Two drivers, one team
Today Jacques Villeneuve and Damon Hill hold the role of ambassadors for Williams, in the same team where thirty years ago the Canadian debuted in Formula 1 with another son of a legend as his teammate. The second half of the 90s coincided with the end of the golden era for the Grove-based team, which after winning the world title with Hill in 1996 celebrated Villeneuve’s championship the following year, still today the last one celebrated by Williams in both the Drivers’ and Constructors’ championships.
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A season as teammates
Villeneuve himself went back in time remembering that two-year period, focusing in particular on the 1996 season, when he immediately fought for the world championship with Hill before the latter moved to Arrows for ’97. In the podcast Williams Team Torque, the Canadian praised the qualities of his former teammate, considering him the most difficult to defeat compared to any other driver: “I always found it much harder to fight against my teammate because it’s the same car – he stated – you share setups, you work as a team, but you still have to beat the other side of the team. And then it’s also tough for the mechanics and engineers, because they should work for the team, but obviously it becomes a bit of a personal matter. I always found this a bit harder than fighting against a driver from another team, like Michael. It all comes down to respect, whether it’s there or not – he added – if you respect your teammate, he’s an opponent to beat. You want to improve because he’s good, not because you think he isn’t. When I entered Formula 1, I had been following you since Formula 3 days, because we both had the same sponsor when I started racing, which looked for the sons of former drivers. I saw you arrive in Formula 1 because at the time I was in Japan and racing in the United States, and I saw the difficulties you faced.”
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Mutual respect
Villeneuve and Hill are united not only by their experience in the same team, but also, unfortunately, by a tragic childhood: while Hill lost his father Graham, a two-time world champion, the same happened to Jacques with Gilles, the idol of Ferrari fans. A similarity in their childhoods that, according to Hill, generated mutual respect between the two drivers: “Jacques’ father was a driver. He died tragically when Jacques was very young. My father was also a driver and I lost mine. So, I always thought there was a sort of common experience. But we entered this sport with, I believe, a strong sense of sportsmanship inherited from our fathers.”
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