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 in the present day. Revealing a behind-the-scenes story about Gilles Villeneuve’s profession was Piero Ferrari, in an interview with Leo Turrini printed within the Quotidiano Nazionale: the son of Enzo Ferrari, who will flip 80 this yr, not solely spoke concerning 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 realize expertise with one other staff, 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 depart Ferrari and transfer to Lotus.
Gilles Villeneuve “legend by chance”
“In 1978,” explains Ferrari, “my father had determined to ship Villeneuve to realize expertise with one other staff, 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, by his secretary Gozzi, as a result of at that time I needed to inform the Canadian that we’d hold him. Typically legends are born nearly by chance!”
Ferrari had chosen Riccardo Patrese
This principle, that Enzo Ferrari had thought of parting methods with Gilles Villeneuve for 1979, is just not in battle with what Riccardo Patrese wrote in his ebook *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 prompted quite a lot of bother, and below heavy media strain, Enzo Ferrari had pointed me out as a attainable substitute for Villeneuve. He revealed himself to me in a really completely different manner from how he was described, and he proposed that I signal a letter of intent stating that I’d not make commitments for 1979.”
An settlement that, like each sliding doorways second, finally fell by nearly by chance. The decisive think about Ferrari’s closing selection was the final race of the 1978 season, the place Gilles Villeneuve crossed the end line first at his house race in Montreal. This victory satisfied the Drake of the driving force’s aggressive maturity, main him to consider that he may nonetheless win his best guess. The remainder is historical past, with Gilles Villeneuve staying at Ferrari and enjoying a vital function in serving to Jody Scheckter win the 1979 title.
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