Joseph Gilles Henri Villeneuve (French pronunciation: [ʒil vil.nœv]; 18 January 1950 – 8 May 1982) was a Canadian racing driver, who competed in Formula One from 1977 to 1982.

Amidst struggles with Michelin's radial tyres the following year, Villeneuve took his maiden podium in Austria before winning his home Grand Prix in Canada.

After a winless season for Ferrari with the 312T5 in 1980, Villeneuve took back-to-back wins at the Monaco and Spanish Grands Prix in 1981, earning further acclaim for his defensive tactics at the latter.

[8] Villeneuve started competitive driving in local drag-racing events, entering his road car, a modified 1967 Ford Mustang.

He then had a very successful season in Quebec regional Formula Ford, running his own two-year-old car and winning seven of the ten races he entered.

[12] He credited some of his success to his snowmobiling days: Every winter, you would reckon on three or four big spills — and I'm talking about being thrown on to the ice at 100 miles per hour.

[14] Villeneuve made his debut at the 1977 British Grand Prix, where he qualified 9th in McLaren's old M23, separating the regular drivers Hunt and Jochen Mass who were driving newer M26s.

The British press coverage of Villeneuve's performance was generally complimentary, including John Blunsden's comment in The Times that "Anyone seeking a future World Champion need look no further than this quietly assured young man.

"[15] Despite this, shortly after the British race McLaren's experienced team manager Teddy Mayer decided not to continue with Villeneuve for the following year.

His explanation was that Villeneuve "was looking as though he might be a bit expensive" and that Patrick Tambay, the team's eventual choice for 1978, was showing similar promise.

[18] Villeneuve later remarked that: "If someone said to me that you can have three wishes, my first would have been to get into racing, my second to be in Formula 1, my third to drive for Ferrari..."[13] Villeneuve's arrival was prompted by Ferrari driver Niki Lauda quitting the team at the penultimate race of the 1977 season, the Canadian Grand Prix at Mosport Park near Toronto, having already clinched his second championship with the Italian team.

Early in the season, he started on the front row at the United States Grand Prix West in Long Beach, but crashed out of the lead on lap 39.

The cars bumped hard, Villeneuve slid wide but then passed Arnoux on the inside at a hairpin turn and held him off for the last half of the lap to secure second place.

"[24] At the Dutch Grand Prix a slow puncture collapsed Villeneuve's left rear tyre and put him off the track.

During the extremely wet Friday practice session for the season-ending United States Grand Prix, Villeneuve set a time variously reported to be either 9 or 11 seconds faster than any other driver.

Villeneuve had been considered favourite for the Drivers' Championship by bookmakers in the United Kingdom,[27] though he only scored six points in the whole campaign in the 312T5 which had only partial ground effects.

For the 1981 season, Ferrari introduced their first turbocharged engined F1 car, the 126C, which produced tremendous power but was let down by its poor handling.

[29] Harvey Postlethwaite, who was hired by Ferrari to design the follow-on and much more successful 126C2 that won the Constructors' Championship in 1982, later commented on the 126C: "That car...had literally one quarter of the downforce that, say Williams or Brabham had.

There was a risk of being disqualified but eventually the wing detached and Villeneuve drove on to finish third with the nose section of his car missing.

[32] The first few races of the 1982 season saw Villeneuve leading in Brazil in the new 126C2, before spinning into retirement, and finishing third at the United States Grand Prix West before being disqualified for a technical infringement.

[36] However, Villeneuve's biographer Gerald Donaldson quotes Ferrari race engineer Mauro Forghieri as saying that the Canadian, although pressing on in his usual fashion, was returning to the pit lane when the accident occurred.

[37] With eight minutes of the session left, Villeneuve came over the rise after the first chicane and caught Jochen Mass travelling much more slowly through Butte, the left-handed bend before the Terlamenbocht double right-hand section.

Villeneuve, still strapped to his seat, but now without his helmet, was thrown a further 50 m (160 ft) from the wreckage into the catch fencing on the outside edge of the Terlamenbocht corner.

[39] The first doctor arrived within 35 seconds to find that Villeneuve was not breathing, although with a pulse; he was intubated and ventilated before being transferred to the circuit medical centre and subsequently by helicopter to University St Raphael Hospital in Leuven where a fatal fracture of the neck was diagnosed.

[42] Villeneuve's helmet had a base colour of dark blue, with a stylised 'V' in orange on either side—an effect he devised with his wife Joann.

[44] Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc wore a one-off tribute helmet to Villeneuve at the 2023 Canadian Grand Prix, using a similar design.

[46] At his funeral in Berthierville, former teammate Jody Scheckter delivered the eulogy: "For me, firstly, Gilles was the most genuine person I ever knew.

"[47] In Villeneuve's entry in The Canadian Encyclopedia, Bob Ferguson and Michael Gee wrote that retrospective comments were complimentary of his driving, and said he was approachable and spoke informally to the media and fans.

27 during his IndyCar and Indianapolis 500 winning season with Team Green, and has also used the number for occasional drives in NASCAR and the Speedcar Series.

Villeneuve appears in a number of stories, and in Steve Warson contre Michel Vaillant (fr: "Steve Warson versus Michel Vaillant") becomes the 1980 World Champion (though in the 1981 season, covered in Rififi en F1 ("Trouble in F1"), Graton acknowledges Alan Jones as the real Champion)[59] and Quebec progressive rock and pop band The Box based their 1984 song "Live on TV" inspired by Villeneuve's televised death.