Jacques Villeneuve
Jacques Villeneuve
Jacques Joseph Charles Villeneuve, OQ, is a Canadian auto racing driver and amateur musician. He is the son of Formula One driver Gilles Villeneuve, and is the namesake of his uncle, who was also a racer. Villeneuve won the 1995 CART Championship, the 1995 Indianapolis 500 and the 1997 Formula One World Championship, making him only the third driver after Mario Andretti and Emerson Fittipaldi to achieve such a feat. To date, no other Canadian has won the Indianapolis 500...
NationalityCanadian
ProfessionRace Car Driver
Date of Birth9 April 1971
CountryCanada
I think it was wrong to take the decision to slow F1 down. It was much better in my day, when it was already a lot safer than it had been in the '70s and '80s, but you could still drive crazy fast.
Winning is still the reason that I drive in formula one. And the title, as well. I'm not here just to be part of it. I haven't forgotten how to win.
I love a lot of high speed turns, turns where you have to push yourself, force yourself to go fast. Then there's something telling your foot to lift off, because it's so fast, and it's impressive when you get that feeling and just drive on.
Conserving fuel is fine, and it was great in the past. The problem is that the drivers don't have to do it. It's all done electronically. You sit there, and it saves fuel for you, and that defeats the purpose.
Some younger drivers didn't grow up seeing racing as being dangerous. They break their little finger, and they are surprised. It's like, 'Be happy it's only that.'
Ultimately, the best driver will always do something special, whatever the rules and whatever the regulations. Same thing with the teams.
I don't think that American drivers going to NASCAR are taking the easy way out because as I said, the racing is amazing; it's just that it's easier to adapt to what you grow up with. American drivers grow up with NASCAR, they know NASCAR, and that's where they want to go.
Winning the Indy 500 in 1995 and the Formula 1 championship in 1997 are very special moments for me, and the people in NASCAR show me respect for what I've achieved so far in my career.
That was a pretty bad lap, ... The car was just sliding around all over the place.
I was happy to ski and play a lot of ice hockey. But I've come back because I was - and am - a racing driver. This is what I do.
Unlike motor sport, I didn't get into music for the live performances. I like writing and studio work and seeing how a song can come to life.
With my father and uncle so involved in racing, it was the only thing I ever knew, so I'm sure that had a huge influence on me. However, my father had more influence on me just by the way he lived, because the way he was at the racetrack was the way he was in everyday life.
I don't understand the concept of always trying to make F1 go slower and slower and slower and have less and less power.
He should give up motorbikes and join us.