Museum Announces $8,600 Reward For the Return of Gilles Villeneuve’s Statue as Jacques Fumes

Motorsport FIA Formula 1, Belgian Grand Prix 2024 emspor, v l Jacques Villeneuve

There weren’t many drivers in the Ferrari F1 stable that received praise from the legendary Enzo Ferrari himself. Maybe the only driver that the iconic Italian admired was Canada’s Gilles Villeneuve. Since Villeneuve is one of the greatest drivers to have graced the storied rostrum of F1, any act of vandalism attached to his property is widely condemned.

His son and 1997 F1 world champion, Jacques Villeneuve, recently came onto his Instagram account to share a heinous act perpetrated by a few undisclosed “thieves” who stole his father’s statue from his museum in Canada. Jacques wrote,

“How can people be so heartless? Gilles represented Canada and Quebec on the international stage. There are not many like him. It is outrageous to steal such a monument. I don’t understand what’s going through the heads or hearts of these thieves, if they already have it.”

Now, in a bid to retain this invaluable piece of Canadian racing history, the museum along with a notable car dealer have promised to pay 12,000 Canadian Dollars (approx. $8,600) to the person who returns the statue as a reward. The statement put out makes it very clear that they do not care about how and where the person finds the statue.

They only care that “we bring Gilles back to his museum,” as per their post on Facebook. Gilles raced in F1 from 1977 until his eventual death in 1982. His most successful spell in the sport came with Ferrari as before he passed away after an accident at the 1982 Belgian GP, he had amassed six wins and 13 podiums for the legendary Italian outfit.

Post Edited By: Vidit Dhawan
Gilles Villeneuve Jacques Villeneuve

About the author

Anirban Aly Mandal

Anirban Aly Mandal is an F1 writer at The SportsRush, with over 1000 articles under his belt, Anirban's love for F1 started when he discovered a copy of F1 2014 on his computer. With over half a decade's worth of time spent religiously following the sport, he’s dived deep into the world of motorsports. However, Anirban's expertise goes beyond just writing - he has also written several academic papers focused on the domain of motorsports and the law. His passion for the sport is so immense that he aspires to work as a legal advisor in the most prestigious racing series in the world someday. When it comes to Formula 1, Anirban finds great pleasure in re-watching classic races and idolizes the likes of Ayrton Senna, Nigel Mansell, and Sebastian Vettel. His top picks include Brazil '91, Silverstone '92, and Germany '19. Outside of the sport, Anirban is an avid sim racer, often found racing on titles like Assetto Corsa, F1 22, and Automobilista. Apart from his interests in gaming, Anirban has a keen interest in philosophy, literature and music.

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