F1 team chief irked by world champion's bizarre request

Michael Schumacher and Jacques Villeneuve — Photo: © IMAGO

Williams

F1 team chief irked by world champion's bizarre request

It all worked out well in the end

Simmey Hannifin Donaldson F1 Editor

Motorsport journalist covering F1 since 2024

Tuesday 11 August 2026 16:00

Make us your Google favorite

Former F1 star Heinz Harald Frentzen has revealed that Jacques Villeneuve once irritated one of his Williams bosses with a bizarre car request.

Villeneuve and Frentzen were teammates at Williams in 1997, with the pair going on to achieve a one-two in the championship that year as Villeneuve earned title glory.

However, ahead of that season, Frentzen has revealed that Villeneuve left Williams technical director and co-founder Patrick Head unamused after making a special demand for his car that he learned in the States.

Article continues under video

Prior to joining F1, Villeneuve had raced in IndyCar (then CART), where teams routinely use asymmetric suspension setups due to the nature of the tracks that they raced on, and Frentzen says that the Canadian wanted to bring it to F1.

"My teammate, Jacques Villeneuve, requested during the tests in Barcelona in 1997 that the left side of the car - that is, for the fast right-hand corners - have stiffer springs instead of the standard setup where the springs remain the same on both sides. As for Indy," Frentzen wrote on X.

F1 HEADLINES: McLaren 'privately frustrated' with Mercedes as Norris teases stunning switch

Williams chief unamused by Jacques Villeneuve request

One X user replied to Frentzen's tweet, asking what Head thought of Villeneuve's request.

"He was not amused," replied Frentzen. "But they did it at the end."

Whatever happened in the test, it all worked out in the end for Williams and Villeneuve, who, as mentioned above, won the title that season, and seven grands prix.

That wasn't the only trick Villeneuve had in his locker though. In an appearance on Beyond the Grid this year, the 1997 world champion outlined a few other things he looked to use to his advantage in his car.

Villeneuve, Williams and 'little tricks'

This included using a short throttle travel that was either 20 or 18 millimetres, depending on the season. “When it’s short, it’s down to how much pressure you apply, more than how much you move," Villeneuve explained. "And you don’t have to move your whole leg. You just move your foot a little bit, so you have more control.”

Villeneuve also added that he only used one paddle to shift both down and up, as opposed to one paddle for each traditionally used.

“The other thing we had differently was I only had one paddle shift, instead of two, and it was the same paddle to upshift and downshift," he continued. “I would just push it to upshift, and then pull it down to downshift.

“That allowed me to not remove my hand from the wheel to go grab it, so you could actually shift while you were cornering at high G-force, or react quickly if you got wheelspin.”

Villeneuve continued: “We had a lot of little tricks like that that we kept thinking of, like flags on the pedals. We were the first ones to do that, to hold the legs so they don’t move. Because I said, ‘Listen, I’m spending half my energy holding my leg instead of driving.’ So we put this in. It helped. It also saved you from breaking your foot if you crash.

“So there were a lot of little things. Grips on the steering. Adjustable front wings. This is stuff I had brought from IndyCar."

F1 Jacques Villeneuve Heinz-Harald Frentzen