This wrote:I don't quite think you got my point. i never stated these drivers were not special, but it must be admitted they weren't that special as lot of people claim either. So basically these quotes matter partially, but they don't matter more or less than those about Prost. I also do not wish to say Villeneuve and Senna are bad persons, i'm just saying they were human drivers like all others.
Yes of course they were humans beings at the end of the day. I guess it all depends on what you look for in your favourite racing drivers. As that will determine how ‘special’ certain drivers characteristics are to you. I mean I have said numerous times on this site how much I admire & respect Prost’s intelligent during his F1 races. Also I constantly find myself thinking about & trying to imitate Prost’s smooth driving style whenever I am racing myself (as I am naturally more of a Gilles ‘type’ of driver...so sometimes I find myself, reluctantly, having to reign in the sideways action). But for all of that admiration & respect, I cannot fall in love with Prost’s driving style the same way I am completely in love with Gilles’ driving style.
So for me Gilles is more special than Prost. Since he was prepared to push the car further than most other human beings. Whislt fully knowing what the cost of doing so might be. This kind of characteristic appealed to me as a fan of ‘racers’. However I fully acknowledge that this might not be a widely held view. In the end of the day everyone has their own opinions on things like these.
This wrote:But i also think he was driving like a wild man for two reasons, and not for just one reason. The first reason everybody agrees: it was fun, he loved it. The second reason no-one seems to agree: he was doing it because it was damn cool. You honestly think he didn't care at all about how others think of him? Really?
In regards to the 2nd reason you have stated. Whilst I do think Gilles did prefer to have the mantle of ‘the daredevil of F1’. As appose to not having it. Especially amongst his fellow drivers. So it might be an advantage say when it came to certain risks, i.e. other drivers would always know that Gilles was prepared risk that bit more than they were.
At the end of the day I tend to think, Gilles would still have driven in exactly the same way, irrespective of what others may have thought of him. I base this opinion on several quotes from other F1 drivers about some of Gilles actions. For instance here is Derek Warwick;
“The journalists who thought Gilles walked on water didn’t see the nutcase we saw on the track, the road and in his helicopter. There were times when I thought he had a death wish. And I don’t think he was playing up to the Tifosi, he was just being himself.”
In addition to this there are several stories (according to Gilles Villeneuve biography by Gerald Donaldson) of him driving like a wild man away from the public’s attention. Like;
Him & Pirioni on their frequent drives from Monaco to Maranello would challenge each other to see who could stay in top gear for the longest amount of time. Also very amusing tales of weaving in & out of traffic on public roads.
IIRC at Brazil there were stories of him driving on the pavement & jumping red lights etc.
I believe he would drive either a pick up truck or a 4x4 up into the mountains surrounding Monaco & purposely look to get stuck just so he could whice himself out.
Various stories of how he would fly his helicopter either in pitch blackness, low fuel or inbetween telephone wires etc.
IIRC, according to the book various people, like his wife were telling him not to do these things, yet that didn’t change Gilles. So no I don’t believe he would have tamed his racing approach had people thought it was uncool. Like I said in my earlier post, he knew no other way of racing other than flat out.
This wrote:
People who don't care about their image at all don't get far with in their life. The reality is that you have to carefully use your image, and put your own personality in it, so it is partially real. Basically his racing driver image was like a cartoon hero version from who he really was. Not different, but greatly exaggerated. Just like everybody else tries to do. Why do we do this? Because this is inherent to human nature. Not a single person in this world is different. Not me either. (altough i'm obviously not doing the image thing right )
Whislt I don’t believe Gilles himself was very image conscious (i.e. as stated above, it wouldn’t have change his approach whatever his image was). Perhaps those people around him, was. John Watson believed that Ferrari encourage his crazy antics. The fact is they certainly never stopped it.
This wrote:
I stick to my conclusion, they're not that special. You can love a driver for his talent or skills, or even for his image. But don't love them for their personality, because, you can only have a small indication about personality. And i think it is understandable that i got annoyed by people who are ignorant about how people are sometimes very similar, and think some people don't have the flaws other people have. They have these flaws, you just don't see them, either because they can hide it, or because the flaws are irrelevant in the circumstances.
I understand what you are trying to get at here. Having read many, many articles on Gilles’ over the years including his biography, which seems to give a fair account of Gilles flaws as well as his strengths. Like how he would not always be there for his family which apparently caused marriage problems shortly before his death. I can safely say that I have tried not to be ignorant about his shortcomings. So I have considered the whole package that made up Gilles, including his flaws. Yet despite them I still consider Gilles to be my personal favourite driver & the biggest inspiration on me. Like I said earlier, In the end of the day everyone has their own opinions on things like these.
Just quickly in regards to the Senna film. Because it was too much propaganda in Senna’s favour. That film actually did a good job of putting me off Senna in the end, mainly because of the ignorance demonstrated not only by the producers of that film. But also by the many Senna fans whom were trying to accuse Prost of certain things when history proves Senna was just as guilty of those same things. In fact it encouraged me to look more deeply into Prost’s side of the story which I have done & I am still doing today, like reading Prost’s latest interview in F1 Racing magazine (in the UK). Hopefully this will show you that I have tried not ignorant when arriving at my opinions.
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