Jacques Villeneuve

His mother, Joann, promised she would allow him to drive a kart if he got good marks in one of his weakest subjects, mathematics. Villeneuve applied himself at school and soon got the marks he required for his mother to fulfill her promise. A year later, Joann allowed him to drive a 100 cc kart at a kart track in Imola. The owners of the track, Luigi and Massimo Buratti, were impressed by the Canadian and after proving himself in a 100 cc machine, he moved up to the 135 cc version before, on the same day, being allowed onto the Grand Prix circuit with a Formula Four car.

Soon, Villeneuve's uncle, Jacques Sr., enrolled him at the Jim Russell Racing Driver School in Mont Tremblant, Quebec. Villeneuve's course lasted three days and in that time the Canadian demonstrated a great amount of concentration for a boy of his age. At the end of his course, the young Canadian received his diploma and chief instructor Gilbert Pednault declared Villeneuve as the best student he'd ever seen. Read Less

Villeneuve's first girlfriend was Sandrine Gros d'Aillon. They dated until the late 1990s. Villeneuve was also engaged to Australian singer Dannii Minogue in the late 1990s and was once engaged to American ballerina Ellen Green. Read Less

Instead, he decided that he would see out his present deal in the hope of landing a role at another Grand Prix team the following year. The Canadian was joined by Jenson Button from Renault in 2003 as Panis was offered a drive at the Toyota which the Frenchman took. Button would prove to become the second of Villeneuve's teammates to outscore him in the Drivers' Championship as, unlike the Canadian, the Briton was able to score consistently with the BAR 005, finishing in the points every two races on average.

Villeneuve was criticized by the media for being outpaced by his inexperienced teammate and before the final round in Japan, the Canadian was replaced by former British Formula Three Champion Takuma Sato.

With no contract for 2004, Villeneuve was forced to take a sabbatical, but maintained that he wanted to return to the sport. He continued training and made a special appearance at the Goodwood Festival of Speed driving his late father's Ferrari. In September, Villeneuve returned to Formula One, driving the final three Grands Prix of the season for the French Renault team. Jarno Trulli had fallen out of favour and team boss Flavio Briatore felt Villeneuve would be worth a gamble. Although vowing to help Renault achieve second place in the constructors championship, ahead of his former team BAR, Villeneuve failed to score a single point, unable to finish any of his races on the lead lap; Renault settled for third in the final standings. Read Less

In January 2007, Villeneuve purchased a $3 million home in Westmount in Montreal. His mother was the real estate agent responsible for the sale of the home. Jacques owned a trendy nightclub and restaurant in Montreal called Newtown, which is the English translation of his French last name ('Ville' means 'Town', and 'Neuve' means 'new'). It is located on Crescent Street. He sold it in 2009. Read Less

Jacques Villeneuve was one of several celebrity Canadians who carried the Olympic flag into Vancouver Olympic Stadium during the Opening Ceremony of the 21st Winter Olympic Games. He also carried the Olympic torch. Read Less