Michael Schumacher delivered five World Championships for Ferrari, Kimi Räikkönen brought the Drivers’ title back to Maranello in 2007 and a long list of Formula 1 greats have worn red. Yet Jean Alesi believes one driver continues to occupy a unique position above them all in the eyes of Italian fans and the country’s media: Gilles Villeneuve.
The Canadian never became Formula 1 World Champion and his statistical record is modest compared with Ferrari’s most successful drivers. Nevertheless, according to Alesi, Villeneuve continues to finish first whenever the Italian press considers the greatest drivers to have represented the Scuderia. His appeal is therefore based on something that victories, podiums and championships alone cannot fully measure.
Jean Alesi says Gilles Villeneuve remains number one in Italy
Ferrari’s history includes some of the most successful names Formula 1 has ever produced. Michael Schumacher inevitably dominates any discussion based purely on results after winning five of his seven World Championships with the Scuderia and leading Maranello through its extraordinary period of dominance in the early 2000s.
Alain Prost, Kimi Räikkönen and Sebastian Vettel all formed significant chapters of Ferrari’s modern history, while Lewis Hamilton is now attempting to add his own legacy with the Italian team. Comparisons have even been made inside Maranello between Hamilton’s influence and elements of Ferrari’s great historical eras and drivers.
For Jean Alesi, however, the emotional hierarchy in Italy is different from the statistical one. Speaking on the Beyond The Grid podcast, the former Ferrari driver explained that Gilles Villeneuve remains his own hero and, in his view, still occupies first place among Ferrari drivers for Italian supporters.
Alesi described how Italian media rankings of the greatest Ferrari drivers continue to place the Canadian at the top. That makes comparisons between his own driving style and Villeneuve particularly meaningful to him, although the Frenchman was reluctant to put himself on the same level as the driver he admired. Instead, Alesi characterised his own approach during that era as instinctive.
Why Gilles Villeneuve’s Ferrari status goes beyond statistics
Looking only at the numbers makes Villeneuve’s position unusual. He won six Formula 1 Grands Prix and recorded 13 podium finishes, but never claimed the World Championship. His best championship result came in 1979, when he finished runner-up to Ferrari team-mate Jody Scheckter.
Those figures place him well behind Schumacher and several other Ferrari champions in conventional measures of success. Yet Villeneuve’s reputation has never depended solely on his career totals. His spectacular commitment behind the wheel, extraordinary car control and instinctive racing style helped create an emotional connection with Ferrari supporters that survived long beyond his time in Formula 1.
That legacy remains powerful decades later. Members of his family have continued to discuss the way modern Ferrari drivers carry elements of his spirit, with Joann Villeneuve identifying Charles Leclerc among drivers who reflect aspects of Gilles Villeneuve’s legacy.
His Formula 1 career lasted only six years before his death in 1982, cutting short a story that had already established him as one of the sport’s most admired talents. Villeneuve’s relatively short career is therefore an important part of why his statistics tell only a fraction of the story remembered by Ferrari fans.
Gilles Villeneuve’s driving style became part of his legend
Villeneuve’s reputation was built as much around how he drove as what he ultimately achieved. His willingness to push machinery to its limits produced a style that became synonymous with commitment and instinct, qualities that helped explain his extraordinary popularity at Ferrari.
Peter Windsor has previously highlighted an example involving Villeneuve’s use of the gearbox, describing the Canadian as much harder on it than Ayrton Senna would later be. Windsor suggested that Senna would not have attempted the same technique. The two drivers never raced against one another in Formula 1, with Villeneuve’s career ending in 1982 and Senna entering the championship in 1984.
Stories such as these contribute to an image of a driver whose talent was judged not only through results but through the extraordinary things he attempted inside a Formula 1 car. That reputation has helped his name remain central to Ferrari’s identity more than four decades after his death.
The continuing fascination was illustrated again when Gilles Villeneuve’s 1982 San Marino Grand Prix helmet sold for $1.25 million, underlining the enduring interest surrounding his career and Ferrari connection.
Jean Alesi understands the emotional bond with Gilles Villeneuve
Jean Alesi’s perspective carries particular relevance because his own Ferrari career created a similar emotional relationship with the tifosi despite never producing a World Championship. The Frenchman raced for Maranello from 1991 to 1995 and became one of the Scuderia’s most popular figures of that era.
His aggressive and instinctive driving style naturally led to comparisons with Villeneuve, something Alesi considers a major compliment precisely because the Canadian was his childhood hero. The former Ferrari driver nevertheless resisted equating himself directly with Villeneuve, regarding the Canadian as a unique figure rather than simply another driver with a similar approach.
That helps explain why the idea of a definitive greatest Ferrari driver depends heavily on the criteria being used. Schumacher has an overwhelming statistical case, while Ferrari’s history also includes multiple World Champions and Grand Prix winners whose results surpassed those of Villeneuve.
Emotional connection produces a different answer. Villeneuve’s attacking style, personality and brief but unforgettable career helped create a bond that has persisted across generations, and his route into Ferrari itself was almost very different before he became permanently associated with Maranello.
Gilles Villeneuve’s family eventually secured an F1 world title
The championship that Gilles Villeneuve never managed to win was eventually claimed by his son. Jacques Villeneuve became Formula 1 World Champion in 1997 after defeating Michael Schumacher in their title battle.
The championship was decided at the season finale in Jerez, where Schumacher and Jacques Villeneuve collided while fighting for the title. The German was subsequently disqualified from the 1997 championship, while Jacques Villeneuve secured the crown.
For Gilles Villeneuve, there was never an opportunity to complete the same achievement. His six victories and 13 podiums cannot match Ferrari’s greatest champions statistically, but Jean Alesi’s assessment illustrates why numbers have never defined the Canadian’s place within the Scuderia’s history.
More than four decades after his final Formula 1 race, Villeneuve remains a benchmark for what Ferrari supporters value beyond trophies: instinct, commitment and an emotional connection between driver, car and tifosi. For Alesi, that is why the Canadian can still sit at the top of Italian Ferrari rankings even without a World Championship beside his name.
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