Formula 1: 5 times Gilles Villeneuve was the ideal entertainer of F1

Around he goes at Silverstone

Round nine of the 1981 season took place at Silverstone. By this point in the season, Gilles Villeneuve had notched up two famous wins at Monaco and Jarama, but he still found himself dragging the dogged yet beautiful Ferrari 126C into positions it did not belong.

Villeneuve had made another strong start from eighth place on the grid but found himself struggling to keep up with the lead cars in the first few laps. Then at Woodcote corner at the end of the third lap, he clouted the kerb harder than he wanted to, sending his lethargic Ferrari bouncing and into a spin — while creating a cloud of tire smoke in the process, obviously.

Alright, so he did cause an incident which ended the races of Alan Jones and Andrea de Cesaris — get over it.

What followed is the great part. Yet again, Villeneuve’s unwillingness to give up kicked on. The camera panned further down the start/finish straight to see the #27 Ferrari, already in pieces with parts flying off, mowing along the grass before entering the track once again.

The car looked almost uncontrollable with the damage it had sustained, and ultimately Villeneuve had to stop the car. A hasty exit yet nonchalant in its own way showed his feelings with a quick glance back at the car to see the damage he had caused. Could it be fixed and could he get back out there? No, another day’s work was done.