Zolder, 8th of May 1982...
Discussion
Eric Mc said:
Or even ANY World Championships.
Adoration of Villeneuve does, to me, smack of the James Dean syndrome. Would people lionise him so much if he hadn't died?
I was a keen F1 follower during his heyday (1979 to 1982) and there is no doubt he was truly exciting to watch - but also extremely frustrating. Time after time he seemed to blow opportunities to win races which just used to annoy me. However, one must place him in the context of his times. By todays standards he would have been classified a lunatic driver. At that time, he was just slightly more extreme than some of his contemporaries.
When he crashed and died, I wasn't altogether surprised as he never knew when to back off and play the percentages. With time he may have learned to drive within himself a bit more - but time was something he wasn't to have.
Adoration of Villeneuve does, to me, smack of the James Dean syndrome. Would people lionise him so much if he hadn't died?
I was a keen F1 follower during his heyday (1979 to 1982) and there is no doubt he was truly exciting to watch - but also extremely frustrating. Time after time he seemed to blow opportunities to win races which just used to annoy me. However, one must place him in the context of his times. By todays standards he would have been classified a lunatic driver. At that time, he was just slightly more extreme than some of his contemporaries.
When he crashed and died, I wasn't altogether surprised as he never knew when to back off and play the percentages. With time he may have learned to drive within himself a bit more - but time was something he wasn't to have.
Edited by Eric Mc on Wednesday 9th May 08:29
I was born in 1985, so I never watched Gilles racing for real... I don't think Gilles is idolised. I think he is remembered because he drove with heart, he always tried, backing off and playing percentages should be left to Alonso and the like... What I do know is that my father always said that Gilles was the best and to a little kid things like that mean a lot. As I got older I learned more about him and I started to agree. My OP had the intention of remembering one of F1's true greats, no James Dean syndrome, and to be perfectly honest, I find that suggestion slightly offensive. I think today's F1 is a load of shite, and I happen to think that Gilles and his era represent what F1 really should be.
pablo said:
Eric Mc said:
I am not surprised that the two who have expressed the greatest admiration for GV are two who never saw him race "in period". That, I think, supports my view that he has acquired "legendary" status.
You have to remember that, at that time, there were other drivers who drove as much with heart as with head - Mansell and Rosberg for a start - and both of them went on to achieve what Villeneuve never did.
In Villeneuve's first full F1 season (1978) we also had Ronnie Peterson - who, in many ways, was cut from a similar mould.
I well remember watching the 1979 Dutch GP where Villeneuve destroyed a car that originally spun off the road with a slow puncture. All he had to do was cruise at a resonable speed back to the pits to get his wheels changed. But, being Gilles, he tried to hare back to the pits at undiminished speed, therefore destroying the back end of the car and putting him out of the race. At the time I was yelling at the screen "Slow down" as I watched various suspension components slide out from underneath the rear of the car.
There is no doubt that he was entertaining to watch and, according to people who knew him, he didn't possess the inherent "backstabbing" mentality that is normally expected of those who want to "get on", whether in motor sport or elsewhere.
I admire him more for than latter than anything else.
You have to remember that, at that time, there were other drivers who drove as much with heart as with head - Mansell and Rosberg for a start - and both of them went on to achieve what Villeneuve never did.
In Villeneuve's first full F1 season (1978) we also had Ronnie Peterson - who, in many ways, was cut from a similar mould.
I well remember watching the 1979 Dutch GP where Villeneuve destroyed a car that originally spun off the road with a slow puncture. All he had to do was cruise at a resonable speed back to the pits to get his wheels changed. But, being Gilles, he tried to hare back to the pits at undiminished speed, therefore destroying the back end of the car and putting him out of the race. At the time I was yelling at the screen "Slow down" as I watched various suspension components slide out from underneath the rear of the car.
There is no doubt that he was entertaining to watch and, according to people who knew him, he didn't possess the inherent "backstabbing" mentality that is normally expected of those who want to "get on", whether in motor sport or elsewhere.
I admire him more for than latter than anything else.
i am sure i am reading this wrong but are you implying that because i did not see him race in the period, i do not have a valid opinion on the matter? surely not? i can not believe you would be so arrogant?!? i have never seen duncan edwards or john charles play football "in the period" but recognise their talents as being world class.
take paul gascoinge for example, i loved him because he was skillful and a proper character, age 11, i was shouting at the telly in Italia '90 begging him not to make a tackle knowing a yellow card would leave him suspended from the final but he played with his heart and made the tackles anyway, inevitably he got booked, cried and then proceeded to play a blinder for the team. he couldnt change how he played just like villeneuve could never have driven with his head and played the "percentage game".
What he said... (well apart from the Gascoigne thing, I'm foreign y'see).
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