In  one month's time, it will be the thirtieth anniversary of the death of legendary Ferrari driver Gilles Villeneuve, following an horrific collision during qualifying for the Belgian Grand Prix and Zolder on 8 May 1982. Ferrari is set to remember that occasion with a special event at Fiorano.

Villeneuve, who had joined Ferrari for the closing races of the 1977 season, having made his F1 debut for McLaren earlier that year, went on to start 66 grands prix and finish runner up in the 1979 world championship to team mate Jody Scheckter by four points. He went on to win six grands prix and has gone onto be one of Ferrari's most popular and fondly remembered drivers.

"His memory is still vivid and alive in the minds of many at Maranello," Ferrari said in a statement issued yesterday, "his talent, his speed, his bravery which bordered on recklessness, all go to make his name still hugely popular with our fans, even among younger ones who have only been able to see him on replays of his races or read about him in stories written by journalists. We have decided to commemorate this date in a special way, bringing together the names of Ferrari and Villeneuve in their natural environment, the race track."

On Tuesday 8 May, Gilles’ son Jacques will take to the Fiorano track at the wheel of the 312 T4 driven by his father in 1979, the season that he and Scheckter brought the Scuderia the Constructors’ title, with the South African also taking the Drivers’ World Championship. It will be a fitting occasion to evoke the memory of a man who has and always will have a place of honour in the history of Ferrari.