Jacques Villeneuve

Jacques Villeneuve arrived in Formula 1 preceded by two enormous weights: his father's name, the legendary Gilles Villeneuve, and a reputation already forged on the other side of the Atlantic. Before setting foot in F1 he had won the IndyCar championship and the Indianapolis 500 in 1995, an unusual CV for a newcomer.

He debuted in 1996 with Williams, the best car on the grid, and came within a whisker of the title in his first year. He clinched it in 1997, in a brutal season against Schumacher's Ferrari settled in the Jerez controversy, where the German tried to run him off the track and was excluded from the championship. Villeneuve, with his blond mane and aggressive style, was a global star.

His decision to leave Williams to lead the ambitious BAR project derailed his competitive career: he never won again and faded away at underperforming teams. Even so, his name remains forever tied to one of the most memorable championship finales in history.