Gilles Speaks

I first met Gilles Villeneuve at Silverstone in 1977, when he had a one-off drive in a McLaren at the British Grand Prix, and we chatted again at Watkins Glen, where he was a guest of Ferrari, preparatory to replacing Niki Lauda in the team. His first full season of F1 was 1978, and it was on May 20 at Zolder - where he would lose his life four years later - that I first conducted a proper interview with him.

Formula One was relatively informal in those days. You set up an interview by going directly to the driver, and organising a time convenient to you both. "How about now?" said Gilles. Ferrari did not have a motorhome, as such, in those days, and so we sat in the back of the transporter, with the distant singing of the mechanics - who lived on Lambrusco back then - in the background.

Earlier that afternoon Villeneuve had qualified his 312T3 fourth, but the next day he offered the only challenge to Mario Andretti's dominant Lotus 79, finally finishing fourth after cruising a lap back to the pits with a puncture.

Over time, Gilles and I became good friends, and I recorded many a tape with him, but this first one tells of his life to date, his arrival at Ferrari, and so on, and also his thoughts on the dangers of the sport.

All very straightforward, as he would remain to the end of his life.

-- Nigel Roebuck, May 2nd 2007

The Need for Speed

"I always loved speed. And I always loved mechanical things, with an engine. Maybe I was very lazy to start with, (so) I liked things with an engine!"

From McLaren to Ferrari

"Luckily, or badly, the contract (with McLaren) was badly done, because I was supposed to do four races with them. But they were giving me quite good money - a lot of money, in fact: for the one race I did, I was one of the best-paid F1 drivers!"

Forza Ferrari!

"When I started driving the T2 it was a bloody hard car to drive ... I think that was because the car was set up to Niki's liking; he had a way of driving and maybe I have a different one. I wasn't able to drive it, that's for sure."

Fearless

"I don't have any fear of crash, certainly no fear of that. [...] I never think I can hurt myself. It seems impossible for me. But I know that I can hurt the car, and that's what I don't want to do."

Family Man

"(My father) was letting me drive by myself when I was seven years old, on his knee. Not reaching the pedal, but driving the wheel. My son was doing it at four years old, so he beat me!"