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"This is the happiest day of my life!," exclaimed Gilles on his return to the pits at the Ile Notre Dame circuit in Montreal. "To win a Grand Prix is something. But to win your first Grand Prix at home is completely unthinkable. I have to thank Mr. Ferrari and all the team. It's an enormous satisfaction."
He was engulfed in a sea of well-wishers. The Ferrari team personnel shook his hand, hugged him, and clapped him on the back. Joann embraced him with tears in her eyes. Everybody else joined in, weeping unashamedly, his mother and father and brother, his manager, several close friends.
Gilles began to feel uncomfortable at their unrestrained emotion. He had no trouble acknowledging the chants of "Villeneuve-Villeneuve-Villeneuve" from the thousands of fans who were now jumping the fences to get closer to their new hero. But Gilles didn't want to be a hero to those close to him and he looked embarrassed.
By the time he got to the trophy presentation area some of his external euphoria had worn off. "I was very happy, but it was like when you sit for a portrait. You smile, but after half an hour your smile starts to fade. When I got to the podium I almost had to force myself to smile."
If he was tired of smiling, no one else was. As Gilles took his place on the top step he was joined by the second- and third-place men: Jody Scheckter and Carlos Reutemann, both of whom were
laughing and joking as if they had won the race. They congratulated Gilles, genuinely happy for him. Said a gracious Reutemann, who finished third in this his last race for Ferrari, "I'm quite happy not to have won this race if Gilles could win. He is a very good driver. Someday he'll be World Champion. He'll give Jody a hard time next year for sure." Scheckter, scheduled to join Villeneuve at Ferrari in 1979, gave no signs of being intimidated but said how wonderful it was for Gilles to win. Jody had won his home race in South Africa three years previously and was asked how that compared with the wild scenes of celebration around him now. "Half the specators were drunk," said Jody, "and they threw beer bottles at me. It wasn't anything like this."
A wreath was placed around Gilles's neck. Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau handed him a large trophy topped by a gold maple leaf and said: "I feel warm in my heart for myself and also for Canada."
Gilles shook his hand and raised the trophy aloft for the adoring crowd to admire. The huge throng, packed densely in front of him, gave the loudest cheer of the day and was silenced only with the playing of the national anthem.
Tears of joy flowed freely as the strains of "O Canada" echoed around Ile Notre-Dame. A look of uncertainty crept over Gilles's face, as if he was struggling to comprehend that this huge outpouring of emotion was all for him, the kid from Berthier who only liked to drive fast. It passed in a moment and Gilles raised his arms in triumph as the anthem ended.
Mr. Trudeau waved a Ferrari flag at the fans. The proceedings took on a distinctly Canadian flavour when, instead of the traditional magnum of champagne, Gilles was handed an oversize bottle of the race sponsor's product. He shook it vigorously and sprayed the beer over his countrymen.
- from Gilles VILLENEUVE, The Life Of The Legendary Racing Driver, by Gerald Donaldson
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