Gilles Villeneuve’s birthday, Ferrari’s needs
Ferrari celebrates on social media the birthday of the unforgettable and unforgettable Gilles Villeneuve. The Canadian driver, who tragically handed away in an accident throughout qualifying for the 1982 Belgian Grand Prix at Zolder, would have turned 75 immediately. Revealing a behind-the-scenes story about Gilles Villeneuve’s profession was Piero Ferrari, in an interview with Leo Turrini revealed within the Quotidiano Nazionale: the son of Enzo Ferrari, who will flip 80 this yr, not solely spoke in regards to the much-anticipated arrival of Lewis Hamilton at Maranello but additionally remembered a sliding doorways second in Villeneuve’s profession.
The reminiscence of the vice chairman and non-executive director of Ferrari goes again to 1978, the primary actual full season wherein Gilles Villeneuve raced with Ferrari after competing within the final two Grand Prix of the 1977 season with the Scuderia. Based on Piero Ferrari, Enzo’s intention for 1979 was to ship Gilles to achieve expertise with one other crew, because of the quite a few accidents that had characterised his first months at Maranello. A choice that modified course due to Carlos Reutemann’s sudden selection to go away Ferrari and transfer to Lotus.
Gilles Villeneuve “legend by chance”
“In 1978,” explains Ferrari, “my father had determined to ship Villeneuve to achieve expertise with one other crew, he was entering into too many accidents. I used to be supposed to inform Gilles the information, however on the identical day, the Argentine Reutemann made it identified that he was leaving us. Dad reached me shortly, via his secretary Gozzi, as a result of at that time I needed to inform the Canadian that we’d maintain him. Typically legends are born nearly by chance!”
Ferrari had chosen Riccardo Patrese
This concept, that Enzo Ferrari had thought of parting methods with Gilles Villeneuve for 1979, shouldn’t be in battle with what Riccardo Patrese wrote in his guide *F1 Backstage*. The Venetian driver really recounts in his autobiography, written with Giorgio Terruzzi, that he had met the Drake to signal a letter of intent: “That yr, Gilles had induced a whole lot of bother, and underneath heavy media stress, Enzo Ferrari had pointed me out as a doable substitute for Villeneuve. He revealed himself to me in a really totally different means from how he was described, and he proposed that I signal a letter of intent stating that I might not make commitments for 1979.”
An settlement that, like each sliding doorways second, ultimately fell via nearly by chance. The decisive consider Ferrari’s ultimate selection was the final race of the 1978 season, the place Gilles Villeneuve crossed the end line first at his residence race in Montreal. This victory satisfied the Drake of the motive force’s aggressive maturity, main him to imagine that he might nonetheless win his biggest wager. The remainder is historical past, with Gilles Villeneuve staying at Ferrari and taking part in a vital function in serving to Jody Scheckter win the 1979 title.
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