Villeneuve and Pironi

Bitter dispute by Richard Seymour

Gilles Villeneuve referred to his fall-out with teammate Didier Pironi as a 'War.' Not only a measure of Villeneuve's anger - in retrospect - it is a painful insight into the heart of a man who did not have time to forgive.

Gilles Villeneuve was a rarity - a legend in his own lifetime; a man who evoked every emotion that a Grand Prix fan craves. To see him haul his often-cumbersome Ferrari around the world's racetracks, far faster than it had any right to go, was to remind you why you loved this sport so much.

We may never again see a Ferrari (or any other car) exit a corner on opposite-lock and proceed along the following straight sideways, spitting grass and dirt from the back tires at one hundred and thirty miles an hour; its engine wailing while the driver refuses to lift off the gas. It was also difficult to reconcile the sight of the tiny French-Canadian emerging from the hulking cockpit with the man who necessitated his mechanics to fit extra-large drive shafts to endure the punishment he put them through.

On the other side of the Ferrari pit in 1982 you would have found Frenchman, Didier Pironi. Other than a language, the teammates shared a friendship. Gilles liked Pironi - trusted him even. This may have been symptomatic of Gilles' openness rather than Pironi's affability. Interestingly: Gilles' wife did not share her husband's view; she thought him scheming and political.

The 1982 season began badly for all those close to the sport. A split between Formula One's two governing bodies made the pit-lane a cold place to work and very early in the campaign events would take a tragic turn for the worse.

The San Marino Grand Prix of that year took place with a depleted field. Teams affiliated to the Formula One Constructors Association boycotted the meeting and may have over-shadowed what was to take place on the track.

The record books will show that Didier Pironi won the race but reveal very little of the manner of his victory. The Ferrari's were running in second and third behind the Renault of Renee Arnoux. When the French car's engine blew, Gilles Villeneuve took over the lead with Pironi in a distant second. Those on the day who knew anything of Ferrari policy were sure - assuming neither car broke down - this would be the order in which they finished.

A nonsensical rule handed down from above meant that any driver rash enough to actually race would certainly run out of fuel several laps before the chequered flag. Had both Ferrari's been allowed to race each other the likely sight of both red cars rolling silently to a halt on the final lap would surely lead to the lynching of anyone attached to the team.

Mindful of his fuel consumption (which had suffered during early exchanges with Arnoux) Gilles eased off considerably, allowing Pironi to close the gap - pass - and accelerate into the lead.

Though he thought this misjudged showboating, Gilles continued to believe the race to be his. They passed and re-passed a couple of times hence before Pironi won the race, consigning a furious Villeneuve to second.

The bitterness Villeneuve felt was clear as the two men stood on the podium, not so much as casting a glance the other's way. At the risk of seeming petulant at losing: a normally approachable Villeneuve left the circuit without speaking to anyone for fear of making comments he may later regret.

Pironi and team manager Piccinini took the opportunity to claim there had been no team orders. Pre-empting Villeneuve's claim that Pironi allowed him to re-pass simply to save fuel in his slipstream they stated Villeneuve's car was suffering from an engine problem. This is something Gilles denied utterly.

On the face of it: this is a classic case of there being two sides to every story. However, Villeneuve's disgust was very real; as was his lament that maybe that year would be his last as a Ferrari driver. For those who had been present from the beginning of the love affair between driver and team, that it had come to this, was heartbreaking. Though it is doubtful Villeneuve would have ever warmed to his teammate again it is more likely he would not have felt able to drag himself from the team. Enzo Ferrari, notoriously detached from those he chose to drive his cars, had backed Gilles after the race and the unusual sentiment he felt towards him may have been what kept Gilles in Italy. Sadly, we can only speculate.

At the next meeting - in Zolder, Belgium - Gilles Villeneuve collided with a slower moving car, which sent his Ferrari No. 27 into the air and the brightest light that shone in a dark time for the sport was extinguished. The last weeks of Gilles Villeneuve's life had been stained by bitterness. He had felt hurt and cheated and it was in this state of mind that he died.

Didier Pironi looked every inch the champion for that year till he too suffered a horrendous accident at very high speed during a dangerously wet qualifying session for the German Grand Prix. What was seen as luck for surviving the crash proved to be no more than five-years grace. In 1987, Didier Pironi was killed during a powerboat race. A tragic end to a very sorry story.

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