It will be the 51-year-old’s first time driving near-contemporary F1 since his last race with BMW Sauber at Hockenheimring in 2006.
The occasion grew out of his relationship with broadcaster Canal+ and is part of a celebration of the 25th anniversary of his world championship title, achieved in a Renault-powered Williams in 1997.
Villeneuve rode for the Enstone team in the final three races of the 2004 season alongside current Alpine rider Fernando Alonso, earning two 10th and one 11th place finishes. He also worked with Alpine boss Otmar Szafnauer during his time at BAR Honda.
The A521 is the car driven by Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon last season and used this year for young driver development testing by Oscar Piastri and Jack Doohan.
“It happened thanks to the link with Canal+, the French team and French television, and I won 25 years ago with Renault,” Villeneuve told Autosport.
“So it’s an exit because of that. But it’s last year’s car at Monza and you can’t detune them, so they’ll be good laps.
“I did three races with Fernando, so I have a history with this team, and [current sporting director] Alan Permanente was my engineer.
“It’s super, super exciting. It’s crazy. It will be good to understand what these cars do as well. I tried the simulator. Modern cars are not impressive at slow speeds, but they are incredible at high speeds .
“I just have to make sure I have a good seat. It will be hell, because the G-forces will be incredible. The good thing is that you have a long straight. So physically you can relax!
Fernando Alonso, Alpine A521
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Villeneuve acknowledged the steering wheel controls are even more complicated now than when he last raced in F1 in 2006, but he’s not worried.
“Yeah, but everything becomes a habit. I’ve always been a gamer, not just on racing games, and once you have a habit, you can do anything.
“It’s when it’s not a habit that it gets difficult, when you have to start looking at the steering wheel and thinking oh, what does that mean you don’t have time. But when it becomes a habit, it’s second nature, so it becomes easy.
Villeneuve stressed that he is still an active driver: “I never stopped wanting to do that. So my goal lately has been to go to NASCAR. After doing Daytona this year, that made me kind of put in the mood to try and get a season But right now I’m so busy with TV that it kind of blocks everything else.
Canal+ commentator Julien Febreau, himself an experienced pilot, will also have the opportunity to fly the A521 at Monza, while the team will also fly this year’s A522 for a day of filming.
Villeneuve and Febreau will warm up for their races at Monza by testing a 2012 Lotus E20 “driving experience” at Paul Ricard this week.
