Chapter 1: How did Jacques Villeneuve's early life influence his racing career?
The son of a motorsport legend. A racer since childhood, Formula One was Jacques Villeneuve's destiny. Since I was five or six years old, I knew I would race cars and I never questioned it. Deep down, I knew that. The ultimate point or goal where I would arrive would be F1 and one day be world champion. It was so fixed and clear in my mind.
It's a situation of you better become good and quickly because the pressure is there from the first moment and it could destroy you. 30 years ago, Jacques arrived at his first Grand Prix with bold confidence. He had a lot to prove and he proved it immediately. I wasn't impressed or afraid of him. And he wasn't used to that.
And that's why in the battles I had with him, it didn't always go good for him. As a rookie, he raced without fear, overtaking Michael Schumacher, pushing his Williams teammate Damon Hill all the way to a final race title decider. It was him or me. There were hardly ever someone in the middle because we were the car to beat. On a good weekend, I would finish first and Damon probably second.
Hello, everyone. This is F1 Beyond the Grid with me, Tom Clarkson. I was there at Silverstone on the day that Jacques Villeneuve first drove a Formula One car. I watched his debut season in 1996 in awe of this young Canadian, the reigning IndyCar champion, who'd switched to race Grand Prix for Williams. So it was a pleasure to sit down with Jacques and look back on that year.
We talked about joining the team run by Sir Frank Williams and Patrick Head, getting used to F1 cars, driving alongside Damon, and how he and race engineer Jock Clear would come up with peculiar ideas in the pursuit of performance. 1997 was the year Jacques became world champion, but it all started in 1996. JV, how are you? It's been eight years since you were last on the show. Oh, that long.
Oh, wow. I'm doing great. It's fantastic. Life is great. You don't look a day older. That is very kind to the hair. Now, I want to take you back to 1996. This is one of our Legends episodes. And you'd come over from IndyCar. It was your first season in Formula One. How clearly do you remember year one in Formula One?
Most of it, quite clearly, it's always linked to moments, specific, specific moments that somehow remain because they were strong or they were meaningful or they brought something or took something away. So memory is timeless and there's no... passing of time merit could have been yesterday, but it's what you remember. And I think you remember everything.
It's what makes you, brings it out of the little closet that it's in. Well, I'm going to jog your memory throughout this, but can we start by talking about the decision? Okay. 1995, you were dominating IndyCar. You won the Indy 500. You won the championship that year. So why F1 for you? Were you not tempted just to stay that side of the pond and dominate IndyCar for a decade?
It's funny because you say the decision.
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Chapter 2: What motivated Jacques to switch from IndyCar to Formula 1?
There was never a decision. It was just logical. It was a natural next step. When you're a racer... or passionate racer, and you want to perform, and you want to be the best, then you want to be at the top of the ladder. And F1 has always been the top of the ladder, and that's it.
So why would you even question, mostly when it's with Williams, a winning team, a team that you can work with, you can build on. Since I was five or six years old, I knew I would race cars, and I never questioned it. I never... I didn't spend any time trying to get there either, because I knew it would come. So I was just keeping ready for when the opportunity would happen.
Then I went to race in Japan instead of going to 3000, for example. So you have to jump at what opportunity is there without questioning it too much. Then went to the States. That was on the road to F1. But deep down, I knew that the ultimate point or goal where I would arrive would be F1 and one day be world champion.
It was so fixed and clear in my mind that there was never a moment of decision making. That confidence is extraordinary. Yeah. Yes, and it can be off-putting because if I had one of my kids or I see a youngster acting that way growing up, I think, who does he think he is? I mean, what's going on in his mind as if it was going to happen?
But when you're in the middle of it, you have to believe in yourself that much if you want it to happen. If you don't believe, it won't happen. Did you feel the weight of the Villeneuve name coming into F1? Obviously, because it brought a lot of pressure from the first few laps I did in racing. In every walk of life, in every career, there's always the newcomer.
And he's judged as if he didn't have any experience. But the truth is he spent the last four or five years maybe in the shadows, but working his trade, getting better until the day that he's the new youngster. But when you come in with a name or with image, even before having done anything, you're judged as if you had had those five years of preparation, which you haven't.
So it's a situation of you better become good and quickly because the pressure is there from the first moment and it could destroy you. And in a way that helped me to become stronger. So when did the conversations with Williams begin? I guess there was always some talks in the background, which I wasn't privy to. But what made the big difference is winning the Indy 500. Of 1995?
Yes, because that showed Frank, Patrick, I guess Bernie, for a different reason, that I could perform under pressure. It's a big race, the biggest race in the world, and F1 was needing that. If you want to be a driver in F1, you need to be able to perform under pressure. You mentioned Bernie's name. How involved did Bernie get? In the negotiation. Quite.
Bernie has always been about what is good for F1 image and so on. So winning the Indy 500, you know, being my father's son as well, who was a big name in F1, that I guess that was something that was important for Bernie at the time. And he was very actively positive as well, which was nice. Did you speak to Bernie about it? Did you get a sort of, hello, son, come on over? No, no, no, no, no.
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Chapter 3: What were the highlights of Jacques' rookie season in Formula 1?
So I wasn't... It's more stuff I've discovered years later of everything that happened in the background. And also, it's the first time that I got into a contract that I didn't know everything about it. Because I went from a 10-page contract... which was IndyCar, even less. I could read every word and figure out what was hidden and so on to a 70-page contract.
And I thought, okay, no, that's just way too much. So from what I understand, it was important to perform in the first two or three races. Okay. Well, you certainly did that, but I wasn't told. So good. That was some fresh air. We'll come to that. But can I ask you now, what sort of preparation was IndyCar for Formula One?
Because, okay, you know, the Indy 500, you're circulating at 220 miles an hour, but the cars are all back then were much bigger. Was that good prep for a driver? It was good prep because IndyCar in those days was like an F1 in the sense that you could develop whatever you wanted on the car.
Obviously, you would buy a car of Reinhardt or Lola or you were with Penske, which had their own car, but you could actually develop, put new bits on the car. It wasn't a one-make series, so you could... You could work a lot. You could be clever. But the work we were doing was more old-fashioned, still pen and paper, and really getting it out of your system. What could you do to become faster?
What could you change on the car? What would you need?
uh which was getting out of f1 was getting away from f1 a little bit that that way of working so for me that was the best preparation ever because when i when i got to f1 everything was fresh and new i hadn't done a season of 3000 on the same tracks the same kind of people the same uh the same mindset you know i'd gone to japan which is colorful it's very different so you learn
You learn tricks that you wouldn't have learned in Europe, a way of working, mostly because, well, my engineer in Japan did not speak English, for example. So it really makes you figure out how do you work, how do you explain what you need, and we manage.
Then you get to the States, and once again, it was a very different way of working, of approaching the racing, maybe a little bit more rough and tough, like sports in America can be. and obviously with the Indy 500, which is the biggest race in the world, and the level of danger and risk that there was really put you on the edge.
You knew that you were risking something when you were racing on the limit there and you were going to go for a pole or a win. And I think that was this level of intensity was very good preparation for F1. You always struck me as someone who thrived on the danger. Have I read that correctly?
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Chapter 4: How did Jacques adapt to the pressure of racing in Formula 1?
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One of my first jobs at Autosport was to go up to Silverstone in August 1995 because we got this guy called Villeneuve testing the Williams for the first time, the FW17. My goodness, there was a circus. You know, it was the traditional sort of Silverstone test, but... Everybody was gathered outside the front of the Williams pit garage, your car in particular.
Tell us about your first memories of getting in an F1 car. How different was the experience to IndyCar? Well, I was so tired because I had just flown in overnight, the day before the test. We had been racing in Michigan. and had a suspension failure, so luckily we felt it, pitted during the race, because a big crash there would have meant no test. Were you nervous about the test?
Nope, not at all. Did a lot rest on it? I was excited. Did a lot rest on it? Of course, it meant getting into F1 or not. Everything was happening on those two or three days of testing. But it was exciting, not nervous. It's not the same thing. I knew that was my road. That was the goal. That's what I had to get. And I would find a way to get it. And that was it. There was no doubt whatsoever.
I was taking it. I was coming with a smile and fun. Obviously, you're a little bit tense.
because the stakes are high but that makes it even more fun and normally that's always allowed me to perform better when there was something big at stakes that it was all or nothing and that's what that test was so landed made a seat fit and then just try to rest for the next day because it was it was brutal and what i remember is
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Chapter 5: What unique strategies did Jacques and his team use to enhance performance?
So that wasn't a surprise is how light the car was and how quick it was to reacting. So if you got in a slide, it would snap really quickly instead of having momentum. So that's where the big difference was. What about the braking? Everyone seems to talk about the braking. Did you find that a big step? Not really, because everybody thinks, oh, it's carbon brakes, it's difficult.
No, it's not the carbon brakes. It's the fact that the car is light and you have a lot of downforce, you can brake very late. That's all. That was because we did try some steel brakes at some point. I don't remember if it was in that test or later on in the season. And it didn't really make a difference. It's just that the car is light and you can stop instantaneously.
So you just have to get used to that. Your brain has to... recalibrate and that's all. Damon Hill was at the test as well. Was he any help? Did he give you any advice? That I don't remember. I don't remember talking much with him, but also DC was there on the last day, I think. And from what I understand, it was kind of a shootout.
And so he was under pressure, but he probably already had signed for McLaren. So it was fake. But what I remember is I was ahead of him all day until the last run he did on new tires, end of the day. And in 95, we still had to switch on the fuel pump manually, which was something we didn't have in IndyCar. And on that last run, I forgot to switch it on. So I never got to do that last run.
And maybe that's what helped me because he had done a quick lap time that I might not have beaten. And that might have been... We'll never know, right? Yeah, we'll never know. We better give him the drive. So it was a good mistake to make. So let's talk about that winter, 95-96 now. You did 9,000 kilometers of testing. Can you just talk us through the journey you went on with the team?
with the car, how your relationship with Jacques Clerc, your race engineer, started to gel? Well, Jacques was quite junior as an engineer, which means he wasn't set in his ways. And what I found out through the years, he was very open-minded and socially very good to work with because he came from rugby, was a rugby player. So he understood also the psychology of the sportsman.
And sometimes it's not the numbers that make you go quick, but being in the right bubble and the right mindset. So that's why we had a very good rapport. But we built it because I was very peculiar with my way of driving and what I was wanting from a car and quite hard-headed. And I was pushing the team in some directions that they weren't used to
because I'd been working with Damon for a long time, and our driving styles were a little bit different. And there's a test we did in Imola where he did the opposite of what I was wanting, just to see. Yeah, and I think he asked Craig, you know, is it okay if I did this? And Craig was convinced that it would work out.
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Chapter 6: What was the significance of Jacques' first pole position in Melbourne?
So he did it. I did two laps or three and came back and said, no, what you did, you didn't do what I asked you there. So from that moment on, then it was okay. Then he understood that, The feedback I was giving him was real. That doesn't mean it was right. But at least there was always room for imagining, okay, why does Jacques want this? Why is he trying to go in this direction?
And maybe my reasoning was wrong for the reasons were wrong, but there was a pathway that helped them develop and figure out other things. So that was really good because that made him also very good at getting inside my head. You know, right now they have meetings of 30 minutes. Okay, do your debrief, say what you think. That doesn't work.
That's no, you know, all the information is there, but you cannot always just get it out. And what I would love was spend hours just sitting there with the engineer. It was jock and data. And sometimes ideas just come up. You're sitting there not thinking about it, and that's when the idea comes up.
And you can imagine how the car is working, why it's doing this, and why you will be able to drive it better this way. And the engineer's job is to be able to ask the right questions, to get the information inside your head that he knows is there, but maybe you're not figuring it out. And that takes time. And we had built this very strong rapport with Jock where we're both able to communicate.
And oftentimes... I would come up with ideas and he looked at me and said, is that one of your toilet ideas? Like, you know, that you had in your weird moment of thinking. And I said, okay, let's try it. And sometimes it would be crazy, but it would work out. That made it a lot of fun. But also you create a lot of trust in each other.
So if Jacques said, yeah, don't worry, this time that corner will be flouted. Okay, fine. Then you know it's true. You know you're convinced and you believe. You don't feel like you're alone in the car anymore. And that's a big help. For the same reason, in 97, I didn't want to test at the end of the year. I wanted to focus on championship. And there was a last test to do in Silverstone.
And that's before the cars went narrow and with grooved tires. And he said, listen, you've never done turn one flat. This is the last time you get a chance to do it. And that's the only reason I went testing. Oh, Jacques, I always thought of you as a bit of a rebel. But just while we're talking about just car setup, is it true that you used to have a really short throttle travel? Yes, very true.
Can you tell us how long was your... I think 20 or 18 mil, depending on the season, at the tows. So it's kind of on or off with the power, right? No, no, you're much... I always give the comparison to a mouse, a computer mouse. If you have to move it a lot to get to where you want, you'll overshoot, you'll have to move too fast.
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Chapter 7: How did Jacques' rivalry with Damon Hill shape their careers?
You'll have more preciseness when you just move a tiny little bit, maybe, but you'll always overshoot. But when it's a small movement, you get there very quickly and precisely. And it's the same thing with a pedal. So you were feeding in, what was it back then, 800 horsepower through two centimeters of throttle. Yes, but instead of movement, it was pressure.
When it's short, it's down to how much pressure you apply, more than how much you move. And you don't have to move your whole leg, you just move your foot a little bit, so you have more control. But, JV, in the wet... No, that was okay. Was it okay? Yeah. It was the same concept. Then you just needed a good throttle trace. That's all. But it was never an issue.
And also, when you aquaplaned, you were much quicker off the gas. So it made you react a lot quicker. The other thing we had differently is I only had one paddle shift instead of two paddle shifts. And it was the same paddle to upshift and downshift. So I would just push it to upshift and then pull it down to downshift. And that allowed me to not remove my hand from the wheel to go grab it.
So you could actually shift while you were cornering at high G-force or to react quickly if you got wheelspin. Were you the only driver who had the same side going up and down? Nobody went to that, but we had a lot of little tricks like that that we kept thinking of, like flags on the pedals.
We were the first ones to put that to hold the legs so they don't move because, like I told Jacques, listen, I'm spending half my energy holding my leg instead of driving. So we put this in. Oh, yeah, it helped. And it also saved you from breaking your foot if you crashed. So there was a lot of little things or grips on the steering, adjustable front wings.
This is stuff I had brought from IndyCar and also radio communication. Jacques would often... at the start, be like a spotter in two turn one, watching the TV and telling me where the traffic was. In real time? Yeah, real time. So this is all the baggage I had brought from the States. So how much of this was in place before your first race in Melbourne in 1996?
No, the shifting, the pedal, that happened later. But it was gradual. But anything in the comfort and pedal flags and all that, with 9,000 kilometers, you have time to figure it out. And Williams was very quick at reacting, which was fantastic. And that giving in to all these... I thought, okay, what is he on again? Why is he annoying us with that thing?
But it turned out that there was a good reason for it. I'd love to know what Patrick had made. Oh, it was fun. Those debriefs must have been fun. Patrick was always pushing to have very soft anti-roll bar in the rear. But back then, I don't know if something was twisting, it needed to stiffen the rear end, so the car was more precise.
So for 97, they changed the numbers on the bar so that Patrick wouldn't realize how stiff they were.
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Chapter 8: What lessons did Jacques learn from his championship battle in 1997?
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Melbourne 96, your first Grand Prix. The new season began at a new venue for Formula One Albert Park in Melbourne and a new star, 24-year-old Jacques Villeneuve, the reigning IndyCar champion, arrived in Formula One and in his first qualifying session took pole position. You become only the third driver in history to take pole position. on your Formula One debut.
How much of a surprise was that? Or had you had enough clues during testing that you were right on the pace? Damon was quicker, mostly on one-lappers, even during testing. I still had a lot to learn from him. But testing and a race weekend are two different things. I've hardly ever, ever been quicker than a teammate during winter testing.
Because you're not there to get the ultimate tenth, the ultimate lap. You're there to set the car up, to understand what's going on. When you're on the edge... You're too close to that edge. You go a little bit over over time. You have to also adapt your driving and you don't test the car. Your brain is not focused on feeling what the car is happening.
It's more focused on surviving, making sure you don't go off when you're on that last 10th of a second. So it's bad. When a driver does that in testing, it's normally not very efficient in developing a car. What helped me in Melbourne was a new track for everyone. It's not a track that they even knew.
Because then once we got to Brazil and Argentina, I think it was a second ahead of me or close or quite a big gap on me, which was a big shock. So Melbourne was helpful because it was a new track. What about the starts then? There were two starts. Remember, Martin Brundle had his spectacular crash going into turn three. So we had two starts. And you beat Damon away both times.
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