The difference between Gilles and TGF

[Liz]

Don't take it from me: take it from Keke:

Keke Rosberg

"To Gilles, racing truly was a sport, which is why he would never chop you. Something like that he'd look on with contempt. You didn't have to be a good driver to do that, let alone a great one. Anyone could do that. Gilles was the hardest ******* I ever raced against, but completely fair. If you'd beaten him to a corner, he accepted it and gave you room. Then he'd be right back at you at the next one ! Sure, he took unbelievable risks - but only with himself - and that's why I get ****ed off now when people compare Senna with him. Gilles was a giant of a driver, yes, but he was also a great man."


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"You didn't have to be a good driver to [chop other drivers], LET ALONE A GREAT ONE."

[neutral]

The quote talks about Senna and Gilles, and makes no reference to Schumi, but I can see your point. However, Formula 1 is boring enough, and I cant imagine how boring it would be if Schumi turned into Mr polite on the track. Schumi brings his own character to F1, every sport needs a baddy so to speak. I admit that he may not go down as the drivers favourite racer, the cleanest racer, or the safest racer, but it is undisputed that Schumi draws more fans to F1 than any other driver. Schumi needs F1 and F1 needs Schumi.

[Gt_R]

Need a baddy? Well Schumi isnt a baddy!~ its just that the press makes him seems like one, and pple assumes that he is one, just plain unfairness. Anyway, Schumi has been more than fair and safe these days, or years. And its irony that they brought GV up here...YES HE IS A GREAT MAN...but look at his son, JV, certainly not one. I dont think a great man would pull THAT "BATTERING RAM" STUNT in canada and then being cocky and tell pple to get out of his way in MONZA. DOES JV THINK HE GOT THE RIGHTS OF WAY AND ATTITUDE JUST BECAUSE HE HAS A "V" SURNAME??? LEARN FROM YOUR FATHER, STUPID, and i'd prefer Schumi's attitude to racing than JV's.

[freud]

Gilles drove for 'adrnaline rush' & wins....Schu drives for points & podiums.

[Bononi]

Gilles hardly would drive at the current F1. He was a kind of passioned driver that wouldn't suit with the present standards. I think he would be called as a bad driver...

[downforce]

...like Keke Rosberg is gonna say something nice about Michael...pfff
and yeah Keke yeah!...people shouldn't compare Gilles with Senna...they should try with Schumacher...but then again 22 wins in a Ferrari isn't much rite?

[Nuvolari]

If Gilles were driving in today's environment where too often who gets through the first curve determines the entire race, he might well be less the sportsman.

[neutral]

I agree with Nuvolari 100%.

[jarama]

I can't agree with both of you, chaps. I'm sure Gilles today would be the same extremely fast and totally fair driver.

[angst]

Gilles would always be the 'gentleman' - if you want to call it that - because he had a set of ethics which he lived his life with, and drove his races with. Schumi brings excitement to the sport does he? Well if barging your opponents off the track to enhance your chances of winning the WDC is your idea of hotting up the show, I can live without it. A cheat is a cheat is a cheat - end of story. MS is made out to be a 'baddy' because he cheated his way to one WDC and attempted the same with another, he has made a rod for his own back - has he ever apologised for Jerez '97? Let alone Australia '96 - and these things will linger over him like a bad smell for the rest of his career. He may be fast, he may have a good racing brain, the stats will show him to be a massive talent but to my mind he will never be a great. And I'm sure he won't care, but I have my memories of Gilles, of Prost, of Andretti, of Peterson - they don't all have the stats behind them, but they will always be greats because of the manner of their driving. The win at all costs mentality just leaves me cold.
If a long distance runner tripped his opponent up to win, would you see that as good thinking, because he won, or as the actions of a blatant cheat?

[TimD]

I'll bet if Gilles Villeneuve were alive today he'd be spending his time racing Historics, like his contemporaries Patrick Tambay and Jochen Mass.

And we'd still be in awe of what he could do with a car.

[Nuvolari]

I do not advocate a 'win-at-all-costs' philosophy; and it's impossible to know how Gilles or any other driver would act in any other era. I raise my point as a possibility, given today's racing pressures.

[freud]

Strangely, Gilles resembles Mika more than Schu in my opinion. He may not be driving a Ferrari but the ferrari of 90s doesnt have the passion of 70s, so I guess both Mika and Michael are playing equal fields.

Both Gilles and Mika are gentlemen...very fast....introvert....nice guys....baby face innocence...Both wont put anybody else in danger because of their driving...??

[Liz]

That's a good analogy of the runner tripping his opponent to win - how about a swimmer who hits her opponent in the throat, or a golfer who yells or makes a sudden move to disturb his opponent's putt - or baseball players who throw beanballs? The only thing that matters is that you win, not how you win? Not in my world, thank you. If you have to cheat, you're not a winner.

Gilles in historics ... I wish.

Someone sent me a lovely pic of Elio De Angelis from 1983 today. Isn't it remarkable how much he looked like Gilles? I remember reading about the drivers' strike and Elio playing the piano and Gilles leading the singing ...

Whatever happened to Formula One?

[Ace]

Being a French Canadian F1 fan that has been born to F1 after Gilles was gone I may sound like traitor saying that Gilles was far from being a saint, both in the track and out of it. If Rosberg thinks that Senna and Gilles are not comparable he must have his reasons. Just like Rosberg they are many that did not consider Gilles risk taking as harmless to them or as ethical or fair. Ask his wife if she considers Gilles as a good husband or even as a good father and then make your conclusions about him as a person.

The differences between Gilles and TGF or any other driver will always be enormous. First of all because they belong in different eras in F1. It would be a historical sin to say this is better or this is worse. They are just different, nothing more, nothing less. Personal preferences will always remain as personal preferences.