The F1 debut of Gilles

©CahierArchive

©CahierArchive

On this day in 1977, Gilles Villeneuve made his F1 debut. The Canadian made his name as a Ferrari driver, but in his first race he was driving for McLaren at Silverstone in the M23 with which the team had started the season. Villeneuve qualified a credible ninth on the grid and was classified 11th in the race, but was not retained by the team and joined Ferrari before the year was out.