Jacques Villeneuve on Revival, F1 vs Indy, and driving his dad’s Ferrari

So, at this, his first visit to the Goodwood Revival, we thought we’d sit down with him for a bit of a chat about the event, whether he’d race here, his views on historic racing as a whole and a bit of reflection on his career’s past, present and future.

It’s evident right away that he’s in the Revival spirit. He’s wearing a striking two-piece and a stylish Fedora. “It’s fun! I like to get in the spirit,” he says, as we wander over to sit down in the garden of the driver’s club and get started.

On Goodwood and the idea of racing at Revival

“I’ve been at the Festival [of Speed], but this [Revival] is a great era,” he says. 

“I drove my Dad’s T3 at the Festival [of Speed] that belonged to Nick Mason. It was nice. I caught myself locking the wheels and just had to go ‘okay, no, calm down’. It was a show, a celebration, revving the engine. It’s incredible, what the Duke has managed to build with the Festival and the Revival and this venue. 

“It’s great seeing younger generations getting into vintage stuff. What I like is to think the young generation are interested. Because the past is what makes us today and this is part of our history and so to see them interested makes them understand better how we got to where we are today. I find that really really good.

“In that era, the racing was so passionate – these daredevils would wake up every morning and were not sure if they would get back home. They really created this strong-knit feel and built the respect and passion with the fans because as a fan, you knew you weren’t made of the same cloth. I’m happy I didn’t race back then, because I would not have survived. I am too much of a risk taker.”

On racing historic F1

There’s definitely an apparent interest in getting behind the wheel of the sorts of cars his Dad drove and competed against, all those years ago.

“A lot of the time I see the vintage racing and it’s more my dad’s era – I would say, of the ‘70s and ‘80s – that I grew up watching and admiring. These are the cars I might enjoy jumping into and driving. But even they are lethal, even though they are safer. Those cars, it would be like a trip through time. You’d forget how safe they are and just blast it off.

“The main issue is you’d have a car from ’75 vs a car from ’78 and the speed difference is quite high, and as a competitor that’d be so frustrating. That would get on my nerves.

“But then I see them race around Monaco and think ‘wow, I want to be out there!’ I would definitely do it, if it was that little step more serious.”

On driving Gilles’ Ferraris

Villeneuve appears to be on a bit of a recce, getting the lay of the land and seeing how things are done at Goodwood and what the racing is like before potentially taking part in the future.

It’s an exciting prospect but, understandably given his experience and perspective on safety in motorsport, he’s very conscious and cautious.

“They race hard here. That’s the thing. Racing hard is good but it’s the respect that they had in the past. They wouldn’t chop each other off like you see now under braking. That’s changed because everything’s become so safe. 

“Here, you can see that they’re pushing and one or two are overly aggressive, for an expensive old race car. But in general, they’re pushing and sliding the cars but they’re giving space which is what matters. That’s why I came this year, to have a look first.”

We then get on to what he’s driven before, in terms of historic machinery. Even if he hadn’t mentioned it, it would come as a surprise to no one that he’s spent a bit of time in the cars his father, Gilles Villeneuve, once drove with spectacular style, to cultivate a cult-like fanbase that roars on to this day, over 40 years on from his untimely passing.

“I’ve driven a few old cars. It’s surprising how well they drive. That’s what is surprising, the gearboxes, and so on. They know things now they didn’t know back then, you can fine tune things.

“A few years ago I sat in my Dad’s Ferrari T4, the 1979, and did a few laps at Fiorano,” he continues.

“I remember the first time he tested it; I was in the fig tree at Fiorano watching him. And when I tested it, I sat in his seat – it was his seat, his belt, his sweat – and it fit as if I’d had it moulded to myself. I was there thinking here was my dad, thinking ‘this is the new technology, amazing’ and I’m sitting going ‘oh wow, how can you take risks in this?’.

“When you sit in it, you think ‘this is mental, the car stops at your hips, there’s just a piece of plastic on top’. But then the plastic is put over the top and you can no longer see your toes and you forget it’s a tin can. It’s a deathtrap. But by the time you get driving, you’re there on the edge, sliding, and you forget.”

On F1 vs CART

Obviously Jacques made the jump to Formula 1 in the mid-1990s, back when the F1 cars were lightweight and the CART cars he was coming from were large and very, very fast. The contrasts are interesting.

“F1 was lighter, more nimble, like a go-kart. The Indycars were super powerful and big. It was a jump, but it wasn’t reinventing the wheel. After my F1 test, I gained half a second in Indy qually. Three days in F1 made me a better Indycar driver.

“I’m not sure what is more difficult to win, Le Mans or Indy. If you go in as an extra, Indy. The way Fernando did it, that’s always tough. If you’re not there all season, especially with the modern cars.”

On what’s been the most fun to drive

Jacques himself has had an incredibly varied career driving all sorts of cars, racing whatever is there to be raced. So, the real question is, what did he enjoy the most? He doesn’t give a definitive answer, as such, but it’s clear he’s just passionate about racing.

“I’m intrigued, I love to drive anything – motocross, snowmobiling – I like to get out there and these cars are no different. I had a blast ice racing. I did it in France, those cars are built for it, the rear wheels are steering. You’d be backwards 30 metres before a corner. You’d time it and accelerate to slow down, with wipers on the side windows. Slide and grip, slide and grip. There’s a fine line. I like skiing and snowmobiling, too. 

“I did some rallycross, which was fun. It’s hard to beat qualifying in F1 because there’s nothing faster. In terms of the reading itself, you can’t beat NASCAR – you push the limit, I give it to you, you pay me back. It’s rough and tough, I really enjoy that.

“For the level of pressure and how big it is, the Indy 500 – you can’t beat that. It’s what, 450,000 people in a stadium? You don’t get that energy anywhere else, it’s hard to beat. The bigness of it and the respect they have towards sports. Whoever’s achieved something will be respected until the day they die.”

On his tumultuous Vanwall experience

It’s clear Villeneuve has that kind of reverence for other drivers and as a keen racer himself, enough is never enough – not even a Formula 1 World Driver’s Championship, an Indy 500 win and a Champ Car title…

“I’m not retired yet, so I wouldn’t be ready to go full on in historic racing. I still enjoy working with an engineer in modern racing, to find that extra few tenths, to build that ultimate setup.”

“I did a few races last year because I was with the wrong team, the wrong people, the wrong owner. It was an awful experience. The series is amazing but the team I was with – I’d be given five laps at the end of a session on old tyres as practice before any race. We were two seconds slower, that’s not fun and they didn’t let me work on the setup. I wanted to help the team but I was told to shut up. 

“It’s a shame because it’s the new rules and I was really wanting to build it. Because I need to win the 24 Hours. I’m second in the standings – Hill won the F1 championship, Indy and the 24 Hours – and I got second in the standings. That’s the one thing I’m missing."

The 2024 Goodwood Revival takes place on 6th-8th September. You can watch every moment of the historic motorsport action right here on our live stream!

Photography by Pete Summers.