Jacques Villeneuve explains how he surprised Michael Schumacher with iconic overtake

1997 Formula 1 champion Jacques Villeneuve has opened up on his rivalry with seven-time champion Michael Schumacher in the 1990s.

The Canadian driver recounted highlights from his career during an episode of the F1 Beyond The Grid podcast, including his intense battles with Schumacher and what that meant for their off-track relationship.

"It's an odd one because we never actually really socialised in all the years I was in F1, and he was my main competitor," Villeneuve said. "So that's really a strange one."

When asked why that was, Villeneuve added: "I'm not sure. Maybe because the Villeneuve name was still linked to Ferrari and maybe that had an effect because in Italy, you had fans that were for him and Ferrari, and fans that were also for me, and that unbalanced things a little bit.

"Also because he knew that I didn't care, that I wasn't impressed or afraid of him, and he wasn't used to that. That's why in the battles I had with him, it didn't always go good for him because I just held strong against him.

"And the same thing I noticed when I was at BAR afterwards. He would really take his time. There was some kind of... I don't know if it's respect or not, I'm not sure, but he knew that I would just fight him and that was it."

Villeneuve recounted his famous overtake on the German driver during the 1996 Portuguese Grand Prix. Taking inspiration from his days in IndyCar, he made the move on his rival around the outside of Schumacher in Estoril's curling final corner, making use of the slight banking.

"I was very sad for many years because the only camera angle was the onboard, which you didn't really see all that happened," he said. "And then not many years ago, the footage from the outboard appeared and like, 'oh wow, OK now it looks good'.

Podium: Second place Damon Hill, Williams, Race winner Jacques Villeneuve, and third place Michael Schumacher, Ferrari

Photo by: Sutton Images

"All the winter testing, that corner was reminding me of an oval like Nazareth [Speedway], for example, which is low banking but still a bit of banking, that kind of corner and in IndyCar you would overtake cars on the outside going around the outside because of the tiny little banking that you get.

"So, I spent the whole winter telling Jock [Clear] and the team that I would overtake someone on the outside during the race. That was a goal. And I know it sounds arrogant or pompous, but it was part of the fun. And that's why I've always loved racing.

"It's when you could have those moments as well, where you could actually be different, make a difference, do something that you knew others wouldn't do. I took that from when I was skiing, like 'I could jump that cliff and you couldn't'. That's it. And I brought that into racing.

"Before the race, Jock said, 'OK, tell us on which lap. So we come with a spoon to pick up the pieces.' And he shouldn't have said that, because that was the little extra thing to push me into doing it. I think he knew.

"And the amazing thing is it happened not on a backmarker but on Michael, whom I was fighting for a position, and we were coming onto a backmarker. So he backed off just a little bit to give himself some breathing space. And that's when I saw my moment. And I thought, OK, he's backed off a bit. I won't lift. I'll just go around the outside and surprise him. And that was the only way you could overtake Michael, by surprising him."