The son of a motorsport legend, a racer since childhood, Formula 1 was Jacques Villeneuve’s destiny. In 1996, the young Canadian arrived at his first Grand Prix and immediately proved he belonged there by taking pole position.
In his rookie season Villeneuve won races, went wheel-to-wheel with Michael Schumacher and took Williams team mate Damon Hill to a final race title-decider. Some 30 years on, he sits down with Tom Clarkson to remember how he shook up the sport.
Jacques explains why he left IndyCar as reigning champion to join Williams in F1, and how racing on ovals influenced how he drove Grands Prix. He talks about working with Race Engineer Jock Clear, and experimenting with his throttle pedal and steering wheel paddles to find extra performance.
Tom asks Jacques about the highlights of his first year in F1: his first pole position, his first race win and the spectacular pass he made on Schumacher – an overtaking move still regarded as one of the best in F1 history.
To listen to this week’s episode, simply hit go on the audio player above or click here to listen via your preferred podcasting platform.
You can also check out a huge selection of previous episodes – spanning every decade of F1 – in our dedicated Beyond The Grid library here.
