Former Formula 1 star Jacques Villeneuve has revealed that despite fighting Michael Schumacher for the World Championship, there was one driver who he found harder to race against.
The Canadian endured a titanic battle with the German in 1997, which lasted the entire 17-round championship, culminating in an infamous conclusion at the final race in Jerez.
When diving down the inside of the Ferrari for the lead, Schumacher turned in on the Williams, but only resulted in putting himself into the gravel and out of the race.
Villeneuve nursed his ailing car to third place, which saw him secure the championship.
But the son of the great Gilles Villeneuve detailed why his first-ever F1 teammate, Damon Hill, was in fact a harder opponent.
Now both ambassadors for the Williams team, Villeneuve and Hill discussed the topic on its Team Torque podcast.
“I always found it a lot harder to fight your own teammate because it’s the same car,” Villeneuve said. “It’s the same car, you share the setups, you work as a team, but you still need to beat the other side of the team.
“And then it’s tough for the mechanics and the engineers because they’re supposed to work for the team, but of course, it becomes a little bit personal.
“I’ve always found that a little bit more difficult than fighting a driver that’s from a different team, like Michael.”
Villeneuve highlights ‘respect’ for Hill upon reaching F1
Villeneuve cited there was a “respect” for Hill, which added to the dynamic of their own title battle, in his debut season the year previously, when Hill eventually beat Villeneuve at the final round in Japan.
“It’s all down to the respect whether there’s respect or not. If you respect your team-mate, he’s a guy to beat. You want to be better because he’s good, not because you don’t think he’s any good.
“When I got into F1, I’d been watching you racing since my Formula 3 days because we both had the same sponsor when I started racing when they wanted the sons of ex-racers.
“I’d been watching you get to F1 because at the time I was in Japan and racing in the States, and I’d seen the hardships you’ve been through.”
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