After a bitter end to his spell at BAR, Jacques Villeneuve was left without a drive ahead of the 2004 season and forced to take a sabbatical. Still eager to race in F1, the 1997 world champion was delighted to receive a late call-up from Renault and replace the Toyota-bound Jarno Trulli for the final three races of the year. Villeneuve’s return coincided with Formula One’s maiden visit to China and by the time he reached Shanghai the French-Canadian already had a race seat secured at Sauber for 2005. Now, that’s what you call a pretty slick comeback.

Julien Billiotte

Recent Posts

Norris gets a pole-position welcome at old primary school

Fresh from pre-season testing and with a world title now stitched onto his racing overalls,…

58 mins ago

Two on the trot for Laffite and Ligier in Brazil

On this day in 1979, Jacques Laffite won the Brazilian Grand Prix at Interlagos as…

2 hours ago

Russell hungry for ‘head-to-head’ title clash with Verstappen

George Russell is not hiding his appetite for a showdown this season in F1. In…

3 hours ago

Vowles confident Williams won’t start F1 season ‘on the back foot’

Williams may have missed the first public glimpse of Formula 1’s bold new era, but…

4 hours ago

Mercedes Allison’s big takeaway from F1’s Barcelona test

Mercedes technical director James Allison arrived in Barcelona last week bracing for chaos – and…

5 hours ago

Verstappen rules out F1 management role after retirement

Max Verstappen has made one thing crystal clear about life after Formula 1: don’t expect…

22 hours ago