LEGENDS: How Jacques Villeneuve shook up F1
F1 Beyond The Grid
karenellenbevan
4.7 • 5.3K Ratings
🗓️ 18 March 2026
⏱️ 45 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The son of a motorsport legend, a racer since childhood, Formula 1 was Jacques Villeneuve's destiny. In 1996, the young Canadian arrived at his first Grand Prix and immediately proved he belonged there by taking pole position.
In his rookie season Villeneuve won races, went wheel-to-wheel with Michael Schumacher and took Williams teammate Damon Hill to a final race title-decider. 30 years on, he sits down with Tom Clarkson to remember how he shook up the sport.
Jacques explains why he left IndyCar as reigning champion to join Williams in Formula 1, and how racing on ovals influenced how he drove Grands Prix. He talks about working with race engineer Jock Clear, and experimenting with his throttle pedal and steering wheel paddles to find extra performance.
Tom asks Jacques about the highlights of his first year in F1: his first pole position, his first race win and the spectacular pass he made on Michael Schumacher - an overtaking move still regarded as one of the best in F1 history.
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Transcript
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| 0:57.6 | gov.uk.uk slash stop think fraud. The son of a motorsport legend. A racer since childhood, |
| 1:09.3 | Formula One was Jacques Vien Villeneuve's destiny. |
| 1:11.6 | Since I was five or six years old, I knew I would race cars, and I never questioned it. |
| 1:16.6 | Deep down, I knew that the ultimate point or goal where I would arrive would be F1 and one day be a world champion. |
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