Record auction for Gilles Villeneuve’s last helmet in the race: 1.25 million dollars

Imola 1982, record price for Villeneuve’s helmet The helmet worn by Gilles Villeneuve in his last Formula 1 race was sold at auction for around 1.25 million dollars, which at the current exchange rate is 1.07 million euros. It is a record amount for a helmet used in a race by a driver: the previous record belonged to a helmet used by Ayrton Senna in the 1992 Belgian Grand Prix, sold in April 2025 for around 847 thousand euros. The sale was handled by the Canadian company Hall of Fame Collection. The Aviator’s helmet, which features a red livery with black side stripes and a stylized “V” on the back, came from a private collection, where it had remained kept for almost three decades. The Ferrari driver had worn it during the 1982 San Marino Grand Prix. The Imola race went down in history as the episode that triggered a tragic series of events, culminating in the death of Villeneuve himself. The Canadian felt betrayed by his Ferrari teammate Didier Pironi, who overtook him at the end of the GP despite the “Slow” sign displayed by the red garage: according to him, he stole the victory. Two weeks later, Villeneuve arrived in Zolder still very angry with the Frenchman. In order to stay ahead of him in qualifying, he took a lap back to the pits at a very high speed and hit Jochen Mass’s March, which was proceeding slowly on the right. The impact was extremely violent: Villeneuve was thrown almost 50 metres, ending up against the fence. He died in the evening and is still one of the drivers most loved by Ferrari fans.

Automobile Magazine – F1 English News , 2026-05-28 00:30:00