Joseph Gilles Henri Villeneuve is perhaps one of the more unheralded Formula 1 drivers of his generation. The Canadian-born racer's career was much shorter than other legends of the sport, but in his 68 career races (67 career starts), Villeneuve won 6 of them, finishing on 13 podiums, amassing over 100 career points and earning 2 poles.

His name isn't mentioned much in the “winner” discussion due to the fact that Villeneuve never won an F1 Championship, but his 2nd place finish in 1979 alerted the racing world of the presence of a serious contender. Villeneuve's career wasn't cut short due to poor performance or a lack of love for the sport. He died after an on-track accident in 1982, making him one of the many tragic causalities of this fast-paced sport.

Gilles Villeneuve was born January 18, 1950 in Berthierville, Quebec, Canada. In his younger years, Gilles raced snowmobiles and was always interested in the sport. Eventually, Gilles found his niche in the single-seat style of formula racing, and he quickly won the US and Canadian Formula Atlantic championships in 1976. Soon after, the McLaren team of Formula One came knocking at his door, and Gilles was suited up and ready to go at the British Grand Prix in 1977.

Villeneuve was immediately thrust onto the track and made some impressive moves to put the F1 world on notice. However, McLaren decided that keeping Gilles around would be too expensive for them and far too risky, and by the end of that year, he was picked up by the Ferrari team.

Gilles had actually met with the famed owner of the team, Enzo Ferrari, and impressed him by sheer attitude. But things didn't go over so smoothly for other members of Ferrari. Many speculate that Villeneuve's inclusion is what drove team member Niki Lauda to quit. Nevertheless, Ferrari was content with their new driver.

During the 1978 season, Gilles wasn't as impressive as most had assumed he would be. His aggressive style and devil-may-care attitude on the track was causing alarm for a few reasons, none the least of which was that he wasn't winning. Gilles ended the season on a high note, though, by claiming victory in the season's last race at the Canadian Grand Prix. This showed Ferrari that Gilles could be inspired by the big moment to win.

In 1979, Villeneuve raced well enough to win the championship. Everyone knows this, and it's something of a bad story as to how it all went down. Gilles teammate, Jody Scheckter, was running neck-and-neck with him in points, and in the last race of the season, Gilles had a chance to win the race and secure the championship. However, on team orders, Gilles backed off and let his teammate win. This would be the closet Villeneuve would ever come to the championship.

The next two seasons were average in the context of F1 racing, but a great sign that Villeneuve was a driver that would provide many more exciting finishes for Ferrari over the long haul. But those expectations came crashing down on May 8, 1982 during the Belgian Grand Prix.

Gilles took a hard right on the track, misjudging his opponent's actions, and flipped into the air at a speed of 225 kph. Upon landing, Gilles was viciously thrown from his car, landing more than 50 meters away. Gilles had suffered a broken neck and died in the hospital later that night.