Jacques Villeneuve will test a contemporary Formula 1 car for the first time in 16 years at Monza next week.
The 1997 world champion last drove a car used in the world championship in 2006, in his final race as a driver still competing in the sport. That day, he was behind the wheel of a BMW Sauber at the 2006 German Grand Prix, during which he crashed and was replaced by Robert Kubica, ending his career.
Villeneuve made two more attempts to drive in F1 in the early 2010s, but neither of them came to fruition. But he is set for a trip down memory lane on the Wednesday after the Italian Grand Prix.
The Canadian will drive Alpine's A521 – the car driven by Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon last season. His test is part of a celebration of 25 years since he won his first and only world title, while driving a Williams with a Renault engine during the 1997 season.
And that is not his only link to the Enstone-based team. He competed in three races for them at the back end of the 2004 season with Alonso as his team-mate, while he is also a past colleague of current team principal Otmar Szafnauer from when they both worked at BAR Honda.
Alpine's young drivers Oscar Piastri and Jack Doohan have both tested the A521 this year, and now Villeneuve will also sit in the cockpit and take it for a spin. "It happened through the link with Canal+, French team and French TV, and I won 25 years ago with Renault," said Villeneuve to Autosport.
"So it's an outing because of that. But it's last year's car in Monza and you cannot detune them, so it will be proper laps. I did three races with Fernando, so I do have a past with that team, and [current sporting director] Alan Permane was my engineer.
"This is super, super exciting. It's crazy. It'll be good to understand what these cars as well. I tried the simulator. The modern cars are not impressive in the slow speed, but they're incredible in high speed. I just have to make sure I have a good seat. It will be hell, because the G forces will be incredible. The good thing is at you have long straight line. So physically you can relax!"
Villeneuve makes regular appearances on TV and has a regular column for Dutch website Formule1.nl. But he insists he still has the desire to race, adding that he hopes to land a regular spot in American series NASCAR.
