Frank Dernie an engineer for the Williams Grand Prix team during the era when Gilles Villeneuve was at his peak with Ferrari. This is how he saw Gilles looking from the Williams team.
As a young engineer how did you rate Gilles when he arrived in F1?
Gilles had a reputation as a carefree guy with massive skills.
Did you see him as having special talent?
Yes and no. He had the talent but, it seemed to me lacked either the intelligence or maybe the application to put together a championship. He seemed to live for the day and not plan for the future at all. He seemed not to have good "mechanical sympathy" which is very important to be a champion.
Did you have any kind of professional or personal contact?
Personal a bit but no professional contact. Back then Patrick Head and I split the races 50:50 but I did all the testing, so I saw Gilles often and he was the main opposition to Alan Jones.
In 1979 you had the FW07 against the 312 T4. How do you look back on this season of fighting with the Ferraris?
It was the first year we had a fast car. We brought it out late and had quite a few reliability problems, it was a learning year for us. The Ferrari was a fabulous engine and gearbox in a poor chassis with weak aerodynamics, when both were running well it was over 1 sec per lap slower than us but we did not score in enough races.
How was Gilles seen as a driver by Williams?
He was the only driver respected by Jones. We loved to watch him in qualifying and races. We didn't expect him to win the championship. He had speed but made too many mistakes.
Was there, to your knowledge, an option for Frank Williams to hire Villeneuve?
The opportunity never arose, so we did not discuss it.
Why do you think he has become such a legend?
Spectacular driver who was killed, I suppose.
You were also working in Formula One when Gilles' son Jacques was driving for Williams. Can you compare them for us?
I got to know Jaques well. In terms of sheer speed I don't think he matched his father at all, but in terms of intelligence and application to getting good results he was very much better and he won the championship, which I still think Gilles never would even if he had lived. I liked the man, loved the spectacle of him driving, but he was never a hero to me. I do not consider him one of the great drivers.
