Jacques Villeneuve

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 became the chairman of Formula One Management in 2020, but successive race cancellations saw the FIA use a buyback clause of the commercial rights to the sport, functionally abolishing Formula One Management. Villeneuve would go on become team principal of Williams.

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

Sporting Accolades
Preceded by: Unknown	Formula One World Champion 1997	Succeeded by: Mika Häkkinen