Artwork 027 / 050

FAST FASHION

In 1977, the great Niki Lauda clinched the world championship with two races to go and decided to leave Ferrari before the end of the season. This allowed Enzo Ferrari to fill the vacant Ferrari seat for the upcoming Canadian Grand Prix with a 27-year-old Canadian snowmobile world champion who had previously impressed by beating Niki's fierce rival James Hunt during several non-championship Formula races. His flamboyantly aggressive driving style, coupled with his unassuming physique, immediately reminded Enzo Ferrari of his favorite driver and pre-war hero, Tazio Nuvolari. Little did Il Commendatore know that this man would become his post-war hero – and that he would “love him like a son”. His name was Gilles Villeneuve.

From early on, it was obvious that Gilles was no ordinary replacement. He quickly became one of F1's top performers. In 1978, he already won his home Grand Prix in Montréal, on a track that was later named after him. In many ways, Gilles Villeneuve was the archetypal Ferrari driver. No other driver embodied the romance of Ferrari as much as Gilles did, with a fearless driving style that resonated deeply with the Scuderia and the emotional Tifosi. For this reason, Gilles and his red Ferrari #27 enjoy a near-mythical status among Italian fans to this day.

Despite winning "only" six races in 67 Grands Prix and never lifting the world championship title, his legend far exceeds those mere statistics. Everyone involved with Formula 1 at the time will insist that Gilles was right up there with the very best to ever get behind the wheel – alongside the likes of Fangio, Clark, Stewart, Senna, Schumacher, Hamilton, and Verstappen. Gilles’ short F1 career was often limited by inferior machinery that lagged behind the aerodynamic standards of his competitors in the early ‘80s. At that time, Ferrari’s only real chance was the emphatic Canadian behind the wheel, who often outpaced most of the competition through sheer speed and instinctive car control.

There were countless Grands Prix where Gilles showcased his raw talent in such underdog cars – from the legendary battle with René Arnoux in Dijon 1979 to one of the closest F1 finishes ever in Jarama 1981. But one win definitely stands out: Monaco 1981.

In qualifying, Gilles delivered an otherworldly lap – 2.5 seconds faster than his quick teammate Didier Pironi – despite the Ferrari 126CK’s notoriously tricky handling, with its turbo engine delivering too much power for a poorly balanced chassis, and far from ideally suited to the tight corners of the Principauté. On Sunday, Gilles went on to claim his only Monaco win in dominant fashion, lapping all but two cars – including his Ferrari teammate. This also marked the first victory by a turbocharged engine in Monaco. After this win, Gilles Villeneuve and his Ferrari #27 appeared on the cover of Time Magazine – the first racing driver to do so since the great Jim Clark in 1965.

In memory of Gilles and to honor the most spectacular driver of his day – perhaps ever – Artwork 027 / 050 frames his striking Ferrari 312T5 in full motion, flying past the Gucci store at Monaco’s Massenet corner. Although Gilles always preferred high speed to high fashion, his white Ferrari race suit, with the ever-present Giacobazzi Lambrusco logo on his chest, became one of the most iconic in the sport's history.