On 19 February 2007, Jacques Villeneuve, Formula 1 World Champion and now pundit, tried his hand as a muso and released his debut album, Private Paradise.
He reportedly wrote six of the 13 songs himself, one of which was about his father Gilles. He launched the album in his Montreal café. C
Stephen South is 67 today, and in F1 is best remembered for his appearance at the 1980 United States Grand Prix West standing in for McLaren’s Alain Prost who was injured, but the substitute failed to qualify. His career was abruptly ended later that year when he had a leg amputated after an accident during practice for a CanAm race at Circuit Trois-Rivières in Canada.
In 2004, Neel Jani became the first person to drive an F1 car in Bahrain when he took a Sauber for a spin on the streets of Manama. The inaugural Bahrain Grand Prix was held the same year and Jani’s stunt was aimed to fire up the majority of locals who were unfamiliar with the sport.
Last year we reported:
Testing was happening in Barcelona for the second day with Charles Leclerc taking over the Ferrari SF90 from teammate Sebastian Vettel. It was the Monaco Kid’s first outing as team’s second-youngest driver and ended the day fastest of all. And a sign of things to come.
Time went on to show that he did not disappoint and in fact, embodies the foreseeable future for Maranello as far as drivers go. He won for the first time in Red in front of Tifosi at the Italian Grand Prix which alone has etched his name among their greats and he has only just begun.
On the other side of the coin, Williams drivers George Russell and Robert Kubica spent another day watching the action as the Grove outfit’s season imploded before it even began. The only good news for them, on this day last year, was the truck was heading to Spain.
Up and down the pitlane there were a few changes, with Daniel Ricciardo slotting in at Renault while rookie Alex Albon began life in the top flight with an early spin as he took the Toro Rosso out for his first laps on day two.
Renault were flexing their muscles and topped the speed traps with their PU, with Mercedes and Ferrari keeping their powder dry. The reigning F1 World Champs notably subdued and showing very little.