Gilles Villeneuve

Joseph Gilles Henri Villeneuve (born 18th January, 1950 in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec, Canada) is a Canadian former racing driver.

His son, Jacques also drove in Formula One, racing as recently as 2011.

The Île Notre-Dame Circuit was renamed the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in his honour in the mid-1980s.

Formula One

1976-: Kojima

Villeneuve made his Formula One debut at the 1976 Japanese Grand Prix for the unfancied Kojima Engineering squad alongside Masahiro Hasemi.

In the wet of Fuji Speedway, the KE007 proved a worthy steed for both drivers - with Villeneuve taking an eleventh place finish in the race.

Villeneuve returned to Formula Atlantic in 1977.

Villeneuve entered the BRDC International Trophy in 1977 with the Kojima squad and impressed even further - taking a sixth place in the race and splitting the two works Renault cars. Many corners of the paddock called for Villeneuve to join F1 full time, and he began working on his schedule in the winter of 1977.