Jacques Villeneuve

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Jacques Joseph Charles Villeneuve (born April 9th, 1971 in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec, Canada) is a Canadian former Formula One World Champion, team owner and executive. He is the current chairman of Formula One Management.

Jacques Villeneuve in 1998.

He is the son of fellow Grand Prix driver Gilles Villeneuve.

Formula One

1997-1998: Williams

In 1997, Jacques Villeneuve won his first Formula One world championship, driving for Rothmans Williams Renault.

The following year, Villeneuve and Williams would be outclassed by the superior quality of the Ferrari and McLaren teams, with Villeneuve only able to pick up podium finishes when the Ferrari and McLarens ran into trouble. Villeneuve's best result of the season would be a second place in the deluge at the Belgian Grand Prix, although this achievement was dwarfed by the maiden win of Jan Magnussen. Villeneuve would finish as "best of the rest" in fifth place in the championship.

1999-2001: BAR

For 1999, Villeneuve made the jump to F1 newcomers British American Racing, whom had just taken over the ailing Tyrrell outfit. Despite claims from team management that BAR would be able to win from the very first race onwards, neither Villeneuve or Sammy Jones were able to pick up a single point in 1999, leaving BAR joint bottom with Lola.

Villeneuve and Jones remained at BAR into the new millennium, and the team brokered a deal with Honda to become the exclusive works team for the Japanese manufacturer. The changes seemed to suit the pair, with Villeneuve and Jones both being able to score points in the early races. However Villeneuve was outclassed by Jones, who outraced the Canadian to score 10 points to Villeneuve's 6, including the team's maiden podium at the Malaysian Grand Prix.

Both drivers remained at the team heading into 2001, and it soon became clear who was the better driver in the team. Villeneuve outraced Jones twice only, and scored a measly 6 points compared to his teammate's 18, who scored the team's maiden win at the German Grand Prix. As a result of this (and a management coup which ousted Craig Pollock, Villeneuve's manager), the Canadian would not be retained by BAR into 2002, being replaced by the team's reserve driver Justin Wilson.

2004: Renault

After a serious accident at Indianapolis, Renault's Mark Webber was ruled out with injury - providing an opening for Villeneuve whom had been maneuvering for a F1 return for three years. Villeneuve took part in three races for the French team, his best result being a fourth place in the Brazilian Grand Prix.

2005-2007: Sauber

Villeneuve made his full-time return to the grid in 2005, racing for Sauber Petronas alongside Pedro de la Rosa. Villeneuve would easily have the edge over his Spanish teammate, scoring 9 points while De La Rosa scored none, before the Spaniard was sacked after the British Grand Prix, and replaced with Australian Dave Simpson. The Canadian would score a further 5 points on his way to 13th in the championship, with 14 points in total.

In 2006, Sauber would be bought by BMW, and Villeneuve would have a new teammate, Ferrari refugee Daniel Melrose. The pair were very evenly matched over the course of the season, with Villeneuve having a slight edge early on but Melrose pulling forward towards the end of the season. They would both finish the season with 30 points and one podium, although Melrose would be placed ahead in the championship courtesy of an extra 4th place from the Australian. Villeneuve would thus finish 9th in the championship.

The pair would remain at the team going into 2007 - but Villeneuve failed to make much of an impact on his third season, the Canadian failing to make the podium on any occasion while his Australian teammate took the Driver's Championship. Villeneuve's lacklustre results cost BMW Sauber the constructor's crown which in turn saw the Canadian be removed from the seat ahead of 2008.

2010-2011: Stefan & Red Bull

Villeneuve returned to the grid in 2010 as team leader for the newly-entered Stefan Grand Prix alongside Kazuki Nakajima. After a pair of retirements in the opening round, Villeneuve would hit back with a win and a second place at the United States Grand Prix as well as a win in the season ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Allegations of espionage marred proceedings, and Villeneuve left the team at the end of the year to retire.

However, after the disqualification of Jenson Button early in 2011, Villeneuve was called up to race for Red Bull at the Japanese Grand Prix.

2013-2015: Team Ownership

In the summer of 2012, it was announced that Villeneuve - with help of Italian GP2 team Durango - had obtained a license to enter a team in the 2013 season. Jacques Villeneuve would race for the team alongside Frenchman Alexandre-Laurent Voeckler. He'd race for the team until the 2014 German Grand Prix, where he'd injure himself in a high speed accident. He'd retire from active competition at the end of the season.

Villeneuve Racing would remain in F1 for one more year before closing its doors in late 2015.

Formula One Management

Villeneuve was announced as the new chairman of Formula One Management on August 1st, 2020 replacing outgoing chairman Achille Lunardi whom had resigned for "personal reasons".

Formula 1 Results

Year Entrant Chassis Engine 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 37 38 WDC Points
1998 Winfield Williams Williams FW20 Mecachrome GC37-01 AUS
Ret
BRA
4
ARG
3
SMR
6
ESP
Ret
MON
3
CAN
Ret
FRA
Ret
GBR
7
AUT
Ret
GER
7
HUN
3
BEL
2
ITA
Ret
JPN
4
POR
10
5th 25
1999 British American Racing BAR 001 Supertec FB01 AUS
Ret
BRA
Ret
SMR
10
ESP
Ret
MON
Ret
CAN
13
FRA
16†
GBR
Ret
AUT
Ret
GER
14
HUN
Ret
BEL
Ret
ITA
Ret
JPN
16
USA
13
POR
Ret
20th 0
2000 British American Racing BAR 002 Honda RA000E AUS
Ret
BRA
5
SMR
6
FRA
Ret
ESP
13†
EUR
7
MON
7
CAN
Ret
GBR
11
AUT
Ret
GER
8
HUN
4
BEL
Ret
ITA
Ret
JPN
11
MAL
Ret
USA
10
POR
Ret
12th 6
2001 Lucky Strike BAR Honda BAR 003 Honda RA001E AUS
6
MAL
7
BRA
10
SMR
Ret
ESP
7
AUT
7
MON
6
CAN
8
EUR
9
FRA
13†
GBR
Ret
GER
3
HUN
Ret
BEL
Ret
ITA
12
USA
10
JPN
Ret
14th 6
2004 Mild Seven Renault F1 Team Renault R24 Renault RS24 3.0 V10 AUS MAL BHR MON CAN USA CHN
9
BRA
4
ARG
8
KOR
C
JPN 14th 6
2005 Sauber Petronas Sauber C24 Petronas 05A 3.0 V10 AUS
15
MAL
11
BHR
Ret
SMR
10
ESP
8
MON
5
EUR
8
CAN
8
USA
DNS
FRA
7
GBR
Ret
GER
11
HUN
Ret
TUR
Ret
ITA
5
BEL
Ret
BRA
9
URU
10
JPN
8
CHN
11
13th 14
2006 BMW Sauber F1 Team BMW Sauber F1.06 BMW P86 2.4 V8 BHR
5
MAL
14
AUS
Ret
BEL
3
EUR
8
SMR
5
MON
8
ESP
9
GBR
7
CAN
10
USA
8
FRA
4
GER
9
HUN
9
TUR
11
ITA
5
BRA
13
URU
7
JPN
9
CHN
9
9th 30
2007 BMW Sauber F1 Team BMW Sauber F1.07 BMW P86/7 2.4 V8 BHR
7
MAL
9
AUS
8
JPN
5
SMR
10
GER
15
ESP
4
MON
6
CAN
8
USA
9
GBR
5
EUR
9
FRA
5
HUN
6
TUR
9
ITA
5
BEL
Ret
CHN
14
URU
5
BRA
11
9th 35
2010 Stefan Grand Prix Stefan S-01 Stefan RG-01 2.4 V8 BHR
1
Ret
BHR
2
Ret
USA
1
1
USA
2
2
JPN
1
11
JPN
2
5
AUS
1
Ret
AUS
2
Ret
TUR
1
6
TUR
2
7
EUR
1
8
EUR
2
7
MON
1
4
MON
2
6
GBR
1
2
GBR
2
3
IRE
1
6
IRE
2

2
GER
1
8
GER
2
7
ESP
1
13
ESP
2
Ret
ITA
1
8
ITA
2
Ret
HUN
1
8
HUN
2
9
SIN
1
15
SIN
2
15
KOR
1
11
KOR
2
15
BRA
1
5
BRA
2
6
URU
1
5
URU
2
5
ABU
1
1
ABU
2
10
7th 240
2011 Red Bull Racing Red Bull RB7 Honda RA005E 2.4 V8 BHR
1
BHR
2
USA
1
USA
2
Ret
JPN
1
17
JPN
2
KOR
1
KOR
2
TUR
1
TUR
2
ESP
1
ESP
2
MON
1
MON
2
GBR
1
GBR
2
IRE
1
IRE
2
EUR
1
EUR
2
GER
1
GER
2
HUN
1
HUN
2
ITA
1
ITA
2
URU
1
URU
2
BRA
1
BRA
2
SIN
1
SIN
2
IND
1
IND
2
ABU
1
ABU
2
35th 0
2013 Villeneuve Racing Villeneuve DF1A Hyundai i002 2.4 V8 BHR
1
15
BHR
2
7
MAL
1
Ret
MAL
2
13
JPN
1
Ret
JPN
2
13
TUR
1
Ret
TUR
2
15
AUT
1
13
AUT
2
15
IRE
1
15
IRE
2
16
MON
1
Ret
MON
2
3
ESP
1
18
ESP
2
11
USA
1
7
USA
2
16
CAN
1
3
CAN
2
9
GBR
1
5
GBR
2
12
ITA
1
9
ITA
2
13
POR
1
Ret
POR
2
7
GER
1
GER
2
KOR
1
KOR
2
IND
1
IND
2
ABU
1
ABU
2
SIN
1
SIN
2
20th 62
2014 Repsol Villeneuve Racing Villeneuve DF1B Peugeot T12 1.6 I4t BHR
1
Ret
BHR
2
18
MAL
1
Ret
MAL
2
Ret
BRA
1
Ret
BRA
2
Ret
MEX
1
10
MEX
2
15
USA
1
Ret
USA
2
Ret
CAN
1
9
CAN
2
Ret
GBR
1
13
GBR
2
17
ESP
1
Ret
ESP
2
Ret
AUT
1
AUT
2
TUR
1
20
TUR
2
17
GER
1
Ret
GER
2
Ret
POR
1
INJ
POR
2
INJ
ITA
1
INJ
ITA
2
INJ
ABU
1
INJ
ABU
2
INJ
IND
1
INJ
IND
2
INJ
CHN
1
INJ
CHN
2
INJ
KOR
1
INJ
KOR
2
INJ
JPN
1
INJ
JPN
2
INJ
SIN
1
INJ
SIN
2
INJ
28th 3