Jacques Villeneuve

Jacques Villeneuve, born 9 April 1971, is a Canadian racing driver and son of the regretted Gilles Villeneuve. He’s the 1997 Formula One World champion and the winner of the 1995 Indy 500. Nowadays, he is an outspoken commentator for the tv channels Sky F1 and Canal+.

The Canadian won the Formula One World Drivers’ Championship in 1997 with Williams with seven Grand Prix victories that season, after an epic battle with Michael Schumacher and his Ferrari, that culminated in a controversial collision provoked by the German, at the season-ending European Grand Prix at Jérez. He thus became the first Canadian World Champion.

Jacques Villeneuve won 11 Grand Prix in 163 starts, achieved 23 podiums, 13 pole positions and 235 career points across 11 seasons. In American open-wheel racing, Villeneuve won the IndyCar World Series and the Indianapolis 500 in 1995 with Team Green (picture-below). An impressive track record that could have been even more impressive, if Jacques had not decided to move to the new BAR team in 1999.