– In 1997, Jacques Villeneuve became Formula 1 World Champion for the first and only time. The Canadian then prevailed against Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher in a tough title fight, which was only decided at the now legendary season finale in Jerez.
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According to Villeneuve himself, his toughest championship fight was not the duel with “Schumi”. “I always found it much more difficult to compete against my own teammate because we drive the same car,” explains the now 55-year-old in the Williams podcast Team Torque.
Specifically, Villeneuve talks about the title duel a year earlier. In 1996, as a rookie, he fought against his then Williams teammate Damon Hill for the world championship. And according to him, this fight was more difficult than the duel with Schumacher a year later.
“It’s the same car, you share the set-ups, you work as a team, but you still have to beat the other side of the team,” he explains, emphasizing that it’s “difficult for the mechanics and engineers, because they are actually supposed to work for the team.”
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“But of course, it then gets a bit personal. I always found that a bit more difficult than competing against a driver from another team, like Michael, for example,” explains the Canadian.
Although Villeneuve won four races in his rookie season in 1996, the title ultimately went to Hill with 97:78 championship points. At the season finale in Suzuka, Villeneuve still had a mathematical chance for the title, but retired there with a defect, while Hill won.
A year later, Villeneuve went into the Jerez finale one point behind Schumacher, where the two title rivals collided. “Schumi” retired and was later excluded from the championship because he had deliberately driven into Villeneuve’s car.
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The Canadian still finished third and thus became world champion.
