Jacques Villeneuve’s stunning Formula 1 debut at the 1996 Australian Grand Prix takes centre stage on this week’s episode of Bring Back V10s.
Though Villeneuve ultimately lost out on winning the first F1 race to be held in Melbourne when he slowed down to save his engine, allowing Williams team-mate Damon Hill through, the impact the Canadian made is assessed by Glenn Freeman, Matt Beer and former Jordan F1 designer Gary Anderson.
Another iconic memory from that race is Martin Brundle’s famous first-lap crash, and Gary explains what he was thinking when he saw his yellow Jordan fly through the air and break in half.
They also discuss the impact of the post-Schumacher upheaval at Benetton, Mika Hakkinen’s return to racing after his horrific Adelaide crash in 1995, a wake-up call for David Coulthard with his team boss Ron Dennis, rules controversy as two teams took a clever approach to the new cockpit sides, and what the paddock thought of Bridgestone’s announcement it was coming to F1 to take on Goodyear – originally for 1998.
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