TREMAYNE: ‘The ultimate warrior, but also an honourable knight’ – Why ‘throwback racer’ Gilles Villeneuve was so special

This weekend the current generation of Formula 1 drivers will do battle at a circuit named after Canada’s greatest racer. F1 Hall of Fame journalist David Tremayne explains just what made Gilles Villeneuve so special…

Gilles Villeneuve’s detractors always alleged that he was a car breaker.

Others, such as Alan Jones who was in a far better position to offer real judgement, spoke of how when Gilles put you under pressure, even in a bad car versus a beautiful ground-effect Williams FW07, all you had to do was dare to sneak a breath and you’d lose any advantage you’d worked so hard to open up on him.