Formula 1 1997 world champion Jacques Villeneuve has given his side of a controversy over Charles Leclerc’s use of his father Gilles’ helmet design in a tribute at the Canadian Grand Prix.
Ferrari announced before the Montreal weekend that Leclerc would run Gilles Villeneuve’s helmet colours at the track named in his honour.
But on Saturday Leclerc reverted to his usual helmet design for final practice, amid reports of a disagreement with the Villeneuve family and an intervention from Jacques.
This was resolved before qualifying, with Leclerc posing for pictures with Gilles Villeneuve’s wife Joann and daughter Melanie.
On Sunday Jacques Villeneuve took to social media to hit back at ‘insults’ the Villeneuves had received over the situation, explaining what had taken place between him and Leclerc.
“To clarify the situation regarding the recent incident where some individuals felt the need to insult me and my family over Charles Leclerc using my dad’s helmet, I want to provide some context,” Villeneuve wrote.
“As I was arriving at the track, my sister called me in a state of anger. She had seen Charles using our dad’s helmet without any prior knowledge or communication about it.
“The entire family was taken by surprise, as we had not been informed beforehand.
“I immediately conveyed the message to Charles, who was kind enough to give me a call.
“We had a heartfelt conversation where he sincerely apologised for the situation.
“I reassured him that I considered it a touching tribute and that I personally had no issues with it.
“However, I stressed the importance of him reaching out to my sister, as she is the one responsible for managing everything related to our dad.
“I also suggested that he invite both my sister and mother to the track to address any remaining concerns.
“Fortunately, everything eventually worked out, but it would have been preferable for these discussions and arrangements to take place before the weekend in a respectful and professional manner.
“Unfortunately, the incident was blown out of proportion, turning it into an unnecessary controversy.”
Asked after qualifying if he could clarify what had happened regarding the Villeneuve helmet’s temporary disappearance, Leclerc replied: “I don’t want this to be the headline, everything is fine now.” He also emphasised that he “wanted to do this tribute in good faith”.
Gilles Villeneuve won six F1 races – the first of them the inaugural Montreal Canadian GP in 1978 – for Ferrari while regularly achieving near-miracles in its cars between late 1977 and his death in qualifying for the 1982 Belgian GP.
Keyword: Villeneuve clarifies Leclerc tribute helmet issue after ‘insults’