Imola 1982, record figure for Villeneuve’s helmet
The helmet worn by Gilles Villeneuve in his last Formula 1 race was sold at auction for about 1.25 million dollars, which at the current exchange rate is 1.07 million euros. It is a record figure for a helmet used in a race by a driver: the previous record belonged to a helmet used by Ayrton Senna in the 1992 Belgian Grand Prix, sold in April 2025 for about 847 thousand euros.
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The sale was managed by the Canadian company Hall of Fame Collection. The Aviator helmet, which features a red livery with black side stripes and a stylized “V” on the back, came from a private collection, where it had been kept for almost three decades. The Ferrari driver wore it during the 1982 San Marino Grand Prix.
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The Imola race went down in history as the episode that triggered a tragic series of events, culminating in Villeneuve’s own death. The Canadian felt betrayed by his Ferrari teammate Didier Pironi, who overtook him at the end of the GP despite the “Slow” sign displayed by the red box: according to him, he stole the victory. Two weeks later, Villeneuve arrived in Zolder still very angry with the Frenchman. To stay ahead of him in qualifying, he took a slow lap back to the pits at high speed and hit Jochen Mass’s March, which was moving slowly on the right. The impact was violent: Villeneuve was thrown almost 50 meters, ending against the fencing nets. He died in the evening and is still one of the most loved drivers by Ferrari fans.
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