Jacques Villeneuve

Jacques Villeneuve OQ
Villeneuve in 2010
Nationality	Canadian
Born	Jacques Joseph Charles Villeneuve (1971-04-09) 9 April 1971 (age 50) Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec, Canada
Related to	Gilles Villeneuve (father) Jacques Villeneuve Sr. (uncle)
Championship titles
1995 Indianapolis 500 Winner 1995 CART PPG Indy Car World Series Champion 1997 Formula One World Champion
Awards
1994 PPG Indy Car World Series Rookie of the Year 1994 Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year
IndyCar Series career
1 race run over 1 year
First race	2014 Indianapolis 500 (Indianapolis)
Wins Podiums Poles 0 0 0
Champ Car career
33 races run over 2 years
Years active	1994–1995
Best finish	1st (1995)
First race	1994 Australian FAI Indycar Grand Prix (Surfers Paradise)
Last race	1995 Toyota Grand Prix of Monterey (Laguna Seca)
First win	1994 Texaco/Havoline 200 (Road America)
Last win	1995 Budweiser Grand Prix of Cleveland (Cleveland)
Wins Podiums Poles 5 10 6
Statistics current as of December 12, 2015.
Formula One World Championship career
Active years	1996–2006
Teams	Williams, BAR, Renault, Sauber, BMW Sauber
Entries	165 (163 starts)
Championships	1 (1997)
Wins	11
Podiums	23
Career points	235
Pole positions	13
Fastest laps	9
First entry	1996 Australian Grand Prix
First win	1996 European Grand Prix
Last win	1997 Luxembourg Grand Prix
Last entry	2006 German Grand Prix
NASCAR Cup Series career
4 races run over 3 years
2013 position	51st
Best finish	51st (2013)
First race	2007 UAW-Ford 500 (Talladega)
Last race	2013 Toyota/Save Mart 350 (Sonoma)
Wins Top tens Poles 0 0 0
NASCAR Xfinity Series career
9 races run over 5 years
Best finish	49th (2012)
First race	2008 NAPA Auto Parts 200 (Montreal)
Last race	2012 NAPA Auto Parts 200 (Montreal)
Wins Top tens Poles 0 6 1
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series career
7 races run over 1 year
Best finish	42nd (2007)
First race	2007 Smith's Las Vegas 350 (Las Vegas)
Last race	2007 Ford 200 (Homestead)
Wins Top tens Poles 0 0 0
NASCAR Pinty's Series career
3 races run over 2 years
2013 position	43rd
Best finish	33rd (2009)
First race	2009 Tide 250 (St. Eustache)
Last race	2013 JuliaWine.com 100 (Trois-Rivieres)
Wins Top tens Poles 0 2 0
Formula E career
Debut season	2015–16
Teams	Venturi Grand Prix
Car number	12
Starts	2
Wins	0
Poles	0
Fastest laps	0
Best finish	19th in 2015–16
NASCAR Whelen Euro Series career
Debut season	2019
Current team	FEED Vict Racing
Car number	5
Former teams	Go Fas Racing
Starts	19
Wins	0
Poles	2
Fastest laps	1
Best finish	8th in 2019
Finished last season	8th in 2019
24 Hours of Le Mans career
Years	2007–2008
Teams	Peugeot
Best finish	2nd (2008)
Class wins	0

Jacques Joseph Charles Villeneuve OQ (French: [ʒɑk vilnœv] born 9 April 1971) is a Canadian racing driver and amateur musician who has competed in various forms of motor racing. The son of racing driver Gilles Villeneuve, he is the winner of the 1995 Indianapolis 500 and the 1995 PPG Indy Car World Series driving for Team Green as well as the 1997 Formula One World Championship competing for the Williams team. Villeneuve began kart racing at age 14 before progressing to open-wheel car racing in the Italian Formula Three Championship, which he raced in between 1989 and 1991. He moved to the higher-tier Toyota Atlantic Championship, competing in one race during the 1992 season and finishing third overall in the 1993 championship.

He began competing in Championship Auto Racing Teams with the Forsythe/Green Racing team in the 1994 season, finishing sixth in the Drivers' Championship with one victory and earning Rookie of the Year and Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year honours. In the following year at the renamed Team Green, Villeneuve won four races (including the Indianapolis 500) and took the Drivers' Championship. Villeneuve moved to the Williams team in Formula One for the 1996 championship, claiming four Grand Prix victories and finishing the first rookie runner-up in the World Drivers' Championship after a season-long duel with teammate Damon Hill. His main title challenge for the following season came from Ferrari's Michael Schumacher and Villeneuve beat the latter following a controversial collision at the season-ending European Grand Prix became the first Canadian World Drivers' Champion with seven Grand Prix victories. Following a poor 1998 season, Villeneve raced for the British American Racing, Renault, Sauber and BMW teams from the 1999 to 2006 championships without further success.

Villeneuve left Formula One mid-way through the 2006 season and has competed in various forms of motor racing such as sports car racing, NASCAR, touring car racing without major similar success but did win the 2008 1000 km of Spa driving for Peugeot. He is an outspoken figure who often says what is on his mind and has frequently commented on the state of Formula One. Villeneuve was appointed Officer of the National Order of Quebec in 1998. He was voted the winner of both the Lou Marsh Trophy and the Lionel Conacher Award in each of 1995 and 1997. Villeneuve is an inductee of each of the Canadian Motor Sports Hall of Fame, Canada's Sports Hall of Fame and the FIA Hall of Fame.

Early and personal life[]

On 9 April 1971, Villeneuve was born in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu,^[1][2] a small town outside of Montreal in the French-speaking Canadian province of Quebec.^[3][4][5] He is the son of snowmobile and future Ferrari racer Gilles Villeneuve and his wife Joann Barthe.^[6] Villeneuve has a sister, Melanie, and a half sister Jessica.^[7] His uncle, Jacques Sr., whom he was named after also competed in motor racing.^[7] Villeneuve spent most of his formative years travelling with the racing fraternity with his parents.^[1]

Aged seven in 1978, he and his family relocated from Berthierville, Quebec,^[5][8] to the small principality of Monaco on the French Riviera in France's south-east coast close to the border with Italy to be nearer to Ferari's headquarters and for Gilles wanting his children to be taught in French.^[1][4][5] The death of his father in an accident with Jochen Mass during qualifying for the 1982 Belgian Grand Prix at Circuit Zolder in May that year left him with a lack of interest in motor racing due to him feeling nervous over the dangers.^[6][9] On the advice of driver Patrick Tambay,^[10] Villeneuve was sent to the French-speaking Swiss private boarding Collège Alpin International Beau Soleil by his mother and attended it from the ages of 12 (1983) to 17 (1988).^[4][11] He excelled in BASE jumping, ice hockey, motocross and water skiing.^[12] Villeneuve left the school by mutual consent between his mother and the school owners.^[11]

He was engaged firstly to the Montreal college student Sandrine Gros D"Aillon, then to Australian pop singer Dannii Minogue and later American ballerina Ellen Green.^[13] Villenevue was married to Parisian Johanna Martinez from May 2006 to June 2009. They have two children.^[14] He has been married to Brazilian model Camila Lopez since June 2012. He has two children from the marriage.^[15] Since January 2017, Revenu Québec has pursued Villeneuve for $1.7 million in unpaid taxes after doing an audit of his business activities from 2010 to 2012.^[16]

Early racing career[]

Villeneuve's mother was aware from when he was five he would race,^[17] and he went go-karting with his uncle several times in Canada.^[18] In 1984, he asked his mother if he could do motor racing like his father. Villeneuve's mother agreed to let him race on the condition he improved his academic performance in one of his weakest subjects, mathematics.^[19] His mother had preferred him to do a course in aerodynamic or mechanical engineering;^[18] although she did not discourage her son from taking up his career option.^[6] In early September 1985, Villeneuve was invited by an SAGIS employee to race in 100 cc go-kart at Italy's Imola Circuit before testing a 135 cc kart and then a Formula Four car after impressing the track owners.^[18][19] He travelled to Mont Tremblant, Quebec in July 1986 to attend a three-day course driving a Formula Ford 1600 car from Van Diemen at the Jim Russell Racing Driver School,^[a] having been enrolled on it by his uncle.^[b][18][19] Villeneuve passed the course.^[21]

In mid-1987, he decided not spend time with his family,^[22] but attended the Spenard-David Racing School in Shannonville, Ontario to hone his abilities under Richard Spenard.^[6][21] Villeneuve did not have the money to pay for the course and his mother would not fund it because she was against him doing it and thought finishing his education was more important. He therefore worked in a mechanics' training programme allowing students to learn racing in return for garage painting.^[21][22] Aged 17, Villeneuve was invited to make his car racing debut in the Italian Touring Car Championship,^[17] driving a Salerno Course-entered Group N Alfa Romeo 33 car for three rounds of the 1988 season. He obtained an international racing licence in Andorra with Canadian Automobile Sport Clubs aid since the Canadian and Italian authorities would not grant him a licence since he was a year younger than the minimum age requirement.^[22] Villeneuve performed poorly in each of the three rounds.^[21]

He went on to sign a three-year contract to drive a Reynard-Alfa Romeo car for Premat in the Italian Formula Three Championship, which was greatly influenced by the squad obtaining sponsorship from the Camel cigarette company.^[c] He initially struggled to drive a Formula 3 car and so enrolled at the Magione Driving School under Henry Morrogh's direction, where he gradually built his character and driving technique. Villeneuve did not qualify five times, failed to finish three of the eleven races and scored no points. In the 1990 season, he qualified for each of the 12 rounds and scored ten points for 14th in the Drivers' Championship.^[d][22] Villeneuve was considered a title favourite for the 1991 championship. He was sixth overall with 20 points and three podiums after a late-season switch to the Ralt RT35 chassis failed to improve his form.^[23][22] In late 1991, Villeneuve finished eighth in both the Macau Grand Prix and the Formula 3 Fuji Cup.^[22]

In 1991, dissatisfied with his management,^[24] he successfully asked former Beausoleil sports administrator and motor racing promoter Craig Pollock after three attempts.^[6][21][22] For the 1992 season, he wanted to compete in Formula 3000 in Europe with Prema but had not have the funding to do so. Villeneuve accepted an offer to relocate to Japan and drive a Toyota 032F car for the TOM'S squad in the Japanese Formula 3 Championship in 1992 following advice from Tambay. He felt it was almost as good as the Italian series and did not want to remain in Europe. Villeneuve was the only driver to receive works support from TOM'S and got driver training. He won three races and finished no lower than sixth nine times for second in the Drivers' Championship and 45 points.^[22] Villeneuve attracted attention in the motor racing world for becoming recognized ten years after his father's death.^[21][22] In August Pollock negotiated an contract received from race organisers for Villeneuve to enter the Formula Atlantic street event at Trois-Rivières in the 1992 Atlantic Championship.^[12][25] He finished third driving the No. 49 Swift DB-4-Toyota car lent by the ComPred team.^[22][26] In addition, he also tested a Class C Toyota that year and was mentored by driver Roland Ratzenberger.^[10]

Four months later, Villeneuve accepted an invite to share a Class C TOM'S-entered Toyota TS010 car with Eddie Irvine and Tom Kristensen at the final round of the 1992 All Japan Sports Prototype Car Endurance Championship at Mine Circuit, finishing fourth. He was fourth at the Macau Grand Prix for TOM'S.^[22] In Trois-Rivières, Villeneuve met crew chief Barry Green who wanted a driver for his new Forsythe-Green Racing squad.^[12] He decided in November 1992 to become employed by Green on a three-year contract with personal sponsorship from sports marketing arm Player's.^[8][24][21] He raced the 1993 Atlantic Championship since he was unfamiliar with American open-wheel racing.^[22] Villeneuve built a close working relationship with aerodynamicist Tony Cicale.^[27] Driving the No. 10 Ralt RT40-Toyota car, Villeneuve won five races and finished in the top three four times for third overall and 185 points after a season-long duel with David Empringham and teammate Claude Bourbonnais.^[23][26][27] He was named the series' Rookie of the Year,^[1] and ended 1993 retiring from the Macau Grand Prix driving a March Racing Ralt 93C-Fiat car.^[27]

CART (1994–1995)[]

He began participating in Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) in the 1994 season for Forsythe-Green Racing in the No. 12 Reynard 94I-Ford XB vehicle after Green obtained sponsorship.^[e][29][30] Villeneuve debuted at the season-opening Australian FAI Indycar Grand Prix at Surfers Paradise Street Circuit, starting eighth and finishing 17th after colliding with Stefan Johansson. In the season's next round, the at Phoenix International Raceway, he was involved in an five-car accident which saw him sustain a side collision with Hiro Matsushita and was then struck by Dominic Dobson. Villeneuve qualified for his first Indianapolis 500 fourth and took second to be the Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year as the highest-finishing rookie.^[24][31] Villeneuve finished no lower than ninth in six of the next nine rounds,^[31] before beating Al Unser Jr. and Emerson Fittipaldi in the at Road America road course in his first CART victory.^[30] He finished seventh and third in the final two rounds for sixth in the Drivers' Championship with 94 points and won Rookie of the Year honours.^[29][31]

Before the 1995 season, he rejected offers from fellow CART teams and some Formula One (F1) squads and remained at the renamed Team Green driving the renumbered No. 27 Reynard 95I-Ford XB.^[29][30] Villeneuve and his team were worried due to their car being unreliable and under-performing in pre-season testing.^[24][30] He won the season-opening starting eight and went on to finish two of the next four races. His season highlight was the Indianapolis 500, where he took the Drivers' Championship lead. Villeneuve was penalised two laps for overtaking the pace car but recovered to win the race at his second attempt after fellow Canadian Scott Goodyear failed to serve a ten-second stop-and-go penalty for passing the pace car before it had been driven into the pit lane prior to the final rolling restart. Villeneuve went on to win both the at Road America and the Grand Prix of Cleveland as well as scoring points in all but one of the remaining events to clinch the title at the final round in Laguna Seca.^[30][31] He won the championship with 172 points, four victories and six pole positions.^[f][29]

Formula One career[]

Williams (1996–1998)[]

In early 1995, the Williams F1 team and engine supplier Renault became interested in Villeneuve replacing the outgoing David Coulthard following discussions and meetings with representatives. Bernie Ecclestone, F1's commercial rights holder, saw this as an opportunity to lure him from CART although Team Green wanted him to remain in the series.^[32] Technical director Patrick Head and team principal Frank Williams gave Villeneuve a test in a FW17 car at Britain's Silverstone Circuit in August 1995. He lapped two seconds slower than driver Damon Hill.^[g][33] Negotiations between Villenevue's representatives in mid-1995 led to Villeneuve signing a two-year contract with the option for a third from the 1996 season.^[32][34] He was sent by Frank Williams to cover 6,000 mi (9,700 km) in testing during the six-month pre-season period testing on permanent European racing circuits,^[31][35] and his preparing consisted of learning the circuits on a simulation computer game.^[36]

1996[]

He drove the docile FW18 car equipped with a powerful, reliable Renault engine and a better gearbox.^[35][37] Villeneuve built up a rapport with his race engineer Jock Clear and learnt from his teammate Hill.^[10][17] Although not considered a title favourite by the media,^[38] he contended for the World Drivers' Championship with Hill but never led the standings. Villeneuve's debut at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix saw him become the second driver ever to claim pole position on his maiden event,^[36] and finished second due to an oil leak.^[37] He beat Ferrari's Michael Schumacher in the European Grand Prix three races later for his maiden F1 victory.^[36] Villeneuve scored points in eight of the next eleven events and won the British Grand Prix, the Hungarian Grand Prix and the Portuguese Grand Prix.^[31] Entering the season-ending Japanese Grand Prix, he had nine fewer points than Hill and needed to win the race and for his teammate not to score any points by finishing seventh or lower for title victory.^[31][39] Villenevue's right-rear tyre came off his car and retired to finish runner-up overall with 78 points in his maiden season.^[31][34] Villeneuve was the first rookie to achieve four Grand Prix victories in his debut year and was the first to be runner-up overall.^[h][40]

1997[]

Before the 1997 season, Hill moved to the Arrows team so Villeneuve was promoted to lead driver paired with Heinz-Harald Frentzen,^[41] with whom he did not socialise.^[42] He and Schumacher vied for that year's World Drivers' Championship and variously shared the title lead.^[41] Villeneuve trained extensively and drove an aerodynamically efficient and powerful FW19 car designed around him.^[17][43] He won seven Grands Prix and qualified on pole position eight times in the first 14 races. At the season's penultimate race, the Japanese Grand Prix, he had a chance to win the championship but was banned for overtaking under yellow flag conditions twice during practice. He was allowed to race under appeal but was disqualified from fifth when the appeal was rejected.^[41][44] Before the season-ending European Grand Prix, Villeneuve had 77 points, one fewer than Schumacher and needed to finish in the top six and ahead of Schumacher to win the championship.^[45] During qualifying, Villeneuve, Schumacher and Frentzen all set the exact same lap but Villeneuve started from pole position per F1 regulations because he was the first driver to set the time. Villeneuve and Schumacher were involved in a collision that saw Schumacher careen into a gravel trap and giving the title to Villeneuve. He was the first driver to claim each of the F1 World Championship, the CART title and the Indianapolis 500. He was also the first Canadian F1 World Champion.^[44]

1998[]

Although he threatened to leave F1 and return to CART if F1 introduced grooved tyres and narrower cars for the 1998 season,^[5][42] Villeneuve remained at Williams with Frentzen. His FW20 car had one-year old Mecachrome-branded engines after Renault's withdrawal from F1 post-1997 and was noncompetitive.^[17][46] He scored points at nine Grands Prix with a season-high third at each of the German Grand Prix and at the following Hungarian Grand Prix. During practice for the Belgian Grand Prix, he lost control of his car in Eau Rouge corner and crashed backwards into the barrier at approximately 170 mph (270 km/h). Villeneuve was unhurt.^[47] With 21 points, he finished fifth in the Drivers' Championship.^[46]

British American Racing (1999–2003)[]

He left Williams following the 1998 season. Villeneuve was offered employment at McLaren for the 1999 season by technical director Adrian Newey because Newey liked Villeneuve's performance at Williams and the two respected each other but the offer was rejected.^[48] He instead signed a contract to drive with the new British American Racing (BAR) team founded by Pollock and British American Tobacco following their late 1997 purchase of the financially struggling Tyrrell team. Villeneuve joined the team because he sought to emulate Schumacher's style of basing a team around him and employ highly skilled people to get from the bottom of the running order to the top.^[49]

1999–2000[]

Villeneuve was joined at BAR by former McLaren test driver Ricardo Zonta for most of the season and then by Mika Salo for three Grands Prix and his BAR 01 car was efficient and fast but chronically unreliable.^[50][51] He failed to finish each of the first eleven races due to either mechanical trouble or crashing.^[52] Villeneuve was only able to finish four Grands Prix with a best finish of eighth at the Italian Grand Prix.^[50] Villeneuve qualified a season-high fifth at the San Marino Grand Prix and was briefly third in the Spanish Grand Prix two events later.^[51] During qualifying for the Belgian Grand Prix, he suffered a high-speed crash through Eau Rouge corner, which destroyed his car but he uninjured. He went classified in the Drivers' Championship with no points.^[52]

For the 2000 season, his BAR 002 car had a more reliable and powerful works Honda engine and Zonta was again his teammate.^[23][53][54] Villeneuve finished fourth at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix and scored two more points placing fifth at the San Marino Grand Prix two races later. The rest of the season saw him finish fourth twice more at each of the French Grand Prix, the Austrian Grand Prix and the United States Grand Prix. Villeneuve also scored points in the final two races finishing sixth at the Japanese Grand Prix and fifth at the Malaysian Grand Prix.^[54] Overall his performances had improved from 1999 due to a better built and reliable car,^[54] and was seventh in the Drivers' Championship with 17 points.^[53]

2001–2003[]

There were rumours of Villeneuve leaving the BAR team after 2000.^[55] He talked to several teams about a drive in the 2001 championship such as Ferrari, McLaren and Benetton.^[56][57][58] Villeneuve admitted McLaren was not an option since his management team got accused of conducting early season publicity and he disliked McLaren's corporate methodology.^[59] Villeneuve also considered taking a sabbatical,^[58] but signed a three-year contract extension with BAR in July 2000,^[60] and obtained a get-out clause enabling him to leave the team should they under-perform.^[61]

He was joined by Olivier Panis and the 003 car he drove was approximately 30 kg (66 lb) lighter than the 002 chassis.^[53] Villeneuve was cordial with his teammate since they could talk to each other in French, and set himself the goal of winning a race and finishing third in the Drivers' Championship. His car was fairly reliable but lacking rear grip and straightline speed as a result of an under-powered Honda engine.^[62] At the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, Villeneuve struck the rear of Ralf Schumacher's car, launching him into the air. One of his car's wheels struck marshal Graham Beveridge, killing him.^[23] He achieved BAR's first two podium results finishing third at both the Spanish Grand Prix and the German Grand Prix. He was seventh in the Drivers' Championship with 12 points.^[63][62] Although he scored five fewer points than the year before, Villeneuve qualified higher than Panis eleven times in 2001.^[62]

Villeneuve was confirmed at BAR for the 2002 season.^[64] He talked to team principal Flavio Briatore,^[10] who offered him a seat at Renault in lieu of Jenson Button before learning Prodrive owner David Richards replaced Pollock as team principal in late 2001.^[17][53] Villeneuve ultimately opted to remain at BAR due to pressure from Honda, and was again partnered by Panis.^[65] He became uncomfortable when Richards publicly questioned Villeneuve deserving a high salary, which he thought could be used for research and development. The BAR 004 chassis proved to be more unreliable than the year before and slower due to an under-powered Honda engine. He scored four points for 12th in the Drivers' Championship with a fourth place at the British Grand Prix being his season's best result.^[65] Villeneuve regretted remaining at BAR due to the lack of results,^[66] and was offered a contract to join Team Player's in CART for the 2003 championship before returning to BAR for the 2004 and 2005 F1 seasons. The deal was pushed by Richards but not agreed upon because Villeneuve's and Pollock's financial settlements were too great for team owner Gerald Forsythe.^[67]

He decided to remain at BAR for the 2003 season and was partnered with Button. Villeneuve's BAR 005 car had a more powerful but bulky Honda engine.^[53][68] He was initially hostile to Button, saying his teammate "should be in a boy band" and was not on speaking terms with him.^[69] Their relationship did not improve after the season-opening Australian Grand Prix when Villeneuve was due to make a pit stop but drove an additional lap when Button was due to make his, leaving Button stationary behind Villeneuve, who blamed it on "radio problems". Button and Richards hinted their disbelief in him.^[68] Villeneuve was outperformed by his teammate and retired eight times due to mechanical faults. He finished sixth at both the Brazilian Grand Prix and the Italian Grand Prix. Before the season-ending Japanese Grand Prix, Villeneuve was informed by Richards he was no longer needed and replaced him with test driver Takuma Sato.^[53][68] He was 16th in the Drivers' Championship with 6 points.^[68]

Renault and Sauber (2004–2006)[]

Villeneuve took a sabbatical upon BAR releasing him.^[70] He thought of taking up NASCAR as a new challenge but no teams approached him.^[71] Villeneuve believed after speaking to both senior officials from the BAR and Williams squads they would want to resign him to their respective teams but neither move occurred.^[70][72] When he realised no competitive team would employ him,^[72] Villeneuve and Pollock met Sauber team owner Peter Sauber in Hinwil in mid-2004.^[70] He opted for Sauber having been impressed with their professionalism.^[72] In the following month a two-year contract was signed for Villeneuve to drive for Sauber from the 2005 season and help them attract new sponsors and partners.^[70]

Before that, Briatore employed Villeneuve to help Renault claim second from BAR in the World Constructors' Championship by scoring the maximum number of points in the 2004 season's final three races following Jarno Trulli's sacking.^[70][72] He also persuaded Sauber to let him go to Renault since the team were supplied tyres by Michelin.^[10] Driving the R24 car, he finished all three events but under-performed and was lapped each time. Villeneuve scored no points and was unclassified in the Drivers' Championship.^[70][72] At Sauber, he used a C24 chassis and was teammates with Felipe Massa. Villeneuve drove a difficult handling car as a result of a lack of pre-season testing and no money for car development.^[73] He did not have a good relationship with the team for he was not allowed to give feedback on car setup due to Willy Rampf's influence.^[17][10] Villeneuve finished a season-high fourth at the San Marino Grand Prix and scored more points securing eighth at the French Grand Prix and sixth at the Belgian Grand Prix.^[73] He was 14th in the Drivers' Championship with 9 points.^[41][73]

For the 2006 championship, he stayed at the renamed BMW Sauber after BMW purchased the team and had Nick Heidfeld as his teammate. The atmosphere within the team made Villeneuve content and he was happy with BMW's involvement. He found the less electronically dependent and aerodynamically refined F1.06 car more driveable. Villeneuve attracted criticism from team principal Mario Theissen who wanted decent results to please BMW's board of directors.^[13] He accumulated 7 points from the first 11 races for 15th in the Drivers' Championship and retired three times.^[23][13] At the German Grand Prix, Villeneuve sustained muscle pains in an accident exiting a corner and Theissen terminated his contract not long after to replacing him with Robert Kubica for driver evaluation.^[13] He did not want to be part of a shootout between himself and Kubica,^[74] and saw his release as a precursor to his future, saying "Screw this, It's time to get on with the rest of my life."^[3] Villeneuve twice failed to return to F1 with Stefan Grand Prix in the 2010 season and with his own team in partnership with Durango for the following year.^[23]

Post Formula One career[]

2007–2011[]

He explored NASCAR after exiting F1, talking to Roush Racing owner Jack Roush who agreed to help Villeneuve obtain Truck Series experience before progressing to the Busch Series in 2007 on the condition of a sponsorship agreement.^[75] Before that, he made his 24 Hours of Le Mans debut with Peugeot in the 2007 edition after convincing team manager Serge Saulnier his desire to finish the Triple Crown of Motorsport.^[i][76] Sharing the Le Mans Prototype 1 (LMP1)-class No. 7 Peugeot 908 HDi FAP car with Marc Gené and Nicolas Minassian, Villeneuve retired after 338 laps with engine injection trouble.^[77][78] He entered into a partnership with Bill Davis Racing (BDR) to enter the 2007 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series' last seven events in its No. 27 Toyota Tundra in anticipation of racing full-time in 2008.^[79][80] Villeneuve finished outside the top ten in all seven events for 42nd overall with 615 points.^[81] That same year, he drove two races in the Nextel Cup Series (the UAW-Ford 500 at Talladega Superspeedway and the Checker Auto Parts 500 at Phoenix International Raceway) for BDR in its No. 27 Toyota,^[j] finishing 21st and 41st respectively.^[83]

He and Pollock agreed to end their working relationship in early 2008 and Barry Green began managing him. That February, BDR released Villeneuve who failed to qualify for the Daytona 500 of the renamed Sprint Cup Series after causing a multi-car accident in the Gatorade Duels.^[84] Two months later, he raced the final two rounds of the inaugural season of the Middle East and Southeast Asian-based stock car Speedcar Series at the Bahrain International Circuit and the Dubai Autodrome.^[85][86] Villeneuve then won the 2008 1000 km of Spa (part of the Le Mans Series) for Peugeot with Gené and Minassian in his first race victory for 11 years.^[23] He finished second the 24 Hours of Le Mans again sharing Peugeot's No. 7 LMP1 entry with Gené and Minassian,^[78] but was released a month later as Peugeot wanted a French driver.^[17] In August, Villeneuve signed a contract to make his Nationwide Series debut for Braun Racing in its No. 32 Toyota Camry in the NAPA Auto Parts 200 at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve,^[87] finishing 16th.^[88] He took 16th at the Autódromo Oscar y Juan Gálvez round of Top Race V6 Argentina aboard Oro Racing Team's No. 27 Volkswagen Passat TRV6.^[89]

Villeneuve returned to the Speedcar Series in the 2008–09 season driving for Durango.^[90] Competing in five races, he finished in the top ten three times, scoring seven points for 11th in the Drivers' Championship.^[91] In mid-2009, Villeneuve partook in the Tide 250 at Autodrome Saint-Eustache and the GP3R 100 at Circuit Trois-Rivières of the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series for the Jacombs Racing Team in its No. 7 Ford Fusion.^[92] His best finish over the two races was fourth at Trois-Rivieres.^[93] For the first and only time, Villeneuve entered the Spa 24 Hours in 2009; driving a Gravity Racing International-entered No. 118 Mosler MT900R GT3 in the G2 category alongside Vincent Radermecker, Loris de Sordi and Ho-Pin Tung but failed to finish.^[78] He then used the No. 27 Mercedes TRV6 at the Interlagos Circuit and Autódromo Oscar y Juan Gálvez rounds of Top Race V6 Argentina.^[94] Villeneuve's best finish over the two races was 13th in Buenos Aires.^[91] He made one appearance in the 2009 Nationwide Series finishing fourth at the NAPA Auto Parts 200 in Braun Racing's No. 32 car.^[95][96]

In 2010, Villeneuve ran the Nationwide Series road course at Road America, Watkins Glen International and Montreal in Braun Racing's No. 32 vehicle.^[97][98] He finished eighth at Watkins Glen before claiming third at Montreal starting from second.^[99] In mid-season, Villeneuve got the chance to enter the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway again driving Braun Racing's No. 32 car.^[100] He finished 29th.^[101] Villeneuve joined Rod Nash Racing as Paul Dumbrell's international co-driver in its No. 55 Ford FG Falcon for the Gold Coast 600 double header in October 2010 and sought advice from driver Marcos Ambrose on touring car racing.^[k][103] He finished the first race 22nd and fifth in the second.^[104] Ford motorsport manager Chris Styring considered Villeneuve for the Bathurst 1000, the L&H 500 and the Gold Coast 600 in the 2011 International V8 Supercars Championship but Villeneuve's financial demands were too great for Ford.^[105]

2011–present[]

He drove the Road America and Montreal road course rounds of the 2011 NASCAR Nationwide Series for Penske Racing in its No. 22 Dodge Challenger in lieu of Brad Keselowski.^[106] Villeneuve finished the Road America race third and qualified on pole position for the Montreal event but finished 27th despite leading 29 laps.^[107] In August 2011, he joined Shell V-Power Racing for the Stock Car Corrida do Milhão for the 2011 championship of Stock Car Brasil but was concerned with adapting to his car.^[108] Driving the No. 27 Peugeot 408,^[91] Villeneuve qualified 27th and finished 18th.^[109] He was employed by Penske to drive its No. 22 car at the Road America and Montreal road course races in the 2012 NASCAR Nationwide Series.^[110] Villeneuve finished sixth at Road America and third at Montreal.^[111] During the 2012 International V8 Supercars Championship, he participated three rounds in the No. 51 Kelly Racing Holden Commodore in place of the injured Greg Murphy.^[112] Villeneuve finished no higher than 24th in those three rounds.^[113] He finished seventh sharing Vita4One's No. 34 BMW Z4 GT3 with Jos Verstappen at the City Challenge Baku GT event in October.^[78][114]

Villeneuve was considered for a full-time seat at Kelly Racing in the 2013 International V8 Supercars Championship having become interested in the series but no agreement was reached.^[115] For the first and only time, he partook in the Le Mans double header counting towards the of the FFSA GT Championship, sharing the No. 27 Sport Garage-entered Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 with Éric Cayrolle after becoming aware of possibly entering the series through team owner Christian Petit.^[78][116] The duo finished 11th in the first race and retired from the next.^[l][78] Midway through the season, Villeneuve was hired by car owner James Finch to drive the Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway in the Sprint Cup Series for Phoenix Racing in its No. 51 Chevrolet SS, finishing 41st due to mechanical trouble after 19 laps.^[117][118] Later that year, he finished fifth in the Grand Prix de Trois Rivieres (part of the Canadian Tire Series) in 22 Racing's Dodge Challenger.^[119][120]

In 2014, he signed to drive an Albatec Racing-prepared Peugeot 208 Supercar part-time in the FIA World Rallycross Championship's inaugural season.^[121][122] Villeneuve chose to do rallycross because he felt it was exciting for both drivers and spectators.^[122] In seven races, Villeneuve scored eight points for 37th in the Drivers' Championship.^[123] He was released before the season ended due to statements he made not supporting his team or rallycross.^[124] Villeneuve agreed to make his first entry in the Indianapolis 500 for 19 years driving a third car for Schmidt Peterson Hamilton Motorsports in its No. 5 Dallara DW12-Honda entry.^[29][125] He changed his view on returning to American open-wheel racing after the 2012 introduction of a new car and engine formula.^[126] He had a seat fitting at the team's factory on 20 March.^[127] He qualified 27th and finished 14th.^[29] In August, Villeneuve finished 24th in Jacombs' No. 7 Dodge at Canadian Tire Series' Grand Prix de Trois Rivieres.^[128][129]

He accepted an invitation to enter 2015 Stock Car Brasil's season-opening Autódromo Internacional Ayrton Senna round alongside Zonta in Shell Racing's No. 10 Chevrolet Sonic, placing 21st.^[91][130] Villeneuve signed a contract to replace Heidfeld and partner Stéphane Sarrazin at Venturi Grand Prix in the 2015–16 season of the all-electric Formula E series.^[131] He observed Formula E intently throughout 2014 having liked its bumpy city tracks and Guido Pastor called him to test a car after which he got the drive.^[132][133] Villeneuve finished outside the top ten in the first two races and failed to start the Punta del Este ePrix due to an accident during qualifying.^[134] His relationship with Venturi cooled thereafter and they agreed to terminate their working relationship early in January 2016.^[135] Villeneuve signed a one-off agreement to return to rallycross in the 2018 season,^[136] driving a Subaru Rally Team USA-entered WRX STi Supercar at the (part of the Americas Rallycross Championship).^[137] He failed to qualify for the final following two accidents sustained during the second semi-final.^[138]

For the 2019 season, Villeneuve joined Scuderia Baldini 27, who were entering a GT3 Pro-class No. 27 Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo in the Italian GT Championship he shared with Giancarlo Fisichella and Stefano Gai. They finished fourth at the 3 Hours of Misano and second at the 3 Hours of Vallelunga.^[78][91] He was invited to compete as a guest driver at the Ring Knutstorp and Karlskoga Motorstadion rounds of the Porsche Carrera Cup Scandinavia in a MTech Competition-entered Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car. Villeneuve finished in the top ten in each of the second race in the two rounds.^[139] That year, he made his debut in NASCAR Whelen Euro Series in the Elite 1 Division. Villeneuve drove the No. 32 Chevrolet for Go Fas Racing, finishing the season eighth in points with 431 scored, two pole positions and seven top-tens.^[140] For the 2020 season, he entered that year's Whelen Euro Series with his own team FEED Vict Racing with Patrick Lemarié and drove the No. 5 car.^[141] Villeneuve drove four rounds, achieving two top fives for 21st overall and 104 points in the Elite 1 Division.^[23][142] He is due to compete for Academy Motorsport in its No. 5 car during the 2021 Whelen Euro Series.^[143]

Non-racing ventures[]

Villeneuve began writing music after purchasing a guitar in 1996.^[144] When he became uncertain whether he would remain at Sauber for the 2006 F1 season in November 2005,^[145] he elected to rent a professional recording studio in Paris to know how his music would sound, and then travelled to England to record with the Tenebrae Choir.^[144] Villeneuve recorded nearly every day for a full month and stopped when motor racing was prioritised.^[145] That same year, he released his debut French single, Accepterais-tu,^[144] and an acoustic rock album Private Paradise with 13 songs (nine in French and four in English) in 2007.^[144][146] He authored six songs six were written by friends and a cover of Women Come, Women Go by Gazebo.^[146] Villeneuve collaborated with vocalists Steve Smith and Amélie Veille.^[147] The album debuted at No. 49 on the Quebec pop charts and received negative media reviews.^[148] It sold 233 copies in Quebec and 836 in North America.^[149][150]

He appeared as a guest on the Late Show with David Letterman on its 6 June 1995 programme after winning that year's Indianapolis 500 and again on the show's 2 June 1998 broadcast prior to that year's Canadian Grand Prix.^[151] Villeneuve made a cameo appearance as a racing driver in the 2001 film Driven.^[152] He carried the Olympic torch in Old Montreal during the 2010 Winter Olympics torch relay in December 2009,^[153] and carried the Olympic flag at the opening ceremony.^[154] Villenueve was employed by Disney France in late 2010 and spent two days recording the French-language voice of a racing announcer for the 2011 Pixar animated film Cars 2.^[155] He was an analyst for the British television channel Sky Sports F1 during its broadcast of the 2012 Canadian Grand Prix.^[156] Since 2013, Villeneuve has served as a commentator for the pay-TV services Sky Sport in Italy and Canal+ in France.^[157] He was co-designer of the Area 27 racing track in Okanagan, British Columbia.^[158]

Public image and personality[]

Journalist Gerald Donaldson describes Villeneuve as "engagingly eccentric, opinionated and outspoken" and one who "defied convention and challenged authority, saying exactly what he thought in an era when drivers were expected to express only sweet-talking platitudes."^[3] He was popular with the European press for his reliance to speak his mind in a time of political correctness.^[159] He publicly bemoaned F1's commercialised and commodified image,^[160] the sport's structure, focus on cheaper, younger, corporate groomed drivers,^[161] and the manufacturing of driver personalities by corporations so as not to impugn their reputation by drivers saying what they felt.^[162] Villeneuve frequently dyed his hair in various colours and sported grunge street wear.^[3][163] His behaviour earned him multiple cautions from F1's governing body, the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, for bring the series into disrepute but Max Mosley, the association's president, commented it would be a benefit having a controversial figure in Villeneuve when he was no longer successful.^[3]

Villeneuve's decision to be independent as much as possible from media relations to avoid over promotion was endorsed by Pollock.^[31] He refused to conduct substantial public relations duties for teams even after BAT attempted to purchase more public relations appearances for him and he limited his commitments communicating to the press.^[164] Journalist Matt Bishop observed that Villeneuve was frequently criticised for refusing to do sponsorship functions and for his self-imposed limiting interactions with the press at Grands Prix but noted others desired Villeneuve's approach focused on racing and not on "extraneous commitments".^[165] He resisted becoming a member of the Grand Prix Drivers' Association (GPDA) which he believed would serve only the interests of drivers and not F1's until late 2000 when he felt his views were being ignored.^[166] Villeneuve decided to resign from the GPDA in mid-2006 after being unhappy with its president Schumacher being deemed to have stopped on purpose during qualifying for the 2006 Monaco Grand Prix.^[167]

He was named the recipient of the Lorenzo Bandini Trophy in 1996, and was voted the winner of both the Lou Marsh Trophy and the Lionel Conacher Award in 1995 and 1997.^[168] Villeneuve received the Hawthorn Memorial Trophy for 1997 as the most successful British or Commonwealth driver over the course of a season.^[169] In April 1998, he was appointed Officer of the National Order of Quebec but collected the honour at the following year's ceremony due to his racing commitments.^[170] He was added to Canada's Walk of Fame two months later.^[171] In December 2010, Villeneuve was inducted into the athlete category of Canada's Sports Hall of Fame.^[172] He was added to each of the FIA Hall of Fame and the Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame seven and eight years later respectively.^[173][174]

Driving ability and racing helmet[]

Journalist Mark Hughes describes Villeneuve's driving "spectacular" and "hard-charging" that frequently went past the edge of available track to increase his momentum insofar as possible.^[175] He provided his engineers with suggestions to setup the car that Maurice Hamilton wrote were "so far from the norm to the point of diametrically opposed to standard practice, sometimes giving the impression of being pursued just for the hell of it."^[176] Villeneuve prefers driving on slick tyres and with no electronic driver aids. He found driver aids difficult and thus ran with less traction control than his teammates since he could not deal with either the anti-lock system on the rear brakes or heavy traction control.^[177] This required Villeneuve to modify his driving ability and give up components of risk-taking until his exit from F1 in 2006.^[175] He switched from wearing spectacles in his helmet to contact lenses in 1994 after his spectacles vibrated slightly on minor bumps in Indianapolis.^[178]

Villeneuve based the design of his racing helmet on his father's and reportedly came up with it on a doodling pad.^[179] He looked at a photograph of his mother wearing a pink, yellow, green and blue V-shaped striped polo shirt at a motor race her husband was competing at and her pencils to produce the design.^[178][179] Villeneuve incorporated an inverted V-style swoosh with varying thickness of colours around the shape on the helmet's two sides.^[179] He retained a single black line from his first design in the centre to divide the colours without difficulty.^[m][178]

Racing results[]

Career summary[]

Season	Series	Team	Races	Poles	Wins	Points	Position
1989	Italian Formula Three Championship	Prema Racing	6	0	0	0	–
1990	Italian Formula Three Championship	Prema Racing	12	0	0	10	13th
1991	Italian Formula Three Championship	Prema Racing	11	3	0	20	6th
1992	All-Japan Formula Three Championship	TOM'S	11	2	3	45	2nd
	All Japan Sports Prototype Championship	Toyota Team TOM'S	1	0	0	N/A	NC
	Toyota Atlantic Championship	Comprep/Player's	1	0	0	14	28th
1993	Toyota Atlantic Championship	Forsythe/Green Racing	15	7	5	185	3rd
	Macau Grand Prix		1	0	0	N/A	NC
1994	PPG Indy Car World Series	Forsythe/Green Racing	15	0	1	94	6th
1995	PPG Indy Car World Series	Team Green	17	6	4	172	1st
1996	Formula One	Rothmans Williams Renault	16	3	4	78	2nd
1997	Formula One	Rothmans Williams Renault	17	10	7	81	1st
1998	Formula One	Winfield Williams	16	0	0	21	5th
1999	Formula One	British American Racing	16	0	0	0	21st
2000	Formula One	Lucky Strike BAR Honda	17	0	0	17	7th
2001	Formula One	Lucky Strike BAR Honda	17	0	0	12	7th
2002	Formula One	Lucky Strike BAR Honda	17	0	0	4	12th
2003	Formula One	Lucky Strike BAR Honda	14	0	0	6	16th
2004	Formula One	Mild Seven Renault F1 Team	3	0	0	0	21st
2005	Formula One	Sauber Petronas	18	0	0	9	14th
2006	Formula One	BMW Sauber F1 Team	12	0	0	7	15th
2007	NASCAR Nextel Cup	Bill Davis Racing Toyota	2	0	0	140	60th
	NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series		7	0	0	615	59th
	24 Hours of Le Mans	Team Peugeot Total	1	0	0	N/A	NC
2008	NASCAR Nationwide Series	Braun Racing Toyota	1	0	0	120	111th
	Speedcar Series	Speedcar Team	4	0	0	3	13th
	Le Mans Series	Team Peugeot Total	1	0	1	10	9th
	24 Hours of Le Mans		1	0	0	N/A	2nd
	Top Race V6	Oro Racing Team	1	0	0	0	NC
2008–09	Speedcar Series	Durango	5	0	0	7	11th
2009	NASCAR Nationwide Series	Braun Racing Toyota	1	0	0	165	107th
	NASCAR Canadian Tire Series	Jacombs Racing Ford	2	0	0	257	33rd
	Top Race V6		2	0	0	0	NC
	FIA GT Championship	Gravity Racing International	1	0	0	0	NC
2010	NASCAR Sprint Cup Series	Braun Racing Toyota	1	0	0	76	69th
	NASCAR Nationwide Series		3	0	0	405	77th
	V8 Supercar Championship Series	Rod Nash Racing	2	0	0	N/A	NC
2011	NASCAR Nationwide Series	Penske Racing	2	1	0	61	52nd
	Stock Car Brasil	Shell V-Power Racing	1	0	0	N/A	NC
2012	NASCAR Nationwide Series	Penske Racing	2	0	0	82	49th
	International V8 Supercars Championship	Kelly Racing	6	0	0	N/A	NC
2013	NASCAR Sprint Cup Series	Phoenix Racing	1	0	0	3	51st
	NASCAR Canadian Tire Series	Dave Jacombs	1	0	0	43	43rd
2014	IndyCar Series	Schmidt Peterson Motorsports	1	0	0	29	30th
	World Rallycross Championship	Albatec Racing	8	0	0	8	38th
	NASCAR Canadian Tire Series	Dave Jacombs	1	0	0	20	54th
2015	Stock Car Brasil	Shell Racing	1	0	0	0	NC
2015–16	Formula E	Venturi Grand Prix	3	0	0	0	20th
2018	Americas Rallycross Championship	Subaru Rally Team USA	1	0	0	12	14th
2019	NASCAR Whelen Euro Series	Go Fas Racing	13	2	0	431	8th
2020	NASCAR Whelen Euro Series	FEED Vict Racing	4	0	0	104	21st
2021	NASCAR Whelen Euro Series	Academy Motorsport	4	0	0	117	14th*
Sources:[23][91]

^* Season still in progress.

American open-wheel racing results[]

Toyota Atlantic Championship[]

Toyota Atlantic results
Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	Rank	Points
1992	Comprep/Player's	MIA	PHX	LBH	LIM	MON	WGL	TOR	TRR 3	VAN	MDO	MOS	NAZ	LS1	LS2		14th	28
1993	Forsythe/Green Racing	PHX 18	LBH 2	ATL 1	MIL 17	MON 1	MOS 2	HAL 7	TOR 3	LOU 2	TRR 14	VAN 19	MDO 1	NAZ 11	LS1 1	LS2 1	3rd	185
Source:[26]

CART[]

Champ Car results
Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	Rank	Points
1994	Forsythe/Green Racing	SRF 17	PHX 25	LBH 15	INDY 2	MIL 9	DET 7	POR 6	CLE 4	TOR 9	MCH 20	MDO 9	NHA 24	VAN 24	ROA 1	NAZ 7	LAG 3		6th	94
1995	Team Green	MIA 1	SRF 20	PHX 5	LBH 25	NAZ 2	INDY 1	MIL 6	DET 9	POR 20	ROA 1	TOR 3	CLE 1	MCH 10	MDO 3	NHA 4	VAN 12	LAG 11	1st	172
Source:[29]

IndyCar Series[]

IndyCar Series results
Year	Team	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	Rank	Points
2014	Schmidt Peterson Hamilton Motorsports	Dallara DW12	Honda	STP	LBH	ALA	IMS	INDY 14	DET	DET	TXS	HOU	HOU	POC	IOW	TOR	TOR	MDO	MIL	SNM	FON	30th	29
Source:[29]

Indianapolis 500[]

Year	Chassis	Engine	Start	Finish	Team
1994	Reynard 94I	Ford XB	4	2	Forsythe/Green Racing
1995	Reynard 95I	Ford XB	5	1	Team Green
2014	Dallara	Honda	27	14	Schmidt Peterson Motorsports
Source:[29]

Formula One[]

Formula One results
Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	WDC	Points
1996	Rothmans Williams Renault	Williams FW18	Renault RS8 3.0 V10	AUS 2	BRA Ret	ARG 2	EUR 1	SMR 11†	MON Ret	ESP 3	CAN 2	FRA 2	GBR 1	GER 3	HUN 1	BEL 2	ITA 7	POR 1	JPN Ret				2nd	78
1997	Rothmans Williams Renault	Williams FW19	Renault RS9 3.0 V10	AUS Ret	BRA 1	ARG 1	SMR Ret	MON Ret	ESP 1	CAN Ret	FRA 4	GBR 1	GER Ret	HUN 1	BEL 5	ITA 5	AUT 1	LUX 1	JPN DSQ	EUR 3			1st	81
1998	Winfield Williams	Williams FW20	Mecachrome GC37-01 V10	AUS 5	BRA 7	ARG Ret	SMR 4	ESP 6	MON 5	CAN 10	FRA 4	GBR 7	AUT 6	GER 3	HUN 3	BEL Ret	ITA Ret	LUX 8	JPN 6				5th	21
1999	British American Racing	BAR 01	Supertec FB01 3.0 V10	AUS Ret	BRA Ret	SMR Ret	MON Ret	ESP Ret	CAN Ret	FRA Ret	GBR Ret	AUT Ret	GER Ret	HUN Ret	BEL 15	ITA 8	EUR 10†	MAL Ret	JPN 9				NC	0
2000	Lucky Strike Reynard BAR Honda	BAR 002	Honda RA000E 3.0 V10	AUS 4	BRA Ret	SMR 5	GBR 16†	ESP Ret	EUR Ret	MON 7	CAN 15†	FRA 4	AUT 4	GER 8	HUN 12	BEL 7	ITA Ret	USA 4	JPN 6	MAL 5			7th	17
2001	Lucky Strike BAR Honda	BAR 003	Honda RA001E 3.0 V10	AUS Ret	MAL Ret	BRA 7	SMR Ret	ESP 3	AUT 8	MON 4	CAN Ret	EUR 9	FRA Ret	GBR 8	GER 3	HUN 9	BEL 8	ITA 6	USA Ret	JPN 10			7th	12
2002	Lucky Strike BAR Honda	BAR 004	Honda RA002E 3.0 V10	AUS Ret	MAL 8	BRA 10†	SMR 7	ESP 7	AUT 10†	MON Ret	CAN Ret	EUR 12	GBR 4	FRA Ret	GER Ret	HUN Ret	BEL 8	ITA 9	USA 6	JPN Ret			12th	4
2003	Lucky Strike BAR Honda	BAR 005	Honda RA003E 3.0 V10	AUS 9	MAL DNS	BRA 6	SMR Ret	ESP Ret	AUT 12	MON Ret	CAN Ret	EUR Ret	FRA 9	GBR 10	GER 9	HUN Ret	ITA 6	USA Ret	JPN				16th	6
2004	Mild Seven Renault F1 Team	Renault R24	Renault RS24 3.0 V10	AUS	MAL	BHR	SMR	ESP	MON	EUR	CAN	USA	FRA	GBR	GER	HUN	BEL	ITA	CHN 11	JPN 10	BRA 10		21st	0
2005	Sauber Petronas	Sauber C24	Petronas 05A 3.0 V10	AUS 13	MAL Ret	BHR 11†	SMR 4	ESP Ret	MON 11	EUR 13	CAN 9	USA DNS	FRA 8	GBR 14	GER 15	HUN Ret	TUR 11	ITA 11	BEL 6	BRA 12	JPN 12	CHN 10	14th	9
2006	BMW Sauber F1 Team	BMW Sauber F1.06	BMW P86 2.4 V8	BHR Ret	MAL 7	AUS 6	SMR 12	EUR 8	ESP 12	MON 14	GBR 8	CAN Ret	USA Ret	FRA 11	GER Ret	HUN	TUR	ITA	CHN	JPN	BRA		15th	7
Sources:[23][180]

^† Did not finish, but was classified as he had completed more than 90% of the race distance.

Sports car career[]

24 Hours of Le Mans[]

24 Hours of Le Mans results
Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
2007	Team Peugeot Total	Nicolas Minassian Marc Gené	Peugeot 908 HDi FAP	LMP1	338	DNF	DNF
2008	Team Peugeot Total	Nicolas Minassian Marc Gené	Peugeot 908 HDi FAP	LMP1	381	2nd	2nd
Source:[78]

Le Mans Series[]

Le Mans Series results
Year	Entrant	Class	Chassis	Engine	Tyres	1	2	3	4	5	Rank	Points
2008	Team Peugeot Total	LMP1	Peugeot 908 HDi FAP	Peugeot HDI 5.5 L Turbo V12 (Diesel)	M	CAT	MON	SPA 1	NÜR	SIL	9th	10
Source:[78]

Complete 24 Hours of Spa results[]

24 Hours of Spa results
Year	Class	Tyres	Car	Team	Co-Drivers	Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
2009	G2	M	Mosler MT900 R GT3 Chevrolet LS7 7.0 L V8	Gravity Racing International	Vincent Radermecker Ho-Pin Tung	65	DNF
Source:[78]

NASCAR[]

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Sprint Cup Series[]

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	NSCC	Pts	Ref
2007	Bill Davis Racing	27	Toyota	DAY	CAL	LVS	ATL	BRI	MAR	TEX	PHO	TAL	RCH	DAR	CLT	DOV	POC	MCH	SON	NHA	DAY	CHI	IND	POC	GLN	MCH	BRI	CAL	RCH	NHA	DOV	KAN	TAL 21	CLT	MAR	ATL	TEX	PHO 41	HOM	60th	140	[83]
2008				DAY DNQ	CAL	LVS	ATL	BRI	MAR	TEX	PHO	TAL	RCH	DAR	CLT	DOV	POC	MCH	SON	NHA	DAY	CHI	IND	POC	GLN	MCH	BRI	CAL	RCH	NHA	DOV	KAN	TAL	CLT	MAR	ATL	TEX	PHO	HOM	NA	0	[181]
2010	Braun Racing	32	Toyota	DAY	CAL	LVS	ATL	BRI	MAR	PHO	TEX	TAL	RCH	DAR	DOV	CLT	POC	MCH	SON	NHA	DAY	CHI	IND 29	POC	GLN	MCH	BRI	ATL	RCH	NHA	DOV	KAN	CAL	CLT	MAR	TAL	TEX	PHO	HOM	69th	76	[101]
2013	Phoenix Racing	51	Chevy	DAY	PHO	LVS	BRI	CAL	MAR	TEX	KAN	RCH	TAL	DAR	CLT	DOV	POC	MCH	SON 41	KEN	DAY	NHA	IND	POC	GLN	MCH	BRI	ATL	RCH	CHI	NHA	DOV	KAN	CLT	TAL	MAR	TEX	PHO	HOM	51st	3	[182]

Daytona 500[]

Year	Team	Manufacturer	Start	Finish	Ref
2008	Bill Davis Racing	Toyota	DNQ		[181]

Nationwide Series[]

NASCAR Nationwide Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	NNSC	Pts	Ref
2008	Braun Racing	32	Toyota	DAY	CAL	LVS	ATL	BRI	NSH	TEX	PHO	MEX	TAL	RCH	DAR	CLT	DOV	NSH	KEB	MIL	NHA	DAY	CHI	GTY	IRP	CGV 16	GLN	MCH	BRI	CAL	RCH	DOV	KAN	CLT	MEM	TEX	PHO	HOM	111th	120	[88]
2009				DAY	CAL	LVS	BRI	TEX	NSH	PHO	TAL	RCH	DAR	CLT	DOV	NSH	KEN	MIL	NHA	DAY	CHI	GTY	IRP	IOW	GLN	MCH	BRI	CGV 4	ATL	RCH	DOV	KAN	CAL	CLT	MEM	TEX	PHO	HOM	107th	165	[96]
2010				DAY	CAL	LVS	BRI	NSH	PHO	TEX	TAL	RCH	DAR	DOV	CLT	NSH	KEN	ROA 25	NHA	DAY	CHI	GTY	IRP	IOW	GLN 8	MCH	BRI	CGV 3	ATL	RCH	DOV	KAN	CAL	CLT	GTY	TEX	PHO	HOM	77th	405	[99]
2011	Penske Racing	22	Dodge	DAY	PHO	LVS	BRI	CAL	TEX	TAL	NSH	RCH	DAR	DOV	IOW	CLT	CHI	MCH	ROA 3	DAY	KEN	NHA	NSH	IRP	IOW	GLN	CGV 27*	BRI	ATL	RCH	CHI	DOV	KAN	CLT	TEX	PHO	HOM		52nd	61	[107]
2012				DAY	PHO	LVS	BRI	CAL	TEX	RCH	TAL	DAR	IOW	CLT	DOV	MCH	ROA 6	KEN	DAY	NHA	CHI	IND	IOW	GLN	CGV 3*	BRI	ATL	RCH	CHI	KEN	DOV	CLT	KAN	TEX	PHO	HOM			49th	82	[111]

Craftsman Truck Series[]

NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series results
Year	Team	No.	Truck	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	NCTC	Pts	Ref
2007	Bill Davis Racing	27	Toyota	DAY	CAL	ATL	MAR	KAN	LOW	MAN	DOV	TEX	MCH	MIL	MEM	KEN	IRP	NSH	BRI	GTY	NHA	LVS 21	TAL 30	MAR 32	ATL 14	TEX 25	PHO 19	HOM 36	42nd	615	[81]

Canadian Tire Series[]

NASCAR Canadian Tire Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	Rank	Points	Ref
2009		7	Ford	ASE	DEL	MSP	ASE 22	MPS	EDM	SAS	MSP	CTR 4	CGV	BAR	RIS	KWA	33rd	257	[93]
2013		24	Dodge	MSP	DEL	MSP	ICAR	MPS	SAS	ASE	CTR 3*	RIS	MSP	BAR	KWA		43rd	43	[120]
2014		7	Dodge	MSP	ACD	ICAR	EIR	SAS	ASE	CTR 24	RIS	MSP	BAR	KWA			60th	20	[128]

Whelen Euro Series – EuroNASCAR PRO[]

(key) (Bold – Pole position. Italics – Fastest lap. * – Most laps led. ^ – Most positions gained)

NASCAR Whelen Euro Series – EuroNASCAR PRO results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	NWES	Pts	Ref
2019	Go Fas Racing	32	Chevy	VAL 11	VAL 25	FRA 3	FRA 3	BRH 15	BRH 8	MOS 22	MOS 19	VEN 3*	HOC 5	HOC 7	ZOL 14	ZOL 7	8th	431	[140]
2020	FEED Vict Racing	5		ITA 16*	ITA 2	ZOL 4	ZOL 19	MOS	MOS	VAL	VAL	ESP	ESP				21st	104	[142]
2021	Academy Motorsport		EuroNASCAR FJ 2020	ESP 7	ESP 9	GBR	GBR	CZE 11	CZE 4	CRO	CRO	BEL	BEL	ITA	ITA		14th*	117*

^* Season still in progress.

Other stock cars[]

Speedcar Series[]

(key)

Speedcar Series results
Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Pos	Points
2008	Speedcar Team	SEN1	SEN2	SEP1	SEP2	BHR1 6	BHR2 Ret	DUB1 9	DUB2 Ret		14th	3
2008–09	Durango	DUB 6	BHR1 10	BHR2 Ret	LOS1 5	LOS2 Ret	DUB1	DUB2	BHR1	BHR2	11th	7
Source:[91]

Stock Car Brasil[]

Stock Car Brasil results
Year	Team	Car	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	Rank	Points
2011	Shell V-Power Racing	Peugeot 408	CTB	INT	RBP	VEL	CGD	RIO	INT 18	SAL	SCZ	LON	BSB	VEL										NC†	0†
2015	Shell Racing	Chevrolet Sonic	GOI 1 21	RBP 1	RBP 2	VEL 1	VEL 2	CUR 1	CUR 2	SCZ 1	SCZ 2	CUR 1	CUR 2	GOI 1	CAS 1	CAS 2	BRA 1	BRA 2	CUR 1	CUR 2	TAR 1	TAR 2	INT 1	NC†	0†
Source:[91]

† Ineligible for championship points.

Touring cars[]

V8 Supercars[]

V8 Supercars results
Year	Team	Car	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	Final Pos	Points	Ref
2010	Rod Nash Racing	Ford FG Falcon	YMC R1	YMC R2	BHR R3	BHR R4	ADE R5	ADE R6	HAM R7	HAM R8	QLD R9	QLD R10	WIN R11	WIN R12	HDV R13	HDV R14	TOW R15	TOW R16	PHI Q	PHI R17	BAT R18	SUR R19 22	SUR R20 5	SYM R21	SYM R22	SAN R23	SAN R24	SYD R25	SYD R26					NC	0 †	[104]
2012	Kelly Racing	Holden VE Commodore	ADE R1	ADE R2	SYM R3	SYM R4	HAM R5	HAM R6	BAR R7	BAR R8	BAR R9	PHI R10	PHI R11	HID R12	HID R13	TOW R14 Ret	TOW R15 24	QLD R16 24	QLD R17 24	SMP R18 24	SMP R19 26	SAN Q	SAN R20	BAT R21	SUR R22	SUR R23	YMC R24	YMC R25	YMC R26	WIN R27	WIN R28	SYD R29	SYD R30	NC	0 †	[113]

† Not Eligible for points

Complete FIA World Rallycross Championship results[]

Supercar results
Year	Entrant	Car	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	WRX	Points
2014	Albatec Racing	Peugeot 208 GTi	POR 17	GBR	NOR 14	FIN 16	SWE 17	BEL 14	CAN 16	FRA	GER	ITA 18	TUR	ARG	37th	8
Sources:[121][123]

Complete Formula E results[]

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Formula E results
Year	Team	Chassis	Powertrain	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	Pos	Points
2015–16	Venturi Formula E Team	Spark SRT01-e	Venturi VM200-FE-01	BEI 14	PUT 11	PDE DNS	BUE	MEX	LBH	PAR	BER	MSC	LDN	LDN	20th	0
Sources:[91][134]

Bibliography[]

• Walker, Murray (1996). Arron, Simon (ed.). Murray Walker's 1996 Grand Prix Year (PDF). Richmond, Surrey: Hazleton Publishing. ISBN 978-1-874557-17-3 – via Porsche Cars History.
• Collings, Timothy (1997). The New Villeneuve: A Life of Jacques Villeneuve. London, England: Motorbooks International. ISBN 0-7603-0411-4 – via Internet Archive.
• Downey, Michael, ed. (1998). 1998 Formula One Yearbook: Chronicle of the Grand Prix Year. London, England: Dorling Kindersley. ISBN 0-7894-3754-6 – via Internet Archive.
• Lecours, Pierre (1998). Gilles et Jacques: les Villeneuve et moi [Gilles and Jacques: the Villeneuves and me] (in French). Montreal, Quebec: Stanké Publishing. ISBN 978-2-7604-0635-3 – via Internet Archive.
• Edwards, Mike (1999). 1999 Formula One Yearbook: The Essential Guide to the Grand Prix Year. London, England: Dorling Kindersley. ISBN 0-7513-0802-1 – via Internet Archive.
• Sparling, Ken (1999). Champion Sport Biographies: Jacques Villeneuve. Toronto, Ontario: Warwick Publishing. ISBN 978-1-894020-57-2 – via Internet Archive.
• Domenjoz, Luc, ed. (2000). Formula 1 Yearbook 2000–2001. Bath, Somerset: Parragon. ISBN 0-75254-735-6 – via Internet Archive.
• Domenjoz, Luc, ed. (2001). Formula 1 Yearbook 2001–2002. Bath, Somerset: Parragon. ISBN 0-75256-639-3 – via Internet Archive.
• Mansell, Nigel, ed. (2001). The Official 2001–2002 Formula One Record Book. Holborn, London: European Press Ltd. ISBN 0-9541368-0-2.
• Domenjoz, Luc, ed. (2002). Formula 1 Yearbook 2002–2003. Bath, Somerset: Parragon. ISBN 0-75259-146-0 – via Internet Archive.
• Domenjoz, Luc, ed. (2003). Formula 1 Yearbook 2003–2004. Bath, Somerset: Parragon. ISBN 1-40542-089-8 – via Internet Archive.
• Domenjoz, Luc, ed. (2004). Formula 1 Yearbook 2004–2005. Bath, Somerset: Parragon. ISBN 2-84707-072-9 – via Internet Archive.
• Sturm, Damion (2007). Booth, Douglas; Thorpe, Holly (eds.). Berkshire Encyclopedia of Extreme Sports. Great Barrington, Massachusetts: Berkshire Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-9770159-5-5 – via Internet Archive.
• Camus, Martine (2007). La Saga Villeneuve: Une Dynastie Québécoise en F1 [The Villeneuve Saga: A Quebec Dynasty in F1] (in French). Montreal, Quebec: Les Éditions La Presse. ISBN 978-2-89430-820-2 – via Internet Archive.
• Collings, Timothy; Edworthy, Sarah (2011). The Daily Telegraph Formula One Years (Fifth ed.). Dubai, United Arab Emirates: Carlton Books. ISBN 978-1-84732-869-4 – via Internet Archive.
• Jones, Bruce (2015). World Formula 1 Records 2016 (Fifth ed.). London, England: SevenOaks. ISBN 978-1-78177-268-3.
• Button, Jenson (2017). Life to the Limit. London, England: Blink Publishing. ISBN 978-1-911600-34-3.
• Newey, Adrian (2017). How to Build a Car: The Autobiography of the World's Greatest Formula 1 Designer. London, England: HarperCollins Publishers. ISBN 978-0-00-819680-6.
• Hamilton, Maurice (2020). Formula One: The Champions: 70 years of legendary F1 drivers. London, England: White Lion Publishing. ISBN 978-1-78131-946-8.

Notes[]

References[]

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Jacques Villeneuve.

• Official website (Archived)
• Jacques Villeneuve driver statistics at Racing-Reference
• Jacques Villeneuve at F1DB
• Jacques Villeneuve at Driver Database

Awards and achievements
Preceded by Al Unser, Jr.	Indianapolis 500 Winner 1995	Succeeded by Buddy Lazier
	PPG CART Indy Car World Series Champion 1995	Succeeded by Jimmy Vasser
Preceded by Damon Hill	Formula One World Champion 1997	Succeeded by Mika Häkkinen
Preceded by Nigel Mansell	Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year 1994	Succeeded by Christian Fittipaldi
	Indy Car Rookie of the Year 1994	Succeeded by Gil de Ferran
Preceded by David Coulthard	Lorenzo Bandini Trophy 1996	Succeeded by Luca di Montezemolo
Preceded by Damon Hill	Hawthorn Memorial Trophy 1997	Succeeded by David Coulthard
	Autosport International Racing Driver Award 1997	Succeeded by Mika Häkkinen
Records
Preceded by Juan Manuel Fangio and Giuseppe Farina 3 wins (1950 season)	Most wins in first Formula One season 4 wins 1996, tied with: Lewis Hamilton (2007)	Succeeded by Co-Incumbent