F1 Classic

Chris Amon was among those who recognised Gilles Villeneuves’s talent very early. What’s more, he adviced his team boss to hire Gilles intead of himself. That’s how he remembers all this.

Where and when did you get to know Gilles?
I knew of Gilles from his exploits in Formula Atlantic and stories of his battles with Keke Rosberg in that series.  I first got to know him after the Can-Am race at St Jovite Canada in 1977, a race I had finished second in driving the Wolf-Dallara car. Apart from being the driver I was also the team manager and was finding it difficult to do both jobs properly, it was my intention to retire completely from racing at the end of that series anyway so I suggested to team owner Walter Wolf that we find another driver.  Walter was a part time Montreal resident so of course knew of Gilles as I did so it was agreed we would approach Gilles to see if he was interested to test the car and possibly drive for the rest of the season.  This is subsequently what happened.

 How did you see him as a young talent?

It became obvious to me very early on in our relationship that he was an exceptional talent, very quick but at that point fair to say a little rough around the edges and pretty hard on machinery.

There is a famous story of you calling Walter Wolf telling him... - could you recall it how was it precisely?

I can't really remember the details of my call to Walter Wolf but I think it was after Gilles tested the car at St Jovite and I think I probably relayed to Walter that his lap time was quite a bit quicker than I had achieved over the race weekend. We did subsequently discover that he had missed out the chicane on the back straight on his fastest laps which certainly would have helped the lap times, regardless of that, I conveyed to Walter the fact I thought he was very talented and suggested we run him for the rest of the season.

How was your relation on personal level?

I think our relationship on a personal level was very good and he was very well liked by the other team members. I had some amusing moments with him, at least they are amusing in hindsight. Gilles drove on the road in a fairly similar manner to the way he drove on track, no obstacle to great to overcome. I only rode with him twice, the first time was from the circuit back to the motel at St Jovite after which I swore I would never get in a car with him again, I did however end up going from the motel at Watkins Glen to the circuit, we were running a little late and there was quite a line of cars waiting to enter the circuit, to Gilles this presented no problem at all, he drove through roadside ditches, down the oncoming lane, in fact anywhere the car would fit, we entered the circuit remarkably quickly however with a number of members of the local Sherrifs department in tow. After that I made absolutely sure I never rode with him again.

Did you speak also with Enzo Ferrari about Gilles' hiring or after his catastrophal two debut races?

I didn't speak with Enzo Ferrari about Gilles but I did speak to one or two of the team personnel about him, I'm struggling to remember who, suggesting that I thought he was a very good prospect for the future.

You drove against many greats like Clark, Rindt, Stewart. Was Villeneuve in the same league?

It is difficult for me to compare Gilles with people such as Clark, Rindt, Stewart etc because I never raced against him but comparing his performance against people that I did race against I would suggest that he was certainly in that league.

How do you see his carreer at Ferrari? You know Ferrari from inside and the Commendatore. Why was Gilles a driver for them?

By the time Gilles arrived at Ferrari I think things may have changed somewhat compared to my day, I feel the Montezemolo, Lauda years had probably done that, but I think Ferrari himself would have very much liked Gilles slightly outrageous driving style and on track antics.

Did you keep contact when Gilles drove for Maranello? When did you talk for the last time?

I didn't have any direct contact with Gilles after 1977, I came back to New Zealand at the end of that year to live and it was to be some twelve years before I went back to Europe for a visit. I did have some indirect contact with him through one or two journalists that I kept in touch with.

Knowing his driving style was it almost a destiny for him dying in a racing car? How did you get the news of Gilles' death?

I actually didn't have any concerns about Gilles being likely to die racing, obviously you could never be sure about mechanical breakages and their like, but I always felt he had brilliant car control which would keep him out of trouble. Given the events leading up to his death I have always thought that he probably was not totally himself when the accident occurred. At the time he died it was the middle of the night in New Zealand so I learned of his death via a morning radio news broadcast.

How is your link to Maranello today? Do you visit them - are they inviting you for some occasions?

I'm ashamed to say I haven't been back to Maranello since the seventies, I receive invitations to the ten year anniversaries but for various reasons I've become a reluctant traveller as time has passed.