1997 F1 World Champion Jacques Villeneuve got behind the wheel of Alpine’s 2021 F1 car at Monza following the Italian Grand Prix.
The test was the first time the 51-year-old Jacques Volneuve has driven a modern F1 car since his last race for BMW Sauber at Hockenheim in 2006.
Some things remained the same – the track, the team, Fernando Alonso and even the difficulty of overtaking – while others changed dramatically, from the health of the championship itself to the drivers’ races.
Even the organic part in the middle of the carbon fiber is of a different kind than it was 16 years ago when Jacques Villeneuve made his final entry at the 2006 German Grand Prix.
These days, F1 drivers are younger than ever and in the social media spotlight. In Jacques Villeneuve’s time, he was still an infant.
How the 1995 Indy 500 winner’s muscle memory kicked in despite not driving an F1 car at Monza since finishing 11th in the 2005 race with Sauber I was shocked.
“The car was actually very stable. It was very easy to drive, but the grip was very high,” began Jacques Villeneuve.
“Speed… my brain is really struggling to make sense of it. It felt like I was glued to the ground and watching a fast-forwarded movie. It’s really impressive.”
“After a number of laps in the simulator, I looked at the drives (of Esteban Ocon and Alonso) to see where the braking points were.
“The brain remembers everything. It remembers the racing line and anything that happened 15 or 16 years ago.”
“Where to brake, how to brake, even the braking board, it’s all there.”
“So the memory isn’t gone. But even with that memory, stepping on the brakes and finishing braking, the corner was still 50 meters away!}
One of the things that Jacques Villeneuve didn’t expect so much was the progress in aerodynamics while he was away.”
2006 was another complicated one, but 16 years of development and research have completely re-examined how aero is deployed in F1. Jacques Villeneuve describes the aerodynamic effect as something like a ‘parachute’.
“Even if you don’t apply the brakes, you feel like a parachute is braking the car,” observes Jacques Villeneuve.
“I can’t remember ever having the opportunity to drive such a stable car.”
“I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to lift my head, but I managed to do so. I’m dying of pain tonight!”
Category: F1 / Jacques Villeneuve / Alpine
