can take that away from him.
I met him randomly at seaworld. Saw him there throwing food to the baby dolphins. I approached him and said, “You were supposed to be the pride of Canada! Canada’s big F1 star! What do you say for yourself?!” He replied, “I believe I’m serving a youthful porpoise.”
@@agurobe Gilles was a hothead, and he was always on the limit. I'm not sure that his consistency would have ever been good enough to win a championship. Talent and speed are not always enough. Add to that the rivalry with Pironi and the fact that Ferrari was competitive for the title only 3 times during the 80s, and there you have it.
@@n3gat1vecreep Indy isn't competitive, the only Indy drivers that did well in F1 were the ones too good for Indy. IE blitzed Indy, won title 1st or 2nd year and moved on to F1 as if it was a junior championship like F2. So JV and JPM, pretty much no one else since Mario Andretti.
@@AlexConnor_ Oh I’m sorry we have a few super fast drivers that come here, but you really say it’s uncompetitive? Are you daft my g? Bro, Indy has more winners than F3, F2 and F1 with less rounds than F1. “Too good for Indy”, no, it’s because it’s the biggest sport in their country/nearing country, IndyCar is the most competitive open wheel sport in the world because it’s based around the team, not the car, over 10 nationalities of drivers come, and soon it may go back to being global. Your opinion has no facts.
not to mention, we’ve had plenty of F1 drivers come here and do crap, and some do well, because they’re on the level of Indy, I’m not saying Indy is better than F1, but in terms of competition, it is.
The overtake on Schumacher around the outside at Estoril 96 was pretty damn special. I quite liked how straight talking he’s always been, and he was a cast of multiple characters from F1 in the 90’s before they all became PR robots in the 2000’s Luckily we’re gaining a few characters in F1 nowadays, but the 90’s were spectacular for them.
Vettel after his prime at least won races and so far is the only man who threatened the hybrid Mercedes in a title fight. Villenueve never would see a race winning car again unless he got lapped.
@@Ruben-to9yk again it is all down to the car. Villeneuve was never in a race winning car after 1997. So expecting him to fight for championships is crazy. His 1998 Williams is comparable to the 2020 Renault and after BAR is equivalent to the Haas.
It's sad he went from potential GOAT in the '90's to average in the 2000's. He's one of four F1 drivers to win both F1 and IndyCar championships and only one of two to win the IndyCar (CART) championship before the F1 championship.
@@YourFavouriteDraugr to be bad in F1, it's a mix of bad equipment and just being average. I don't think it was a decline of skill compared to not adapting to new style cars and just not driving as hard.
@@Yiannis2112 I'm saying he acts like one of those guys who peaked in high school, and that 1996 world drivers title is basically his varsity lettermen jacket
It’s rare I’ll say this, but you should have had a person from Quebec, preferably in Montreal, who was alive at that time. I was quite young, but he got me and many others into F1. He was a HUGE HUGE star here and Quebec talked about him a lot. The reaction to him was definitely as important as the reaction for the Raptors and definitely more that for Bianca A over here. He also had a bar in Montreal after he retired, New Town, As an homage this his name, lol , as he moved back to Montreal. He’s not so loved anymore, as he’s too snobbish, he was found to have hid his money in fiscal paradise. His music career was also terrible, didn’t help him. He was just a disappointment, his dad was sooooo patriotic. He was sooo loved. As for the Montreal Canadians, he probably doesn’t know either that they had recently won their 24th Stanley cup in 93 and almost won again this year. :-)
Thank you, I was thinking the same regarding the Canadian POV in this video. Jacques was HUGE. And he actually had a special homecoming event at the Bell Centre, separate from a Habs game and he got one of the longest standing ovation ever. I remember watching in live, an early afternoon with some friends, I think it was on a public holiday or something.
He finished 2nd in LeMans 24 (in 2008) - second only to all-conquering Audis... IRL title, Indy win, F1 title, runner-up in Le Mans.... And he's still the ONLY Indy driver who first won the IRL and then F1 titles.
He's the co-host of French F1 broadcasts on Canal+ nowadays, seems like a very cool dude, humble and funny. Dunno where the hate's all about. He shits on most drivers when they commit mistakes, it's more funny than evil actually.
He's opinionated for sure, just like Eddie Jordan. But they've both been there and done that; they have experience and know what they're talking about.
He's also commentating Formula 1 for French TV and he's absolutely great at it. Knows his stuff, says what he thinks, doesn't take himself too seriously, and he does not seems to think too high of himself (often when he is reminded by his partner that he won such race, he doesn't seem to remember)
For me, he's a complete buzz killer. Every time Febreau has one of his great one-liners exciting the fans with his commentary, Villeneuve comes in with a "Well, but *insert boring buzz-kill-line here*". I would prefer if Canal+ made Montagny the permanent partner for Febreau, because they feed well of each other's energy. Perfect example for this was Silverstone 2021.
@RoadhogTime13 Spot on. I find the reaction to this whole debacle rather dazzling. People care so much about punishing one asshole that they'd gladly potentially take down dozens of bystanders in the process. It's like gunning down a crowd of civilians just to graze a terrorist on the leg. Mazepin would have his ambition to be in f1 taken away, but due to his own actions, and he'd still live a rich and comfortable life. The employees would be hit by it way harder. Unless the woman decides to press charges, or the FIA decides to intervene, Haas will have a incredibly difficult time getting rid of that contract in a way that doesn't set them back financially, thus risking the survival of the team. If people are gonna bash or call on anyone other than mazepin for this, it should be the FIA. They have the power to change the situation without Haas getting completely screwed over.
Met Greg at the Molson Indy ,Toronto , I was a guest of PPG and we were taken to the Players Lte Motorhome to meet Villeneuve , but he was being difficult and refused to speak with us. Greg was sitting on a stack of wheels and we spent an hour chatting with him, he was very friendly and easygoing .
He may be the most unloved F1 world champion in history, but he should get all the respect that a champion deserves. And also, that song at the end about him was the peak of this video 😂
Hired, the team was built around him. And the other commenters are wrong, BAR's worst mistake was hiring Adrien Reynard. I can see why, Reynard had won the first race of every championship they'd ever built a car for, including Indycar, but 98/99 was the point where the company started to implode so were never going to design a race winning F1 car.
@Ryan T I doubt you’re taking age into account when calling Hill a “one hit wonder”.......... He started out, challenged for, and won the title at an age where most drivers would start seeing a physical decline. To win the title after starting out so late, especially for the time he raced in, is an achievement in and of itself, and that might partially explain why his performance dropped after he left Williams. And with the mention of “two mediocre drivers”, I presume you’re implying that the 1999 Jordan could’ve won the title with ease if it wasn’t held back by a mediocre driver and a washed up champion who had little to no motivation to perform.
Thank you! Well done! As a kid in Quebec I first discovered F1 with Gilles Villeneuve. His tragic death was a sad and memorable moment in my childhood and when his son started making a name in racing it was exciting for sure. Completing his father's unfinished work. I remember both Indy 500s of '94 and '95 which led him to the ultimate goal of F1 and the championship. The 1997 season with it's highs and lows. My mother had even became a huge F1 fan or should I say Villeneuve fan. The final race and the Schumacher controversy. The championship and seeing the standing ovation at the Canadiens game. Then the dreaded Mechachrome engine 1998 season. Then the continued fall to the bottom of F1 hoping for a turn around that never came. The Nascar and other failed ventures. The embarrassing comments etc. It was definitely a great ride for a few years and the championship year was a lot of fun to follow. When I think about the Jaques I remember '96 and '97 along with the two Indy 500s. His father's driving was so pure though and his never give up attitude and heroic races like Dijon in '79 are the stuff of legends. His father seemed more down to earth and lovable.
He is really good on French tv. Perfect balance between sassiness and expertise. No hatred in France for sure. Really part of the resurgence of F1 in France.
Fun fact: Not only did Damon beat Jacques to the 1996 WDC he also comfortably outclassed him as a musician. Other than Damon being a member of an albeit mediocre punk band in his youth whilst Jacques sold a humiliatingly small number of copies of his album Damon Hill officially earned a gold record for his guitar work on Def Leppard's song Demolition Man. It's very very rare that a collab with Def Leppard is the less embarrassing option.
One of my childhood heroes. Between '94 and '98 he was consistently one of the top 5 racing drivers in the world, and one of the 3 best between 96 and 98. His first three seasons in F1 were AMAZING. He had everything. The speed, the charisma, the pedigree. Fantastic car control. His exterior overtake in Portugal ' 96 was a thing of beauty, to Michael Schumacher. He basically did everything he could until 1998. In '99 he decided to go for the money, very clearly, and compromised everything. In my opinion, he should have tried to join McLaren instead of Coulthard. And i NEVER, EVER understood why he never joined Ferrari, having his father being the ultimate Ferrari driver, and himself being WDC. Smells like a veto from Schumacher to me.
If you wonder where he is now, he's gonna do NASCAR part time next year with his own team and car only racing on road courses that means hes only gonna race for 7-8 races he's gonna drive his own car
And as the video states Schumacher was the captain now, he would have certainly been number 2 at Ferrari for sure, his father's legacy would have meant little.
@@Lazbotable I think that Villeneuve, in case of joining Ferrari, he would be a real menace to Michael. Because in '98, he was really as fast as Michael if not more. And Michael had a 3 year contract, for '96, '97 and '98. To me it was very political that Ferrari did not decided that Irvine should be out, because as a team they could clearly be better.
@@albertorodriguezfernandez5956 Good point, given Schumacher's broken leg in 99 that would have given Villeneuve an opportunity to win the title, but after that im not so sure.
I think you're being a little harsh on Villeneuve on his post title years. He was brilliant in 98, widely regarded as the only driver on the grid performing at the same level as Schumacher and Hakkinen race in, race out and dragged some real speed out of the crap box that was the BAR, a team that was litterally built for him with a ton of money from BAT. Unfortunately having Reynard design the car for you while his company was going tits up didn't make for a good car. He was also regularly challenging the faster Jordans and Williams's in 2000 but I think after 2001 car turned out to be crap again he kind of gave up. One thing I remember about that stint at Sauber, he spent a lot of the early part of the season fighting with his mechanics on how to set the car up and after they relented he performed better. One thing to say about that 97 win in Argentina, Villeneuve had been very sick that weekend and the team ran the slower 3 stop strategy to give him a bit of a breather with the pitstops and he still won.
B.A.R. did not exist in 1998. He was still at Williams and never won a single race after 1997. Even in his championship year, Gerhard Berger wiped the floor with him in Germany while Villeneuve spun out and managed only 5th. It went all the way down to the wire and critics still say he should have EASILY wrapped up the championship long before the season got to Japan...
@@largol33t1 At no point did I say he raced for BAR in 98, I'm well aware they replaced Tyrrell for 99, the rest is you just seeing what you want to see.
@@rimbusjift7575 the Williams outqualified the rival team by more than half a second gap in Australia, Brazil, Argentina, San Marino and Spain, with a more than second gap in Australia, Argentina and Spain The car took 11 out of 17 poles that season, now you tell me which car was quicker, Put Schumacher in the Williams and the Title gets decided way before the last race
I love you Jacques and will always do! Started watching Formula 1 a few years before you entered the scene, but you definitly gave me the reason to watch it until today. Again, i love you, thank you for amazing moments in Formula 1!
Really good in depth biographic video which really held my attention. Thank you. And let’s face it, whatever we think about Jacques, he’s done an awful lot more really good, fun stuff than most of us could eve4 dream of in our lives.
1997. The first year I (as a British kid) watched F1. Williams and JV were the bees knees for me as a kid! Prob cos of the Hill-Schumacher drama that had just happened. And for the next 8 years my favourite drivers were whoever was good, brave & fun enough to stick it to Schumacher! Mika, Montoya, Kimi….
The '96 season always felt like there was a sense of destiny to it. Two sons of great, late, drivers. Damon treated him like a kid brother that year, brought him on as an F1 driver, won the championship and got shafted. It's one of the few things I've never forgiven Frank Williams for. He was always shitty to most of his drivers. I'll give Jacques one bit of credit - _that_ race in Hungary. He said that it was the worst he'd ever felt on winning, and had the championship not been at stake, he'd have stayed behind Damon. And I actually believe him because he genuinely did sound it. Damon, of course, was a total gent and didn't blame him in the slightest, saying he had to do it. Ironically, Damon's a really good guitarist... I was never surprised by Schumacher's behaviour in any of his "controversial" moments. What always surprised me was that he ever cheated (yes, that's the best description) when with his talent, he didn't have to.
@@milkshakemuncher He also showed little faith in engine manufacturers, every 2-3 years beginning in 98, they would switch to a new one, gaining little progress and leaving little time for development and testing.
@@Miwna Didn't know that! Thanks :) He used to play with Eddie Jordan and his band (yes, that EJ!) on stage at the circuit after races. Definitely in Silverstone, maybe elsewhere but I can't remember all that time ago! He did play with George Harrison (the Beatle, just in case there's another these days) and some other big names. I was a huge fan - total fangirl lol - before I even knew he was a great guitarist, but as a (very amateur) guitarist myself, it popped him even higher up in my estimation! The first race I remember seeing (vaguely, I was about 7?) was Graham's last Monaco race, and my Dad told me how great he'd been as a racer and a gent, so I think I was predisposed to be a complete Damon fan from the word go lol.
Great of you to shed some light on the career of this underrated and slightly forgotten champ .. No matter his later endeavours, he still is a part of a elite group of men to win a F1 championship . Things don't always play out the way one plans.. but you gotta appreciate his fight .. He's still going at it racing cars all over the world coz that's what he loves Great video Josh 👍
I was actually in the stand at Raidillon when both BARs atomised themselves in the barrier within minutes of each other. It was a real "WTF?!" moment. I never knew until now that it was the result of a bet!
As a 44 year old canadian, he got me interested in F1 and the love of the sport is still there. Unfortunately for him, he made the worst career choices but to be fair, he was consistently faster than his teammates for the majority of his career.
He belove in hos friend...and bild team...yes its be mistake because McLaren want him...Ferrari to...but MS fly to italy get on knees and ask ferrari i MS be ferrari s***t just not buy JV... Bit JV is true fighter in clear speed he is one of fastest and if some body watch telemetry he undarstandt what i said. But much in f1 dont like true JV... Richards hate him...honda start to do dirty thinks...eh sauber be good but dont give him his settings for car :(.
His uncle Jacques was a solid car driver but his real talent lay in racing snowmobiles on ice. My brothers were running OSRF events back in the day when both Gilles & Jacques raced in the Sno-Pro division (factory). Good times back in the days of banked tracks.
I met him at a track where euronascar goes only 30 mins away from my home, thing is.. he won that race. Very nice guy tho. Took the time to take pictures with everyone and talk to everyone.
A bit of insight from a Canadian who lived through Villeneuve's prime... When I was a kid, I got into F1 because of Villeneuve. My first sports memory is him winning the championship, this created a lifetime passion for me, and I'll always be grateful to Jacques for that. He was huge for a little while in French Canada. I think a lot of it had to do with nostalgia with Gilles, but people from Quebec tend to be very extreme towards hometown sports stars. For a little while after that, you had F1 fans everywhere, particularly with people in their 30's and 40's (A lot them probably also saw Gilles). I remember it flaming out quite fast when things started going south for him. I think the media put expectations extremely high for him, although BAR probably had some blame for talking a big game. What always saddened me about Villeneuve is I got the feeling that Canada was his failover plan. He seemed to keep his relations with his fans here just good enough so that if things went bad, he could come here and continue being famous. I remember really getting that vibe when he debuted his album. I remember particularly one incident we had when he did an interview for the French Canadian CBC (Radio-Canada). He walked out of the interview because he got asked a question he didn't like. Only once his agent got him back on track did he agree to continue the interview. The channel showed the complete interview and him walking off. It seemed extremely petty and it fit with the soret of image he cultivated in F1. Sad I can't seem to find this video anywhere... Another thing I always found weird was how much he seemed to avoid contact with the reporters affiliated with our Quebec brodcasters. I remember back in the day, we used to get more French interviews with Olivier Panis, Jean Alesi, Jarno Trulli and even Nico Rosberg than with Jacques. I understand he related more to Europe, but it felt like it wouldn't have been that much to send us a bone once in a while. One last anecdote relating to Villeneuve and Canada. For a guy who states he doesn't relate to Canada that much, he still got in hot water over the years for dumb and poorly researched comments about things happening in our country. Particularly, he got in a lot of heat in 2012 when he made comments telling students to go back to school while they were on strike because of higher university fees. Coming from a millionaire who lived in Monaco, that felt extremely out of place. My dad and I often wonder how things would have been different if Gilles had not died. I guess we will never know, but it's pretty sad that he's seen as a joke nowadays here. I remember when he made the Stroll comments, just thinking that he could have just kept that to himself once again. Today, I have to say that while they never made F1, I relate much more with Alex Tagliani and Patrick Carpentier as Canadian drivers I remember from my youth and that I consider role models. While they never found the same amount of success and competed in their prime mostly in CART/Champ Car/Indycar, they seem like much more approachable guys than Villeneuve. Greg Moore probably also would have been mentioned here had he not sadly died.
TheGabman234 Just out of curiosity: had he ever mentioned or paid any respect to greg moore's memory? I have never read or seen anything like that, which I consider it odd being them both canadian, but again maybe Jacques didn't have the time or opportunity to develop those connections.
@@dharmabum2389 If I recall correctly, Villeneuve attended an event in Moore's memory and I believe he did mention feeling sad about the whole ordeal. What sort of sucks is most of the archives of that period from Canadian broadcasters don't exist anymore or are simply not available on the internet. Sad because I'd like to see some of those interviews again... I used to have a bunch of those on VHS, but those don't exist anymore :(
TheGabman234 thanks for your insight! It's nice to know Jacques said something nice on Greg's memory. I miss the 90's footage too and ocasionally stumble across some old WIlliams footage or a cool interview, but Jacques' stuff is rare.
It appeared to me the same way growing up. Aside from his canadian heritage, he seemed like a distant european cousin on television. I didn't relate to him or see him as you know a kid's hero. Also maybe the fact that he was raised in Monaco didn't create much appeal for your average canadian habitant.
@@mqh8879 If you watch the Villeneuve/Pironi documentary, you hear his mother and sister speak and they both sound like your average French Canadian. Emphasis on Canadian, you wouldn’t even really know they were francophones except for the very odd word and when they pronounce French words and names, of course. Jacques sounds completely different. I wouldn’t say he sounds French, but he sounds completely different. Sort of like a kid who went to international school or something.
I mentioned this in another video, but I remember I had an old sports magazine that did a year in review for 1995 of all sports (mostly North American sports). For auto racing, 1995 was the year when three guys had incredible years: Villeneuve winning the Indy 500, Michael Schumacher winning his second consecutive World Drivers' Championship, and Jeff Gordon winning his first NASCAR cup championship I remember this like it was yesterday. THe writer said Villeneuve would wind up with the best career among the three men. Oh boy....
Villeneuve is a hack that was handed one of the most dominant cars in the history of the sport. Williams bragged they could make anyone a champion. I stand by that claim.
Say what you want. Jacques was bloody fast in f1 96-2001. Did things his own way and was exciting to watch. As schuey put it "he was the one I didn't beat".
I'm going to hijack your comemment, but I got to mention this: THERE WERE SO MANY FREAKING RETIREMENTS?!? Like jesus christ, how could anyone make predictions, oil, clutch, engine, wheel nuts, pit stop screw ups, crashes, it was always exciting, you never knew who was going to win. The new era is so reliable, Hamilton had like 3 retirements (not crashes with Rosberg, actual mechanical malfunction retirements) in his 7 years at Mercedes, of course he is fucking awesome! Try doing it back then, its like everyone was driving red bulls, you never knew if you were gonna finish. It was a 50-50, today its like a 95-5, its surprising when something goes wrong :(( makes it really boring and predictable sadly!
@@csanadhorvath Honestly I think the complete opposite, having half the cars drop out leaves you with strung out races with no on track action, it can really ruin races.
@@jigglediggle29 It was oil, Villeneuve's car had an oil leak that was spraying out the back for half the race, why else do you think Damon's car was brown at the end of the race, it sure as hell wasn't rubber.
I think part of the problem with the popularity of drivers and motorsport in general is that you have to be a car guy to appreciate the sport. Millions of people that watch stick and ball sports are just casual observers and the games are so simple that it doesn’t take much thought to understand what is going on. It is hard for the general public to understand F1, IndyCar or IMSA racing.
Today he's one of the two french braodcasters alongside Julien Fébreau (which I assume you know since his legendary ACCELERE ACCELERE right before Gasly's win in Monza) and we love him!
Never knew he could have gone to McLaren, it's a bit like Alesi passing up the chance of going to Williams, hindsight is a wonderful thing. Great video!
For anyone wondering, He's now driving for NASCAR he now owns a team in NASCAR, It's gonna start racing in 2022 as part time #27, only racing in 9 races because there's only 9 road course, 9/38 races he's gonna running
There was another video on YT explaining that he gave so much into that overtake, (he was running out of time to make a move) he would have gone off track if Schumacher didn’t hit him.
Jacques has proven many times he can out manoeuvre Schumacher, unfortunately both Schumacher brothers are terrible sportsman and view the track as a war ground and drive as such. Michaels nasty tactics of basically cheating throughout his career paid of for him far too much as far as im concerned. Jacques however proved he is a decent sportsman and has what it takes to win. He was so nice he turned down McLaren to help his mate start a new team, would Either Schumacher do that?! I rest my case!
My first experience with him was in what is today the NASCAR XFinity Series. I used to root for him in the two or three races he'd run a year, simply because he wasn't a regular and actually had several chances of winning, but also because of the sheer chaos that would ensue in every race he'd take part in. He was a total wrecking ball, and I loved it lol
Well I have been alive long enough to remember both Jacques and Gilles and I'm from Canada. Yes Gilles and Bobby Orr were my two hero's growing up. Something you missed is how patriotic Gilles was and how he won the Canadian GP. Jacques was very patriotic. The Quebec separatists were always trying to get him to comment about politics. He refused many many times. So when he opened up his bar he named it Newtown. Villeneuve translated to english is Newtown. He sent all the separatist packing and has not been forgotten by patriots. Now for his driving. He was a very good driver until his crash at Spa. He was never the same driver after that. He was never in as good of a situation as he was at Williams in 96-97. But all the hate for him by people that weren't even born when he won is kinda useless. My thoughts are he was a fantastic driver in Indy car and in F1. Something happens to drivers after a crash that scares them. They never take the car to the limits or they try too hard to make something happen that really isn't there. Trying to prove they still have it. But being the big name and being able to speak 5 languages is attractive to sponsors. So it was like watching a wounded bird trying to fly with a broken wing. After Bar's many design failures and crashes destroyed his driving confidence. His pride kept pushing him long after the racing confidence was gone. Not a tragedy and I'm glad he is still alive. So many racing legends die. So many hurt themselves trying to prove they still have it. He is the only Canadian F1 champion and he will always be an F1 champion. No one can ever take that away.
You make a lot of great points. I was 17 when he won the championship and I remember a lot of attention being on him that year. It had started the previous year. As you said the French speaking and English speaking population here in Quebec were especially tense with eachother. The referendum for separation was held in 97 as well. I think it’s important to mention as well that the Canadian gp was the only North American circuit on the f1 calendar at the time as well. He was huge here
I completely agree with you 🙌🏻Québécoise here, I was 13 when Jacques won the Championship. He was always a proud Canadian AND a proud French speaker. The young Canadian in this video did not understand what Jacques meant in the Beyond the Grid podcast (listened to it as well). He said Quebec isn’t what it used to be when he was a child and I could not agree more. I’ve been away from Quebec since 2008 and I would not come back to live there. I absolutely love my country and I’m so proud to be francophone, but something happened in the last 10-15 years and I don’t like it. Also, Jacques said that he loves Europe because that’s « his origins » and he is right. I feel the same when I’m in Europe. We are first and foremost European by decent. Our families have only been in Canada for max 300 years. Anyways, all of that to say that I don’t doubt Jacques’ patriotism and I can easily say that when he won the championship I have never felt more proud to be Canadian and Québécoise. ❤
He learned a lot from Damon in 1996. Hill balanced the car very well, whitch was not the ability of the rookie Jacques. I think, if Damon stayed 1997 with the team, it would have been one of the greatest Seasons ever! Remember: Schumacher and Jacques never stood together on the podium.
On of The reasons why most french canadians didn’t like him is because he didn’t have a french canadian accent unlike his father since he was raised in monaco
When Jacques was at his height he was very fast and it was great fun to watch someone from Indycar actually succeed at F1. How many guys have done that? Indycar is usually the place where former F1 drivers go to retire and relax in their final years. The drama of the last race where he predicted and got hit by Schumacher was also quite entertaining. You could say he had a point to prove too. He was riding on the coat tails of his father who was known as the super fast wild man that never won the title and Jacques played it safe and accomplished that goal. After that I think he rested on his laurels too much and just accepted the under performing car and giant paycheck at BAR which probably led to his downfall. How many driver's actually take risks to continue winning when they've got a world championship and hundreds of millions in the bank? Also, it's good to have someone stick their neck out and say something very un-PC from time to time. He may not always be right but it's refreshing to have someone in the paddock who is qualified, to speak their mind. Thanks for the vid Josh Revell.
I think he simply hit his peak in Indy and it only lasted for some years in F1. Then, like most drivers, he had a long and slow decline. In 1996, he still was a rookie, and he was beat by Hill. In 1997, he beat Frentzen pretty squarely, who himself became a good F1 driver for a few years after. Villeneuve is a one-time championship winner and he deserves it. He isn't a legend or whatever, but he was a good performer in a great car.
There is some disagreement about whether it should be Monaco or the WDC. Look up an article titled “Triple crown: Monaco or F1 championship?” Graham Hill is the only one to complete the triple crown (both definitions) and he thinks it should be the WDC. But yeah the prevailing definition just includes Monaco. I guess it depends on whether you think it should be the 3 biggest achievements in racing, or the 3 biggest races.
i always found his BAR-venture very interesting and even respectable. extremely ambitious, even if not fruitful at all in the end. but it could've been, and what a hell of a story it wouldve made if it was. i like that attitude, and thats the move that defined his racing career in my eyes.
People hate him a lot for what he says. I get it. I just don't like younger generation calling him worst F1 Champion ever. Like Wtf. He was a skilled and ballsy driver. Very underrated . People just didn't want to like him as he had a big mouth and his career went to shit when he went to BAR. He always drove faster than his teammate until very late in his career, after a layoff. He was spectacular. When he was hungry, with a competitive car, not many driver could beat him on a dry day. Not many.
I've wondered about Jacques career for a while and after watching this I just believe he wasn't as motivated after 1997. That's the only way I can explain such a quick turn and lasting turn in form.
To be fair, after 1997 Williams were terrible, hence the drop in motivation. Follow that up with a stint at a team that struggled just to finish a race and you can see why other interests drew his focus.
I've read and heard interviews where he talks about trusting the wrong people like Craig Pollock and not being able to have a good relationship with the teams. That didn't help his motivation.
So this is the first comment I’ve made on TH-cam since I was like, 13. I’m 25 😆 Man, I love that Josh made this video. Jacques has been one of my biggest influencers in motorsports for basically my entire life in motorsports and not a ton of people really have much good to say on Jacques. No less would they cover his career with such depth and humour. But man, this guy. This guy was all Canada had, for a loooong time. We had glimpses, Tracy, Tagliani, Carpentier, Fellows (he is incredible), but man Jacques had actually made it to the top! Situations or surroundings pushed aside. He was a Canadian, who drove his balls off to make it to the top! And there’s just no one else who’s done that at that point in time. There I was, attending a NASCAR race in 2008 at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve and I fell in love with his driving style. I was just a boy whose always felt like the barrier between me and ever possibly making it into American motorsports was so big that It would be impossible to make it solely within this country. I was so passionate about driving and just motorsports in general and to boot I had this craaave for a damn Canadian driver SOMEwhere in the scene, that when he entered my life, it was as if I had received all the hope I needed to push forward. That’s who Jacques was to most of the die hard motorsports community members and drivers in Canada. Inspiration! And man, I loved the way he drove, aggressive, on the edge, just how I did on the simulators and in Karts at the time. It was as if we spoke the same language within the helmet sometimes. But I gotta get back to how powerful that feeling is up here in Canada. It’s a little different now with Lance and just being 25 and not, 12. Emotions change. But at the time? There was literally zero Canadians in contention for a nascar, indycar or sports car race on the weekly basis at the time Jacques exited F1 and Entered NASCAR. That feeling? Of having someone on track who was capable of WINNING a stock car race? And was Canadian! It was suuuuper foreign to me and I was watching every damn race I could set my eyes on. That feeling was so inspiring. I was just glued to his car at all times. Watching his gloves move, his feet move around when the cameras were on him and trying to imitate it at home or in the stands, trying to draw his cars at school instead of doing work, trying to draw his helmet, track layouts, racing lines... he sparked that intense passion for me. I’ll never forget those days watching Jacques drive through the field in my hometown track. Montreal. That love I felt, the smells I smelled, the feeling in my body man! Gah! I’m getting all tingly just thinking about it. That’s what Villeneuve means to a lot of us! Sure he says lots of things .. after 2020, I realized a lot of people say things. But I never cared what he said. It’s as if I just couldn’t shake the love I had for this tiny Quebec man. Motorsports is such a god damn beautiful sport and I was just falling head over heels for it at the time he came around for me. I still follow him everywhere he races, just craving that feeling of watching him live again. Thank you josh! This is now one of my favourite videos on the internet. You’re awesome, always make me laugh with those funny as heck animations and your awesome vocabulary. Tony Stewart, Helio Castroneves, Carl Edwards, Ron Fellows, Patrick Carpentier, Dale Jr! All these guys hold a special place in my heart. But then, there’s Jacques 🥰
As a huge (former) NASCAR fan, I’m really glad you mentioned, even briefly, his misadventures in NASCAR. He could put his equipment up front in every single road course race, but damn he gave himself a bad reputation! Every single time, he would punt the leader out of the way... and then after doing so, could never capitalize on it himself. I respect what he did in F1 and Cart, but boy did he suck over here in NASCAR.
Fun fact: In 1997 Villeneuve and Schumacher never shared a podium. They always were on the podium when the other isn’t
That IS a pretty fun fact
Now that is a solid fact! Thanks mate!
Fun fact
And barely met each other on track
@@matthiascerebri3315 except when they did physically in jerez lol
Thank you for the collab man. Now I'll go force my family and my friends to watch 40 minutes of Kiwi goodness 🙌🏻
Kiwi is Hartley simmo
Stream it too
How’s your sim rig going on
i thought you were danish. i feel let down.
Why did I expect you to sound different?😂😂
His career aged like milk, he basically had Nico Rosberg’s career but in reverse.
I think Villeneuve was still quite good up until 2001, but just didn’t have good machinery. I think 2002 onwards was when he got worse.
He kicked ass in the road course races he did in NASCAR in 2009-2011-ish, was super fun to watch him.
his williams f1 car was atleast 2 seconds faster on average than the ferrari, the season coming to a titledecider just shows his inability behind the wheel of an f1 car
Totally agree
@@DealorG What about Heinz-Harald though, he scored about half Jacque's points that year
matrixpolaris he also didnt have 1st driver status and was probably one of the unluckiest drivers on the grid that year but id say that he wasnt too great of a driver either
Just a small fact mistake: BAR didn't just replace Villeneuve with Sato in Japan 2003. When Villeneuve learnt of Sato joining for the next season, he decided to quit one race early instead.
he was just plain bad
One of my strongest memories of Villeneuve was just how dismissive he was of Button when he joined the team, a quote:
"He (Button) brings to the sport what the boy bands bring to music. He is young and cute which is not bad, I guess, for the girls."
Button then proceeded to absolutely batter him, poetic justice at it's very best.
@Mike Jones That's fair enough but it was his attitude that irritated people, not his wages. I actually like how he says what he thinks and plenty of times he has said things everyone else is thinking but dare not say, I like that. He was very rude, and very wrong about Button though.
Jensen Button sounds like the prefect for Hufflepuff
Going to BAR was OBVIOUSLY a HUGE MISTAKE
Yeah because his driving skills aren’t up to par with his wide mouth making noise skills
@@Brooks22ncoming back into F1 was a huge mistake, it was humiliating
Think about how scared his mom must have been when he said to his mom
"I'm gonna be an F1 driver like dad!"
"Mom, one day I'll die like dad!"
That reminds me of when Justin Bell told his dad, Derek Bell, that he wanted to race just like him.
Derek went to him and said "how the fuck are we going to tell this to your mother?" 😂
MATEEEE, THIS IS A WIN FOR USSSSS
Fun fact: Because Jacques was two laps down, and made up those extra two laps, people used to call the 1995 Indianapolis 500 the Indianapolis 505, since two laps make up 2.5 miles, and he did that extra distance.
@UCY_7a4hLkBKSckUJTwcRCGg actually that is exactly how it worked. they just straight up took 2 laps from him while on track. He didn't stay stationary, in the pits. just 2 laps gone from his lap count. look at the 1:54:24 mark in the video below. he was 3rd then instantly 27th
th-cam.com/video/lfCnsGtUj1s/w-d-xo.html
Wow, that is so true! Haha! 😂
Did you get that from WTF1? I certainly did lol
Jacques Villeneuve - went back to 505, although it took him a bit more than a 45 minute drive, it wasn't a 7 hour flight
Still one of the greatest Indy 500 wins. Brilliant.
Fun fact: Jacques Villeneuve scored more points in his championship winning year (81) than in all his following F1 seasons combined (76).
Haha. He was decent but even DC or Rubens would have won the title in that car
even 96 he scored more (78)
@@someoneunseen5168 I don't think so
That's what happens when you have Newey versus not having Newey
That was fun...
I grew up in Quebec in the 90's (and JV was my racing hero) and you can't imagine how big he was in Quebec at the time. He was by far the biggest sports star in Quebec at the time
Yes, and that explains in part why he's not as popular as other canadian athletes. He's from Quebec, and there are many canadians who dislike the quebequois.
I know, lol I was young at the time but he got me into F1. I’m so confused by this guy, why would they interview him? Lol
Is it just me or is every Canadian F1 driver from Quebec
@@saltybread7500 Stroll is from Montreal, Latifi is from Ontario I believe..
@@noodle-cup so 🤔 maybe just the good Canadian drivers are from Quebec then🤷♂️
Love him or hate him, this man is really talented. Having snatched away a championship from Schumacher is not a joke.
He really isn’t very talented by F1 standards and wouldn’t have won without a Newey rocketship (like a certain former German driver). But he was far more sporting than Schumacher, which I think counts for a lot.
Especially when Schumacher is out for blood during the races just to win championship.
@@jimrustle270
I swear people think cars designed by Newey drive themselves
Love him or hate him hes a joke.. pure joke
Didn't snatch it. Schumacher did what he had done before and tried to smash his closest rival off the track. This time he failed.
Full disclosure: I am Canadian
Great summary of his career, pretty fair overall.
I was fortunate to work with him in 2014 and, while expecting an unreasonable diva from everything I had heard, he was very pleasant and humble, told good jokes and signed a few autographs for me. I was young when he was at his peak but I still knew who he was and I think Canadians are still proud to call an F1 champ their own.
Thanks for that insight, great to hear he's a good guy.
I am honoured to be your 69th like
He beat Schumacher in 1997 to win the World Championship. I will be forever proud of him and his father.
@@zacuery5097 Nice.
dont worry youll get one more with stroll
Can we just mention Martin Brundle's glorious remark after the Schumi incident?
'That didn't work Michael. You hit the wrong part of him my friend.'
"Oh out! Out goes Michael Schumacher!"
Brundle was always biased against Michael. Of course he wanted to knock them both out to win the title. But so did Prost and Senna in Suzuka. Michael did it himself in 1994. But 1997 was the first of this 4 crashes were you could not lable it as racing incident. But you cannot only blame Michael when two other driver did the same 10 to 8 years before.
@@krumhorniger1863 the context of prost and senna makes it a lot different I think though. Senna felt robbed because of the dq the year before and had pretty decent cause to be pissed at the FIA.
@@dw4484 but the result was the same
Senna crashed out Prost on purpose
because the FIA did not gave him what he wanted
I cannot want something from a person then he does not give it to me and I shoot him
I can say I felt robbed so it is okay
I will go in jail anyway
I does not want to say Senna was a bad person but he and also Prost did the same move as Schumi did so Brundle cannot talk like this about Michael when all the great champions did something like that
@@krumhorniger1863 I mean yes I agree with the result being the same, you're argument is totally valid. The context just matters to me a lot which is just my opinion of course. I'm pretty sympathetic to senna I guess for getting punted off the year before/getting screwed by the FIA, where as I feel like Schumacher was on the long end of the stick with the FIA a lot.
no instructions in the outro, I wonder if I can be a manus in the comments
It’s forbidden
So do it
I have no idea of I should like, comment, subscribe, be a manus, or not?
As long as you enjoy yourself
Instructions unclear; became a manus.
And will we not see him later as always? **Gasp**
Thank you so much Josh for making this video. As a Canadian who was introduced to F1 by literally following Jacques into F1 having only watched him race Indy cars and Toyota Atlantic before, this was a great reminder to the younger generation who know him only as some crazy old uncle-that Jacques Villeneuve was a great driver that achieved so much early on. No one can take that away from him.
I met him randomly at seaworld. Saw him there throwing food to the baby dolphins. I approached him and said, “You were supposed to be the pride of Canada! Canada’s big F1 star! What do you say for yourself?!”
He replied, “I believe I’m serving a youthful porpoise.”
great norm reference
Jaques title was just lifes way of giving his dad the title he deserved.
I don’t think gilles would have ever won a title
@@mike04574 yes
@@mike04574 hmmmm??? do you even know who gilles is??
@@agurobe Gilles was a hothead, and he was always on the limit. I'm not sure that his consistency would have ever been good enough to win a championship. Talent and speed are not always enough. Add to that the rivalry with Pironi and the fact that Ferrari was competitive for the title only 3 times during the 80s, and there you have it.
oh yeah, it was ''life way'' cause thats how you win championship
He's certainly an... interesting person, but he's also an Indy 500 winner, a CART champion, and an F1 world champion. That is FAR from average.
nobody said he's average, we all know him and think he's great just from his F1 win
the fact people say Indy isn’t competitive and he came there to F1 AND won? Jacques is crazy fast driver.
@@n3gat1vecreep Indy isn't competitive, the only Indy drivers that did well in F1 were the ones too good for Indy. IE blitzed Indy, won title 1st or 2nd year and moved on to F1 as if it was a junior championship like F2. So JV and JPM, pretty much no one else since Mario Andretti.
@@AlexConnor_ Oh I’m sorry we have a few super fast drivers that come here, but you really say it’s uncompetitive? Are you daft my g? Bro, Indy has more winners than F3, F2 and F1 with less rounds than F1. “Too good for Indy”, no, it’s because it’s the biggest sport in their country/nearing country, IndyCar is the most competitive open wheel sport in the world because it’s based around the team, not the car, over 10 nationalities of drivers come, and soon it may go back to being global. Your opinion has no facts.
not to mention, we’ve had plenty of F1 drivers come here and do crap, and some do well, because they’re on the level of Indy, I’m not saying Indy is better than F1, but in terms of competition, it is.
who else is gladly suprised this is as long is it
same
At first, I was like: 40 minutes? What?
To be fair, it didn't seem so much. I like this format, actually.
"That's what she said..." 👀
more like 30 minutes if you skip the bullcrap and the song at the end.
The overtake on Schumacher around the outside at Estoril 96 was pretty damn special.
I quite liked how straight talking he’s always been, and he was a cast of multiple characters from F1 in the 90’s before they all became PR robots in the 2000’s
Luckily we’re gaining a few characters in F1 nowadays, but the 90’s were spectacular for them.
He hung out at the top for short while and lived to tell about it. I'd say that's a huge win.
He often says Vettel's time is done. I think he just sees himself in Seb. How his career went downhill after his prime.
Vettel after his prime at least won races and so far is the only man who threatened the hybrid Mercedes in a title fight.
Villenueve never would see a race winning car again unless he got lapped.
@@Ruben-to9yk again it is all down to the car. Villeneuve was never in a race winning car after 1997. So expecting him to fight for championships is crazy. His 1998 Williams is comparable to the 2020 Renault and after BAR is equivalent to the Haas.
Good thing for Seb is he has three more championships to boast about.
@@antonioblack7780 if only Villeneuve stayed in Newey cars for as long as Seb
@RoadhogTime13 Geez, imagine what could have been a three way title fighting between MSC, Mika, and him...
It's sad he went from potential GOAT in the '90's to average in the 2000's. He's one of four F1 drivers to win both F1 and IndyCar championships and only one of two to win the IndyCar (CART) championship before the F1 championship.
The statistic about winning different championships is not relevant, and he was definitely not "average" after his title win.
@@YourFavouriteDraugr given that he never won an f1 race again after his championship, I don’t think it’s unfair to call him average in the 2000’s
@@colinsweetzir3403 Way below average literally from 1999-2003, and unacceptably bad in any returns since.
@@YourFavouriteDraugr to be bad in F1, it's a mix of bad equipment and just being average. I don't think it was a decline of skill compared to not adapting to new style cars and just not driving as hard.
@@lorddrac_dontaskmetodance That's so painfully disingenuous...
Jacques is honestly the Motorsports equivalent of that guy who peaked in high school and gets into bar fights every weekend
Every jock basically.
That really does describe him perfectly.
lmfao So true, i am deceased haha
Peaking at high school, is being a world champion?
@@Yiannis2112 I'm saying he acts like one of those guys who peaked in high school, and that 1996 world drivers title is basically his varsity lettermen jacket
It’s rare I’ll say this, but you should have had a person from Quebec, preferably in Montreal, who was alive at that time. I was quite young, but he got me and many others into F1. He was a HUGE HUGE star here and Quebec talked about him a lot.
The reaction to him was definitely as important as the reaction for the Raptors and definitely more that for Bianca A over here.
He also had a bar in Montreal after he retired, New Town, As an homage this his name, lol , as he moved back to Montreal.
He’s not so loved anymore, as he’s too snobbish, he was found to have hid his money in fiscal paradise. His music career was also terrible, didn’t help him. He was just a disappointment, his dad was sooooo patriotic. He was sooo loved.
As for the Montreal Canadians, he probably doesn’t know either that they had recently won their 24th Stanley cup in 93 and almost won again this year. :-)
Thank you, I was thinking the same regarding the Canadian POV in this video.
Jacques was HUGE.
And he actually had a special homecoming event at the Bell Centre, separate from a Habs game and he got one of the longest standing ovation ever. I remember watching in live, an early afternoon with some friends, I think it was on a public holiday or something.
He finished 2nd in LeMans 24 (in 2008) - second only to all-conquering Audis... IRL title, Indy win, F1 title, runner-up in Le Mans.... And he's still the ONLY Indy driver who first won the IRL and then F1 titles.
He's the co-host of French F1 broadcasts on Canal+ nowadays, seems like a very cool dude, humble and funny. Dunno where the hate's all about. He shits on most drivers when they commit mistakes, it's more funny than evil actually.
Some people just don't like those who tell the truth however difficult it maybe to admit and Villeneuve is a culprit of that unfortunately
I met him at a GP a few years ago, he was very normal, patient, smooth, not what I expected, handled the fans well.
@@Joshciza223 no Villeneuve isn't a culprit of that. The problem with him is the exact opposite- he just constantly talks bullshit
He's opinionated for sure, just like Eddie Jordan. But they've both been there and done that; they have experience and know what they're talking about.
Yeah I like him, he makes the races entertaining
He's also commentating Formula 1 for French TV and he's absolutely great at it. Knows his stuff, says what he thinks, doesn't take himself too seriously, and he does not seems to think too high of himself (often when he is reminded by his partner that he won such race, he doesn't seem to remember)
For me, he's a complete buzz killer. Every time Febreau has one of his great one-liners exciting the fans with his commentary, Villeneuve comes in with a "Well, but *insert boring buzz-kill-line here*". I would prefer if Canal+ made Montagny the permanent partner for Febreau, because they feed well of each other's energy. Perfect example for this was Silverstone 2021.
He gives an alternate take on a lot of important F1 things and he's usually right, and entertaining!
He is pretty cool as a TV consultant yes, but I hope when Romain Grosjean stops driving, he will be joining his friend instead
I sincerely hope he's doing a James Hunt and describing drivers from neighbouring countries as "idiots".
Uh… Why do you talk as if he's still alive?
Gene Haas growing a spine..... 😂
@@nickcarlsberg62 keeping on Mazepin for the dollar even tho he touched up a lass in the back of a car
@@nickcarlsberg62 10:01
ouch
@@louiswhitaker6997 Lmao nicely said
@RoadhogTime13 Spot on. I find the reaction to this whole debacle rather dazzling. People care so much about punishing one asshole that they'd gladly potentially take down dozens of bystanders in the process. It's like gunning down a crowd of civilians just to graze a terrorist on the leg. Mazepin would have his ambition to be in f1 taken away, but due to his own actions, and he'd still live a rich and comfortable life. The employees would be hit by it way harder.
Unless the woman decides to press charges, or the FIA decides to intervene, Haas will have a incredibly difficult time getting rid of that contract in a way that doesn't set them back financially, thus risking the survival of the team. If people are gonna bash or call on anyone other than mazepin for this, it should be the FIA. They have the power to change the situation without Haas getting completely screwed over.
Rest In peace Greg Moore. I loved watching him race
My uncle was a greg moore fan Greg was amazing
Met Greg at the Molson Indy ,Toronto , I was a guest of PPG and we were taken to the Players Lte Motorhome to meet Villeneuve , but he was being difficult and refused to speak with us. Greg was sitting on a stack of wheels and we spent an hour chatting with him, he was very friendly and easygoing .
He may be the most unloved F1 world champion in history, but he should get all the respect that a champion deserves. And also, that song at the end about him was the peak of this video 😂
Max verstappen,surely the biggest tosser bar his own father 😂😂😂
Jacques Villeneuve: doesn’t have the attitude, skillset or desire to lead a team
Also Jacques Villeneuve: hired at BAR to lead the team
That was literally the worst thing BAR could've been done. But I was still thinking which driver it would be, if not Jacques.
Yeah, the driver was the problem. Morons.
Hired, the team was built around him. And the other commenters are wrong, BAR's worst mistake was hiring Adrien Reynard. I can see why, Reynard had won the first race of every championship they'd ever built a car for, including Indycar, but 98/99 was the point where the company started to implode so were never going to design a race winning F1 car.
Ahhh hate to burst your bubble lol.... but Villeneuve part owned BAR. He was always going to drive there. A little known fact 🤦♂️
Lol people just like to bash and talk bs without doing research..
Villenueve partly owned the team..
Imagine becoming a champion only to never win a race in f1 ever again.
Hell I’d be happy if that happened to me 😂
It is worth it, people like perez, hulkenberg, and even bottas would kill for a one time world champ
*Almost* Felipe Massa
@@mslo7312 0,5 Championships lmao
💥💥💥 Nico Rosberg has entered the chat💥💥💥
Villeneuve started like Hamilton and ended up as Andrea de Cesaris.
Unlike you, who failed your driving test. Twice...
Andrea de Cesaris ended up dead.... not from f1 though, but from motorcycle crash.
@Ryan T Mansell "cleaned up" CART the year after he "cleaned up" F1.
@Ryan T I doubt you’re taking age into account when calling Hill a “one hit wonder”.......... He started out, challenged for, and won the title at an age where most drivers would start seeing a physical decline. To win the title after starting out so late, especially for the time he raced in, is an achievement in and of itself, and that might partially explain why his performance dropped after he left Williams.
And with the mention of “two mediocre drivers”, I presume you’re implying that the 1999 Jordan could’ve won the title with ease if it wasn’t held back by a mediocre driver and a washed up champion who had little to no motivation to perform.
Not that bad, he had good runs with average cars.
Eddie Irvine said that Jacques was not the best driver in F1 at that time, but that he was undoubtedly the bravest.
Irvine knew what he was talking about
Thank you! Well done! As a kid in Quebec I first discovered F1 with Gilles Villeneuve. His tragic death was a sad and memorable moment in my childhood and when his son started making a name in racing it was exciting for sure. Completing his father's unfinished work.
I remember both Indy 500s of '94 and '95 which led him to the ultimate goal of F1 and the championship. The 1997 season with it's highs and lows. My mother had even became a huge F1 fan or should I say Villeneuve fan. The final race and the Schumacher controversy. The championship and seeing the standing ovation at the Canadiens game. Then the dreaded Mechachrome engine 1998 season. Then the continued fall to the bottom of F1 hoping for a turn around that never came. The Nascar and other failed ventures. The embarrassing comments etc.
It was definitely a great ride for a few years and the championship year was a lot of fun to follow. When I think about the Jaques I remember '96 and '97 along with the two Indy 500s. His father's driving was so pure though and his never give up attitude and heroic races like Dijon in '79 are the stuff of legends. His father seemed more down to earth and lovable.
technically, BAR later became the modern Mercedes F1 team..
Wow. True. Turned into Honda, then brawn f1 in 09, then Mercedes. Who would have thought it
And came from Tyrell when the team was purchased by British American Tobacco
@@theNewTomSawyer yup
You can look at this two ways.
You can thank Jacques for Mercedes' success, if you're a fan.
Or you can blame him for their annoying dominance!
He should have just stayed there :D
He is really good on French tv. Perfect balance between sassiness and expertise.
No hatred in France for sure. Really part of the resurgence of F1 in France.
As a French I had no idea of his reputation across the pond. Jacques makes watching boring F1 races worth it.
Wtf is a France???
Fun fact: Not only did Damon beat Jacques to the 1996 WDC he also comfortably outclassed him as a musician. Other than Damon being a member of an albeit mediocre punk band in his youth whilst Jacques sold a humiliatingly small number of copies of his album Damon Hill officially earned a gold record for his guitar work on Def Leppard's song Demolition Man. It's very very rare that a collab with Def Leppard is the less embarrassing option.
Um... What's embarrassing about a collab with Def Leppard?
@@matthewvanrensburg3824 everything
@@sozzle600 Why?
@@matthewvanrensburg3824 right?! Def Leppard is one of the greats in the Rock world
Lolol... Plus don't forget that at one point in his career Damon Hill had the financial backing of George Harrison.
You couldn’t find a Canadian that was around at the time? He won the Lou Marsh award. Best Canadian athlete.
One of my childhood heroes. Between '94 and '98 he was consistently one of the top 5 racing drivers in the world, and one of the 3 best between 96 and 98. His first three seasons in F1 were AMAZING. He had everything. The speed, the charisma, the pedigree. Fantastic car control. His exterior overtake in Portugal ' 96 was a thing of beauty, to Michael Schumacher. He basically did everything he could until 1998. In '99 he decided to go for the money, very clearly, and compromised everything. In my opinion, he should have tried to join McLaren instead of Coulthard. And i NEVER, EVER understood why he never joined Ferrari, having his father being the ultimate Ferrari driver, and himself being WDC. Smells like a veto from Schumacher to me.
If you wonder where he is now, he's gonna do NASCAR part time next year with his own team and car only racing on road courses that means hes only gonna race for 7-8 races he's gonna drive his own car
Who knows, I've read that Damon had an offer from Ferrari for the 97 season
And as the video states Schumacher was the captain now, he would have certainly been number 2 at Ferrari for sure, his father's legacy would have meant little.
@@Lazbotable I think that Villeneuve, in case of joining Ferrari, he would be a real menace to Michael. Because in '98, he was really as fast as Michael if not more. And Michael had a 3 year contract, for '96, '97 and '98. To me it was very political that Ferrari did not decided that Irvine should be out, because as a team they could clearly be better.
@@albertorodriguezfernandez5956 Good point, given Schumacher's broken leg in 99 that would have given Villeneuve an opportunity to win the title, but after that im not so sure.
I think you're being a little harsh on Villeneuve on his post title years. He was brilliant in 98, widely regarded as the only driver on the grid performing at the same level as Schumacher and Hakkinen race in, race out and dragged some real speed out of the crap box that was the BAR, a team that was litterally built for him with a ton of money from BAT. Unfortunately having Reynard design the car for you while his company was going tits up didn't make for a good car. He was also regularly challenging the faster Jordans and Williams's in 2000 but I think after 2001 car turned out to be crap again he kind of gave up. One thing I remember about that stint at Sauber, he spent a lot of the early part of the season fighting with his mechanics on how to set the car up and after they relented he performed better.
One thing to say about that 97 win in Argentina, Villeneuve had been very sick that weekend and the team ran the slower 3 stop strategy to give him a bit of a breather with the pitstops and he still won.
B.A.R. did not exist in 1998. He was still at Williams and never won a single race after 1997. Even in his championship year, Gerhard Berger wiped the floor with him in Germany while Villeneuve spun out and managed only 5th. It went all the way down to the wire and critics still say he should have EASILY wrapped up the championship long before the season got to Japan...
@@largol33t1 At no point did I say he raced for BAR in 98, I'm well aware they replaced Tyrrell for 99, the rest is you just seeing what you want to see.
@Mike Jones Lol, the 94 Williams was not the best car.
@@andrewcarter1747 just the way it read at first glance, I thought you had put that at first but realised you didn’t say that.
@@andrewcarter1747 the 94 Williams car was a difficult car even though very fast
He made one fatal error...he left winning for a big cheque ...from a reallllly crappy team.and could not recover from that fatal error.
Exactly. Irvine did the same.
Chasing checkers to chasing checks
pretty sure he only switched teams because he wanted to lead them tho
It was his team... he part owned it....
@@juhosten3463 hill too
I always wondered what happened to this guy, He's literally F1's version of a one hit wonder.
Tbh After 1 winning a world championship 2 beating the best driver and the team of the time /the era
What's left to do ?
Williams then was still fastest car of the grid, McLaren misfortunes helped him to win the title.
@@bl41ck97 Ferrari was nowhere near the Williams that season, Villeneuve regularly took pole by a second, that tells you the pace of that Williams
@@deeptenduganguly8530
Not at all factual.
@@rimbusjift7575 the Williams outqualified the rival team by more than half a second gap in Australia, Brazil, Argentina, San Marino and Spain, with a more than second gap in Australia, Argentina and Spain
The car took 11 out of 17 poles that season, now you tell me which car was quicker, Put Schumacher in the Williams and the Title gets decided way before the last race
I love you Jacques and will always do! Started watching Formula 1 a few years before you entered the scene, but you definitly gave me the reason to watch it until today. Again, i love you, thank you for amazing moments in Formula 1!
Imagine you beat Schumi to a world championship and are just considered a footnote of F1 history 🥴🥴
If Jacques F1 career was reversed, he would be recognized as one of the best. Guy pushed those BAR-Honda's hard.
Ultimately Button played that role instead.
@@cambyses1529 Button is still shit-talked to this day, so IDK
Wow, does this guy ever wear glasses that don't make him look like a failed architect?
I was thinking “twat”, but your assessment is a lot better! 😂
Jacques Villeneuve.. AKA Art Vandalay
You mean an importer exporter?
@@whac1c no a wealthy philanthropist
I think they looked pretty cool
“...and starring Heinz-Herald Frenzen as the woman he loved.” 😂😂 amazing
I laughed so hard at that
Really good in depth biographic video which really held my attention. Thank you.
And let’s face it, whatever we think about Jacques, he’s done an awful lot more really good, fun stuff than most of us could eve4 dream of in our lives.
He accomplished the three things an open wheel racer dreams of winning
1997. The first year I (as a British kid) watched F1. Williams and JV were the bees knees for me as a kid! Prob cos of the Hill-Schumacher drama that had just happened. And for the next 8 years my favourite drivers were whoever was good, brave & fun enough to stick it to Schumacher! Mika, Montoya, Kimi….
Still can’t believe that this man went from hero to zero after beating SCHUMACHER when he TRIED TO CHEAT. Nothing lasts forever I guess....
Even cold november rain
That's what happens when you're in midfield cars 🤷♂️
@@rupertpupkin9630 bar was built for him
@@f2004-r9j no shit lol
The '96 season always felt like there was a sense of destiny to it. Two sons of great, late, drivers. Damon treated him like a kid brother that year, brought him on as an F1 driver, won the championship and got shafted. It's one of the few things I've never forgiven Frank Williams for. He was always shitty to most of his drivers.
I'll give Jacques one bit of credit - _that_ race in Hungary. He said that it was the worst he'd ever felt on winning, and had the championship not been at stake, he'd have stayed behind Damon. And I actually believe him because he genuinely did sound it. Damon, of course, was a total gent and didn't blame him in the slightest, saying he had to do it.
Ironically, Damon's a really good guitarist...
I was never surprised by Schumacher's behaviour in any of his "controversial" moments. What always surprised me was that he ever cheated (yes, that's the best description) when with his talent, he didn't have to.
Frank Williams never did think of the big picture too much, he was just after the next best thing, the team hasn't done much since
@@Lazbotable Frank was sure of his car doing the work in those days.
They lost Newey, Patrick Head stepped back, they went down hill
@@milkshakemuncher He also showed little faith in engine manufacturers, every 2-3 years beginning in 98, they would switch to a new one, gaining little progress and leaving little time for development and testing.
Damon Hill even recorded a guitar solo on a Def Leppard song released in 1999.
@@Miwna Didn't know that! Thanks :)
He used to play with Eddie Jordan and his band (yes, that EJ!) on stage at the circuit after races. Definitely in Silverstone, maybe elsewhere but I can't remember all that time ago! He did play with George Harrison (the Beatle, just in case there's another these days) and some other big names.
I was a huge fan - total fangirl lol - before I even knew he was a great guitarist, but as a (very amateur) guitarist myself, it popped him even higher up in my estimation! The first race I remember seeing (vaguely, I was about 7?) was Graham's last Monaco race, and my Dad told me how great he'd been as a racer and a gent, so I think I was predisposed to be a complete Damon fan from the word go lol.
Nowadays he's the french equivalent of martin brundle, backing up the french commentator for F1. They're actually hilarious together.
« LA HONTE POUR BOTTAS »
Well, he was light years better in his field, than you are in yours
More like Francophone James Hunt, since he talks shit during commentaries more often than not.
What channel? Is a Quebec or France broadcast, or is it just the French language audio on TSN?
@@zvexevz broadcast in france on canal+
Great of you to shed some light on the career of this underrated and slightly forgotten champ ..
No matter his later endeavours, he still is a part of a elite group of men to win a F1 championship .
Things don't always play out the way one plans.. but you gotta appreciate his fight .. He's still going at it racing cars all over the world coz that's what he loves
Great video Josh 👍
I was actually in the stand at Raidillon when both BARs atomised themselves in the barrier within minutes of each other. It was a real "WTF?!" moment. I never knew until now that it was the result of a bet!
As a 44 year old canadian, he got me interested in F1 and the love of the sport is still there. Unfortunately for him, he made the worst career choices but to be fair, he was consistently faster than his teammates for the majority of his career.
He belove in hos friend...and bild team...yes its be mistake because McLaren want him...Ferrari to...but MS fly to italy get on knees and ask ferrari i MS be ferrari s***t just not buy JV...
Bit JV is true fighter in clear speed he is one of fastest and if some body watch telemetry he undarstandt what i said. But much in f1 dont like true JV... Richards hate him...honda start to do dirty thinks...eh sauber be good but dont give him his settings for car :(.
both BAR drivers playing chicken at Spa was the perfect example of his downfall
"the one and only, Jacques Villeneuve" not counting his uncle, Jacques, also a racer....
Forget the uncle, think of the father !
@@louiseboisverttrommer1686 thats not the joke
And his uncle is a crazy sucker! Used to watch him and race ice ovals with him.
Dude raced into his 60's and was being kids half his age!
His uncle Jacques was a solid car driver but his real talent lay in racing snowmobiles on ice. My brothers were running OSRF events back in the day when both Gilles & Jacques raced in the Sno-Pro division (factory). Good times back in the days of banked tracks.
I knew Gilles very well, he was great ! No joke at all., sagi alex !
Imagine your dad is known as one of the best drivers to not win the championship, while you are known as someone who doesn't deserve the championship.
"i was on a roll, i hate lance stroll" has to be one of the best bars of all time
"...the Canadians try to lose the Stanley Cup again." LOL -- didn't ever expect a hockey reference on this channel. Brilliant.
fucking hell that pfp is ancient
@@althafrafianto I am a relic.
Except they've won 24 cups in their history, 11 more than second place
The Canadiens*
@@idiragnaou7935 Of course. Let's just go with Les Habitants while we're at it.
I met him at a track where euronascar goes only 30 mins away from my home, thing is.. he won that race. Very nice guy tho. Took the time to take pictures with everyone and talk to everyone.
A bit of insight from a Canadian who lived through Villeneuve's prime...
When I was a kid, I got into F1 because of Villeneuve. My first sports memory is him winning the championship, this created a lifetime passion for me, and I'll always be grateful to Jacques for that.
He was huge for a little while in French Canada. I think a lot of it had to do with nostalgia with Gilles, but people from Quebec tend to be very extreme towards hometown sports stars. For a little while after that, you had F1 fans everywhere, particularly with people in their 30's and 40's (A lot them probably also saw Gilles). I remember it flaming out quite fast when things started going south for him. I think the media put expectations extremely high for him, although BAR probably had some blame for talking a big game.
What always saddened me about Villeneuve is I got the feeling that Canada was his failover plan. He seemed to keep his relations with his fans here just good enough so that if things went bad, he could come here and continue being famous. I remember really getting that vibe when he debuted his album.
I remember particularly one incident we had when he did an interview for the French Canadian CBC (Radio-Canada). He walked out of the interview because he got asked a question he didn't like. Only once his agent got him back on track did he agree to continue the interview. The channel showed the complete interview and him walking off. It seemed extremely petty and it fit with the soret of image he cultivated in F1. Sad I can't seem to find this video anywhere...
Another thing I always found weird was how much he seemed to avoid contact with the reporters affiliated with our Quebec brodcasters. I remember back in the day, we used to get more French interviews with Olivier Panis, Jean Alesi, Jarno Trulli and even Nico Rosberg than with Jacques. I understand he related more to Europe, but it felt like it wouldn't have been that much to send us a bone once in a while.
One last anecdote relating to Villeneuve and Canada. For a guy who states he doesn't relate to Canada that much, he still got in hot water over the years for dumb and poorly researched comments about things happening in our country. Particularly, he got in a lot of heat in 2012 when he made comments telling students to go back to school while they were on strike because of higher university fees. Coming from a millionaire who lived in Monaco, that felt extremely out of place.
My dad and I often wonder how things would have been different if Gilles had not died. I guess we will never know, but it's pretty sad that he's seen as a joke nowadays here. I remember when he made the Stroll comments, just thinking that he could have just kept that to himself once again.
Today, I have to say that while they never made F1, I relate much more with Alex Tagliani and Patrick Carpentier as Canadian drivers I remember from my youth and that I consider role models. While they never found the same amount of success and competed in their prime mostly in CART/Champ Car/Indycar, they seem like much more approachable guys than Villeneuve. Greg Moore probably also would have been mentioned here had he not sadly died.
TheGabman234 Just out of curiosity: had he ever mentioned or paid any respect to greg moore's memory? I have never read or seen anything like that, which I consider it odd being them both canadian, but again maybe Jacques didn't have the time or opportunity to develop those connections.
@@dharmabum2389 If I recall correctly, Villeneuve attended an event in Moore's memory and I believe he did mention feeling sad about the whole ordeal. What sort of sucks is most of the archives of that period from Canadian broadcasters don't exist anymore or are simply not available on the internet. Sad because I'd like to see some of those interviews again... I used to have a bunch of those on VHS, but those don't exist anymore :(
TheGabman234 thanks for your insight! It's nice to know Jacques said something nice on Greg's memory. I miss the 90's footage too and ocasionally stumble across some old WIlliams footage or a cool interview, but Jacques' stuff is rare.
It appeared to me the same way growing up. Aside from his canadian heritage, he seemed like a distant european cousin on television. I didn't relate to him or see him as you know a kid's hero. Also maybe the fact that he was raised in Monaco didn't create much appeal for your average canadian habitant.
@@mqh8879 If you watch the Villeneuve/Pironi documentary, you hear his mother and sister speak and they both sound like your average French Canadian. Emphasis on Canadian, you wouldn’t even really know they were francophones except for the very odd word and when they pronounce French words and names, of course.
Jacques sounds completely different. I wouldn’t say he sounds French, but he sounds completely different. Sort of like a kid who went to international school or something.
I mentioned this in another video, but I remember I had an old sports magazine that did a year in review for 1995 of all sports (mostly North American sports). For auto racing, 1995 was the year when three guys had incredible years: Villeneuve winning the Indy 500, Michael Schumacher winning his second consecutive World Drivers' Championship, and Jeff Gordon winning his first NASCAR cup championship
I remember this like it was yesterday. THe writer said Villeneuve would wind up with the best career among the three men. Oh boy....
Who’s here after what he said about Danny Ric
Villeneuve is a hack that was handed one of the most dominant cars in the history of the sport. Williams bragged they could make anyone a champion. I stand by that claim.
Me.
Jacques is right.
Say what you want. Jacques was bloody fast in f1 96-2001. Did things his own way and was exciting to watch. As schuey put it "he was the one I didn't beat".
He was pretty fast for like 2 years hahaha!! He was useless outside of the OP Williams. And even then he barely beat Schumi in 1997
That move around the outside in Portugal.. I can't believe it wasn't shown in this video.. 🤔
Jacques Villeneuve's music career needs the power of Squarespace
"passing at suzuka is about as tricky as gene haas growing a spine"
*[insert kimi at suzuka 2005]*
@RoadhogTime13 true
🇫🇮
Or Alonso at Suzuka 2005
Fun fact: Jacques Villeneuve is the last non European to win the f1 championship
A couple of the reasons he wasn't accepted by Canada while he was winning is 1) F1 isn't really a big sport in Canada and 2) he's from Quebec.
Jacques is a strange duck, no two ways about it. He squandered his talent however.
Gather round folks, while Josh spins a tale of a mythical time when championships were contested right down to the last race.
It's like a lifetime ago...
9:12 Can’t ignore the fact Damon’s car literally got covered in oil
Step 3:
I'm going to hijack your comemment, but I got to mention this: THERE WERE SO MANY FREAKING RETIREMENTS?!? Like jesus christ, how could anyone make predictions, oil, clutch, engine, wheel nuts, pit stop screw ups, crashes, it was always exciting, you never knew who was going to win.
The new era is so reliable, Hamilton had like 3 retirements (not crashes with Rosberg, actual mechanical malfunction retirements) in his 7 years at Mercedes, of course he is fucking awesome! Try doing it back then, its like everyone was driving red bulls, you never knew if you were gonna finish. It was a 50-50, today its like a 95-5, its surprising when something goes wrong :(( makes it really boring and predictable sadly!
@@csanadhorvath Honestly I think the complete opposite, having half the cars drop out leaves you with strung out races with no on track action, it can really ruin races.
Not oil, it's rubber from the good old Goodyear slicks.
@@jigglediggle29 It was oil, Villeneuve's car had an oil leak that was spraying out the back for half the race, why else do you think Damon's car was brown at the end of the race, it sure as hell wasn't rubber.
I think part of the problem with the popularity of drivers and motorsport in general is that you have to be a car guy to appreciate the sport. Millions of people that watch stick and ball sports are just casual observers and the games are so simple that it doesn’t take much thought to understand what is going on. It is hard for the general public to understand F1, IndyCar or IMSA racing.
Today he's one of the two french braodcasters alongside Julien Fébreau (which I assume you know since his legendary ACCELERE ACCELERE right before Gasly's win in Monza) and we love him!
Never knew he could have gone to McLaren, it's a bit like Alesi passing up the chance of going to Williams, hindsight is a wonderful thing. Great video!
Or Webber passing up Benetton to go to Williams.
@@davidporeilly1 Renault*
alesi actually didn't go to williams because of a delay in contract stuff plus ferrari bought him out. totally different
*"For him one world title was enough, he proved what he needed to prove"*
"To himself, and anyone who doubted him."
Hunt was a legend as a human and as a driver!
For anyone wondering, He's now driving for NASCAR he now owns a team in NASCAR, It's gonna start racing in 2022 as part time #27, only racing in 9 races because there's only 9 road course, 9/38 races he's gonna running
This guy reminds me of Nico Rosberg. Cause he also said he had nothing left to prove in F1 after 2016
@@brapa1190 that's actually pretty cool
the more i see it the more im convinced: had schumi not turned in on him, jacques would have missed the corner.
There was another video on YT explaining that he gave so much into that overtake, (he was running out of time to make a move) he would have gone off track if Schumacher didn’t hit him.
Schumi helped him turn the corner, and schumi retired from the race, how nice of michael? he ended up letting villeneuve win... lol! ironic
Well, he did not, too bad !
Well, he did not, too bad !
Jacques has proven many times he can out manoeuvre Schumacher, unfortunately both Schumacher brothers are terrible sportsman and view the track as a war ground and drive as such. Michaels nasty tactics of basically cheating throughout his career paid of for him far too much as far as im concerned. Jacques however proved he is a decent sportsman and has what it takes to win. He was so nice he turned down McLaren to help his mate start a new team, would Either Schumacher do that?! I rest my case!
Villeneuve's Indy 500 win is one of the most amazing car races of all time.
My first experience with him was in what is today the NASCAR XFinity Series. I used to root for him in the two or three races he'd run a year, simply because he wasn't a regular and actually had several chances of winning, but also because of the sheer chaos that would ensue in every race he'd take part in. He was a total wrecking ball, and I loved it lol
I love this dude, he gave my favourite team their final title, but he didn't know when to give up!
fun fact: there cant be 3 or 4 first comments
I mean they can they are just all wrong
@aritz zabala but there is
First!
Well I have been alive long enough to remember both Jacques and Gilles and I'm from Canada.
Yes Gilles and Bobby Orr were my two hero's growing up.
Something you missed is how patriotic Gilles was and how he won the Canadian GP.
Jacques was very patriotic. The Quebec separatists were always trying to get him to comment about politics. He refused many many times. So when he opened up his bar he named it Newtown.
Villeneuve translated to english is Newtown. He sent all the separatist packing and has not been forgotten by patriots. Now for his driving. He was a very good driver until his crash at Spa. He was never the same driver after that. He was never in as good of a situation as he was at Williams in 96-97. But all the hate for him by people that weren't even born when he won is kinda useless. My thoughts are he was a fantastic driver in Indy car and in F1. Something happens to drivers after a crash that scares them. They never take the car to the limits or they try too hard to make something happen that really isn't there. Trying to prove they still have it. But being the big name and being able to speak 5 languages is attractive to sponsors. So it was like watching a wounded bird trying to fly with a broken wing. After Bar's many design failures and crashes destroyed his driving confidence.
His pride kept pushing him long after the racing confidence was gone. Not a tragedy and I'm glad he is still alive. So many racing legends die. So many hurt themselves trying to prove they still have it.
He is the only Canadian F1 champion and he will always be an F1 champion. No one can ever take that away.
You make a lot of great points. I was 17 when he won the championship and I remember a lot of attention being on him that year. It had started the previous year. As you said the French speaking and English speaking population here in Quebec were especially tense with eachother. The referendum for separation was held in 97 as well. I think it’s important to mention as well that the Canadian gp was the only North American circuit on the f1 calendar at the time as well. He was huge here
I completely agree with you 🙌🏻Québécoise here, I was 13 when Jacques won the Championship. He was always a proud Canadian AND a proud French speaker.
The young Canadian in this video did not understand what Jacques meant in the Beyond the Grid podcast (listened to it as well). He said Quebec isn’t what it used to be when he was a child and I could not agree more. I’ve been away from Quebec since 2008 and I would not come back to live there. I absolutely love my country and I’m so proud to be francophone, but something happened in the last 10-15 years and I don’t like it.
Also, Jacques said that he loves Europe because that’s « his origins » and he is right. I feel the same when I’m in Europe. We are first and foremost European by decent. Our families have only been in Canada for max 300 years.
Anyways, all of that to say that I don’t doubt Jacques’ patriotism and I can easily say that when he won the championship I have never felt more proud to be Canadian and Québécoise. ❤
Discussion entre anglo-suprématistes et franco-colonisés ...
He learned a lot from Damon in 1996. Hill balanced the car very well, whitch was not the ability of the rookie Jacques. I think, if Damon stayed 1997 with the team, it would have been one of the greatest Seasons ever! Remember: Schumacher and Jacques never stood together on the podium.
On of The reasons why most french canadians didn’t like him is because he didn’t have a french canadian accent unlike his father since he was raised in monaco
"I hate Lance Stroll" literally killed me
He is harsh about Stroll but is making the point that he is there because of Strolls father and his money and now team owner
@@keanuuuu All of these guys are there because of wealthy parents
@@sherpaderpdingo3405 indeed but probably not billionaires like Lawrence Stroll
@@keanuuuu wealthy parents, Hamilton?
@@sherpaderpdingo3405 *ahem* Hamilton and Ocon
Nothing better than a quality Josh Revell video over 39 minutes
When Jacques was at his height he was very fast and it was great fun to watch someone from Indycar actually succeed at F1. How many guys have done that? Indycar is usually the place where former F1 drivers go to retire and relax in their final years. The drama of the last race where he predicted and got hit by Schumacher was also quite entertaining. You could say he had a point to prove too. He was riding on the coat tails of his father who was known as the super fast wild man that never won the title and Jacques played it safe and accomplished that goal. After that I think he rested on his laurels too much and just accepted the under performing car and giant paycheck at BAR which probably led to his downfall. How many driver's actually take risks to continue winning when they've got a world championship and hundreds of millions in the bank? Also, it's good to have someone stick their neck out and say something very un-PC from time to time. He may not always be right but it's refreshing to have someone in the paddock who is qualified, to speak their mind. Thanks for the vid Josh Revell.
I think he simply hit his peak in Indy and it only lasted for some years in F1. Then, like most drivers, he had a long and slow decline. In 1996, he still was a rookie, and he was beat by Hill. In 1997, he beat Frentzen pretty squarely, who himself became a good F1 driver for a few years after. Villeneuve is a one-time championship winner and he deserves it. He isn't a legend or whatever, but he was a good performer in a great car.
33:15 The unofficial "Triple Crown of Motorsports" is to win three races: Indy, Le Mans, and Monaco. Jacques never won Monaco.
Yeah but its more impressive to win a F1 championship then Monaco
There is some disagreement about whether it should be Monaco or the WDC. Look up an article titled “Triple crown: Monaco or F1 championship?” Graham Hill is the only one to complete the triple crown (both definitions) and he thinks it should be the WDC. But yeah the prevailing definition just includes Monaco. I guess it depends on whether you think it should be the 3 biggest achievements in racing, or the 3 biggest races.
His career in backwards would be an amazing story
Great video. I'd love to see a "WTF happened to Jan Magnussen" as his F1 stint was hopeless
@Iron Chef Palm Beach True
Christijan Albers
Eddie Irvine???
Jan has only just retired from a very successful racing career with Corvette racing in IMSA.
@@davidwarr8600 absolutely. His sportscar career was super successful but unfortunately his Formula 1 career was hopeless
i always found his BAR-venture very interesting and even respectable.
extremely ambitious, even if not fruitful at all in the end.
but it could've been, and what a hell of a story it wouldve made if it was. i like that attitude, and thats the move that defined his racing career in my eyes.
I find it crazy how much crap Schumacher gets/got for Aus '94 and Jerez '97, yet Senna taking out Prost in '90 isn't seen in the same light
People hate him a lot for what he says. I get it. I just don't like younger generation calling him worst F1 Champion ever. Like Wtf. He was a skilled and ballsy driver. Very underrated . People just didn't want to like him as he had a big mouth and his career went to shit when he went to BAR. He always drove faster than his teammate until very late in his career, after a layoff. He was spectacular. When he was hungry, with a competitive car, not many driver could beat him on a dry day. Not many.
I've wondered about Jacques career for a while and after watching this I just believe he wasn't as motivated after 1997. That's the only way I can explain such a quick turn and lasting turn in form.
To be fair, after 1997 Williams were terrible, hence the drop in motivation. Follow that up with a stint at a team that struggled just to finish a race and you can see why other interests drew his focus.
He was in love with money.
I've read and heard interviews where he talks about trusting the wrong people like Craig Pollock and not being able to have a good relationship with the teams.
That didn't help his motivation.
Wait a minute, Davy Jones was in Indycar????? Man that was cool. I only knew him for being a sea monster, but now i feel i have been judging him wrong
I knew him from when he was the lead singer of the Monkees.
@@aprilkurtz1589 I knew him from before he was Bowie
There is one thing to his credit: He speaks Italian fluently and pretty much accent-free.
So this is the first comment I’ve made on TH-cam since I was like, 13. I’m 25 😆
Man, I love that Josh made this video. Jacques has been one of my biggest influencers in motorsports for basically my entire life in motorsports and not a ton of people really have much good to say on Jacques. No less would they cover his career with such depth and humour.
But man, this guy. This guy was all Canada had, for a loooong time. We had glimpses, Tracy, Tagliani, Carpentier, Fellows (he is incredible), but man Jacques had actually made it to the top! Situations or surroundings pushed aside. He was a Canadian, who drove his balls off to make it to the top! And there’s just no one else who’s done that at that point in time.
There I was, attending a NASCAR race in 2008 at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve and I fell in love with his driving style. I was just a boy whose always felt like the barrier between me and ever possibly making it into American motorsports was so big that It would be impossible to make it solely within this country. I was so passionate about driving and just motorsports in general and to boot I had this craaave for a damn Canadian driver SOMEwhere in the scene, that when he entered my life, it was as if I had received all the hope I needed to push forward.
That’s who Jacques was to most of the die hard motorsports community members and drivers in Canada. Inspiration! And man, I loved the way he drove, aggressive, on the edge, just how I did on the simulators and in Karts at the time. It was as if we spoke the same language within the helmet sometimes. But I gotta get back to how powerful that feeling is up here in Canada. It’s a little different now with Lance and just being 25 and not, 12. Emotions change. But at the time? There was literally zero Canadians in contention for a nascar, indycar or sports car race on the weekly basis at the time Jacques exited F1 and Entered NASCAR. That feeling? Of having someone on track who was capable of WINNING a stock car race? And was Canadian! It was suuuuper foreign to me and I was watching every damn race I could set my eyes on. That feeling was so inspiring. I was just glued to his car at all times. Watching his gloves move, his feet move around when the cameras were on him and trying to imitate it at home or in the stands, trying to draw his cars at school instead of doing work, trying to draw his helmet, track layouts, racing lines... he sparked that intense passion for me.
I’ll never forget those days watching Jacques drive through the field in my hometown track. Montreal. That love I felt, the smells I smelled, the feeling in my body man! Gah! I’m getting all tingly just thinking about it. That’s what Villeneuve means to a lot of us! Sure he says lots of things .. after 2020, I realized a lot of people say things. But I never cared what he said. It’s as if I just couldn’t shake the love I had for this tiny Quebec man.
Motorsports is such a god damn beautiful sport and I was just falling head over heels for it at the time he came around for me. I still follow him everywhere he races, just craving that feeling of watching him live again.
Thank you josh! This is now one of my favourite videos on the internet. You’re awesome, always make me laugh with those funny as heck animations and your awesome vocabulary.
Tony Stewart, Helio Castroneves, Carl Edwards, Ron Fellows, Patrick Carpentier, Dale Jr! All these guys hold a special place in my heart. But then, there’s Jacques 🥰
As a huge (former) NASCAR fan, I’m really glad you mentioned, even briefly, his misadventures in NASCAR.
He could put his equipment up front in every single road course race, but damn he gave himself a bad reputation! Every single time, he would punt the leader out of the way... and then after doing so, could never capitalize on it himself. I respect what he did in F1 and Cart, but boy did he suck over here in NASCAR.