Jacques Villeneuve has hit out at the “unnecessary controversy” surrounding Charles Leclerc’s tribute helmet to his late father Gilles for this weekend’s F1 Canadian Grand Prix.
On Friday, Leclerc unveiled a special helmet for the race at the track named after the former Ferrari star who was killed in a crash during qualifying for the 1982 Belgian Grand Prix at Zolder, claiming it was “inspired by the design Gilles used to have”.
Leclerc, however, failed to consult with the Villeneuve family, in particular, with Jacques Villeneuve’s sister Melanie who oversees the image rights of her late father.
Following talks between Leclerc, his management, and the Villeneuve family, the Monégasque was given the green light to use the helmet from Saturday onwards, but not before Jacques had been subjected to online abuse over the matter.
The 1997 F1 champion has now cleared up the confusion and hit back at the trolls who were not in possession of the full facts before posting their condemnation.
“To clarify the situation regarding the recent incident where some individuals felt the need to insult me and my family over Charles Leclerc using my dad’s helmet, I want to provide some context,” said Jacques Villeneuve.
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“As I was arriving at the track, my sister called me in a state of anger. She had seen Charles using our dad’s helmet without any prior knowledge or communication about it. The entire family was taken by surprise, as we had not been informed beforehand.
“I immediately conveyed the message to Charles, who was kind enough to give me a call. We had a heartfelt conversation where he sincerely apologised for the situation. I reassured him that I considered it a touching tribute and that I personally had no issues with it.
“However, I stressed the importance of him reaching out to my sister, as she is the one responsible for managing everything related to our dad. I also suggested that he invite both my sister and mother to the track to address any remaining concerns.
“Fortunately, everything eventually worked out, but it would have been preferable for these discussions and arrangements to take place before the weekend in a respectful and professional manner.
“Unfortunately, the incident was blown out of proportion, turning it into an unnecessary controversy.”
Following what proved to be a disappointing qualifying for Leclerc, he posed for photographs with Jacques’ mother and sister, along with the special helmet.
Insisting that “everything is fine now, it’s all good”, he added: “It was definitely a nice moment because I wanted to do this tribute in good faith.
“It was because he’s just a legend of Formula 1 and Scuderia Ferrari. So it was good to meet them.”
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