The circumstances surrounding the tragic death of former Formula 1 driver Gilles Villeneuve are shed from a never-before-seen angle in the documentary Villeneuve Pironi, broadcast on Crave. Beyond motorsport, this film addresses human aspects that will captivate a wider audience.
The story explains the friendship between the Quebecer and Didier Pironi, his teammate at Ferrari. From friendship to betrayal, the documentary dissects the state of mind of the mythical racing driver shortly before the accident that cost him his life on May 8, 1982.
Two weeks before Villeneuve’s fatal exit from the track, the Frenchman had overtaken the Quebec driver at the end of the race during the Italian Grand Prix, thus breaking an unwritten rule of respect for positions between teammates in Formula 1. After this betrayal, Villeneuve stopped speaking to Pironi.
Through highly relevant archival footage and touching interviews, the documentary brilliantly manages to explain a story still little known to the public.
“It’s like a tragedy, we could have written it,” said Gilles Villeneuve’s daughter, Mélanie Villeneuve, in a telephone interview. She mentions that the documentary “brings back the competition between two people, where there are actions taken that have major consequences on other people.”
Available this Monday on the Crave platform, the Villeneuve Pironi documentary is presented for the first time in Canada after having been broadcast in Europe at the start of the year. Among the report’s producers is former Formula 1 driver Mark Webber.
It mainly features the family of Gilles Villeneuve, his wife, Joann, his daughter, Mélanie, and his son, Jacques, also a famous Formula 1 driver.
It presents a certain family dynamic where Gilles was much harder with his son than with his daughter. Members of Didier Pironi’s family are also present, including his children, who are also involved.
With an exceptional charisma, Gilles Villeneuve has marked more than one generation of admirers of the popular Italian team. Loved not only by everyone around him, Gilles “had become a national idol in Italy,” says Mélanie Villeneuve.
Joann Villeneuve admits in a telephone interview that when she visits Italy, young adults recognize her, even though more than 40 years have passed since her husband’s death. “They tell me that Gilles is an inspiration to them. »
Gilles had a very close relationship with the founder of Ferrari, Enzo Ferrari, who even saw him as a spiritual son. “My life is littered with sad memories. Parents, brothers, sons, I look back and see the faces of my loved ones, and among those faces I see the face of Gilles,” he said after Villeneuve’s death.
Many unpublished archive images that the Villeneuve family had never seen in broad daylight are found in the documentary. “I’m rediscovering my father in a way,” adds Mélanie Villeneuve.
We see, among other things, images of the very modest beginnings of Gilles Villeneuve, where he piloted snowmobiles before being spotted by the Italian team. According to his wife, people will be delighted “to see that you can start from nothing and reach the top of your sport or your choice of life”.
