Villeneuve Racing

F1 2006 Jacques on Track

2009-12-30T18:34:00.000-08:00

Jacques on Track: Circuit Gilles Villeneuve

Jacques on Track: Indianapolis MotorSpeedway

Jacques on Track: Silverstone Airport

Jacques on Track: Hungaroring

F1 2006 Championship

2009-09-25T11:44:00.000-07:00

Expectations were too high for the new Sauber BMW as it seemed already a constructor's championship competitor rather then a rookie team trying to adopt and find its place at F1 scenery. Eventhough it was -in fact- a brand new team, it combined a lot of racing experience than any other new entrant in the championship ever. Furthermore the introduction of new rules that reduced engine's power helped smaller teams to compete easier champions Renault, Ferrari and McLaren.

Driversof the team, Jacques Villeneuve and Nick Heidfeld were well experienced after racing for almost 10 years in F1. Villeneuve's champion capabilities were merged with passion to voctory of Nick Heidfeld who he was driving the previous year for Williams BMW.

The Motor of BMW was so successful and victorious in the past powering from 2001 to 2005 the Williams' F1 team.

Team's Infrastructure was based on a historical team Sauber Grand Prix and all the team members from Peter Sauber who has been now an advisor of the new team to the team lowest crew member were in the sport for more than a decade and knew how to function together in harmony. In addition team's wind tunnel was so important for the factory simulation tests of car's aerodynamic components and never a new constructor could acquire and use one right form its foundation.

The Funding of the team was very strong. Apart from BMW carmaker giant, the Sauber BMW F1 team was sponsored by Petronas who was Sauber's previous sponsor, Credit Swiss and Intel. Villeneuve made his first statement about the new BMW car during team's first testing appearance at Valencia circuit.

"The BMW Sauber F1.06 felt really good,” said the former champion. “After the first day in a new car you can tell if it will be competitive or not; this one felt fast and I think there is more potential in it than in the C24 last year. That's very positive. Overall, I think these three days went well. Normally with a new car you expect quite a few problems, but this test went pretty well, so I'm happy."

Chassis technical director Willy Rampf was equally pleased with the team’s progress, commenting:

“After a total of 692 kilometres with the BMW Sauber F1.06 in three days we are happy with the results we achieved. The main focus during the roll-out was to check functionality and to concentrate on reliability issues. On the whole, we experienced very few minor technical problems, and this allows us for the forthcoming track tests to focus mainly on set-up work, the introduction of test components and the continuation of the Michelin tyre development programme.”

In the first race of the season at "Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix" Villeneuve was qualified back in 11th place and altohugh his strong run during the race in ninth place on the 30th lap his BMW Sauber scattered its engine without warning leaving flames throwing off his engine exhausts

imola

hide park spin

vs fisi

Press conference with Jacques Villeneuve ahead of 2005 Grand Prix Air Canada

2009-09-20T15:01:00.000-07:00

Q: What makes this race different for you to the others?
JV: This is home. This is where I come from so it’s very special.

Q: At this point in the season are you where you thought you would be, in terms of expectation?
JV: Definitely not. I could see how competitive Sauber was last year and how much progress they made throughout the season. I had a fair idea on the tyre difference and where they would have been had they been on the tyre last year. Then when we got the tyres on last year’s car the car was extremely fast, it was a big improvement, compared to anything that had happened to them before. So we were all surprised and disappointed when the new car came out and it actually wasn’t as competitive. It’s doesn’t feel bad to drive, it’s just slow on the lap times, and it’s very hard to pinpoint.

Q: Regarding tyre changes, are your new rules in Formula One, from a strategic and safety point of view, wasn’t it better last year?
JV: No, definitely not. I think you’ve seen some better races this year. Safety wise why should it be dangerous? I’ve said before, the only reason there was a problem at the last race was because of flat-spotting a tyre and braking vibrations, and that could have happened even with last year’s rules. Last year you wouldn’t have come into the pits to change your tyre, you would have tried to survive until the end of the race if you are in the lead, that’s just the way racing is so the new rules had no effect on that and you could damage your front wing or suspension by banging wheels with someone and you would still try to stay on the race track until it broke so the new rules have a very tiny effect on that.

Q: In terms of qualification are you happy that it’s back to one day?
JV: I wasn’t happy qualifying on Sunday, but I was happy with the fact that at least one of the qualifying was with low fuel. Now it’s back to being with high fuel and you never know who is quick. You determine your qualifying lap by deciding how much fuel you put in, so it’s not a pure qualifying lap anymore. It’s part of the race and it’s purely strategy. I’m not a big fan of that.

Q: How much difference is there in how you feel today than this point two years ago before your last race here?
JV: I feel a lot better than I did two years ago. The last two years at BAR were hell, so anything is better than that. It wasn’t because of the car or the people; it wasn’t the engineers or the mechanics. It was only down to one person who was on a mission at the time to discredit me. That made life very difficult. The year off has allowed me to take a breather, to see what was going on and relax, to come back and not be affected by stuff like that anymore.

Q: Peter Sauber has made some comments that you’ve been a little slower than he expected. How do you react to that?
JV: I don’t want to react. It’s the kind of comment that can get you really angry and really have a negative effect on the way you drive, so I’d rather not pay any attention to it and just take it as humour. As little as possible that gets in public the better it is. Anything of that kind that gets into the public shows a weakness in the team, and makes the rest of the team weaker. It’s not constructive to performance.

Q: What was going through your mind when this event (Canada) was held last year?
JV: That I wasn’t here for the party after the race! It was good to be away from racing for a while but of course I was missing not being here. It’s always a special weekend because of the atmosphere, the people and the fans. It wasn’t nice to not be at this one.

Q: When you started with the new team it got off on a bad foot, today are you comfortable or is there still pressure?
JV: Of course I’m not satisfied. There was Imola which was good and Monaco we were competitive but other than that we’re the slowest Michelin car right now so that’s definitely not a good position to be in. Apart from changing springs and anti-roll bars there’s very little we are doing on the car so from that aspect from the way I enjoy working that’s not very satisfying, but that’s just the way it is so I have to make the best of it.

Q: You are getting older, how many more years do you see yourself doing this?
JV: Well one more year means more experience, so it’s only a positive. You should carry on as long as you’re hungry, you enjoy working and fighting, pushing the limits and you enjoy figuring out problems. Working on a race car is not only driving it, it’s figuring out what you can change on it to allow yourself to drive faster. That’s fun, but you need the budget and the team to try different aspects and right now we don’t have a big budget so we can’t do that.

Q: You obviously would love to win a race, but what would be satisfactory this weekend?
JV: I’ll know on Friday what I want to shoot for. Of course going home without points would be a disappointment definitely. 7th and 8th are points but what feels like real points are from 6th onwards, because that’s how the rules used to be. 7th and 8th are good to bring home but they aren’t that satisfying.

Q: Did you watch the Indy 500 and what did you think of Danica Patrick?
JV: She did a very good job. The funny thing is her mistake allowed her to be in the lead at some point so it would have been a little bit unfair if she had won at that point. That’s all. But she did a very strong job all weekend so she’s a strong racer.

Q: Given the right package, do you still think you’re one of the quickest drivers in the world?
JV: Definitely. If not I wouldn’t have come back to race if I didn’t believe I could do it.

Q: If you look at Formula One at the moment you have (Fernando) Alonso dominating and (Michael) Schumacher off the pace. What’s been most surprising for you?
JV: Even before we started winter testing I was discussing with a few people, and I didn’t expect our competitors tyre-wise to be able to bridge the gap with Michelin, but it felt like I was the only one thinking that and everyone else didn’t believe me. Since the beginning of the season that’s how it’s been so I’m not surprised at all. I expected the McLaren to be leading the championship, not the Renault, and Kimi definitely has the faster car but somehow they haven’t managed to get the points and so Alonso is off on another planet. When you’re in that position it’s difficult for you to miss it. The way he feels right now they can lose the championship if they do something stupid, that’s all.

Q: Being with a weaker team, have you given up hope of catching onto one of the big teams?
JV: With the way the season's going it definitely won’t allow you to be on strong end of negotiations and get with a team that’s winning races. But I enjoy working with the team even if you’re not at the front, as long as you are going forward, so it depends on what we plan for next year. If the team wants to progress and make leaps forward then I will be very happy to keep working on the project.

Q: Ferrari has always had this dream to drive Villeneuve with Ferrari. If Schumacher retired, is there an opportunity for you?
JV: Nothing has shown that it could be an opportunity so it’s not something I can comment on.

Q: What reception do you get from fans when you come back to Canada?
JV: When you meet people you feel like you are part of the country. It’s become more like that over the years. At the start because I grew up in Europe and it took longer for the people to accept that, but over the years it’s become more and more respectful.

Q: There are suggestions that Andrew Ranger might be ready to make a step to F1 sooner rather than later. What advice would you offer him?
JV: Not to jump bridges. He’s still very young and has a lot to learn. He definitely has a lot of talent, but it’s difficult to know what’s going on when you’re in Europe - I try to see as much as I can. So many things can happen psychologically when you’re racing and that will often have a bigger effect on your future than pure talent. Getting wins and crashes can affect the way you drive. I think it’s important not to get into F1 too early, although if you get the chance then you take it.

Q: When you look at your rivals they’re all basically kids. The last few years have seen more and more of the characters leave the sport. Do you see younger guys with good talent but robots?
JV: It’s more difficult now to judge talent because there are so many driver aids in the cars that any good driver will be able to drive the car. You just brake as hard as you can, throw the car into the corner and step on the throttle and the car will take care of it. It’s easy for a driver new to F1 to adapt to it than a driver that’s been there for a while. If a driver arrives in F1 without experience then, of course, it will be much harder for them to express themselves. They are 19 or 20 and just happy to be there. They will have a big sponsor and a big team owner who wants to be a star himself and will not want the driver that’s the star. So the driver will just be happy to be there and drive the race car and that’s just the way it’s evolved. That’s partly the media’s fault, not only the team owner. That’s because of the way they take comments out of context on purpose that puts a whole marketing department or sponsor on the back of a driver. So everyone’s at fault for that. The media makes and breaks heroes, so if they keep making characterless people as heroes, then that’s what we’ll keep getting.

Q: Did you make up your mind about what will happen after 2006?
JV: No idea. If it continues like this year there won’t be much choice.

Q: Has the media been too hard on Jacques Villeneuve?
JV: No, it’s okay, I can take it. The media’s only been harsh because more is expected. If I hadn’t won in the past, then there would be no criticism now. I’ll take criticism any day if it’s because I’ve won in the past. You don’t get anything for nothing. There’s always a price to pay.

Q: How is your relationship with Felipe Massa?
JV: Surprisingly very good. When he first arrived in F1 he didn’t go down too well because he arrived very young without experience and at the time he was making mistakes. Since then he’s improved a lot and he’s matured a lot. He spent one year as test driver at Ferrari and he’s become a very strong driver. He’s much calmer than he was so he’s controlled his Latin blood a lot and that’s made him a stronger driver. There’s a mutual respect and we get along well now. We work together on the same lines so that makes life a lot easier.

Q: After this you are on your way to a department store to do an autograph session, is that still fun for you in the lead up to a race?
JV: No, sitting in a department store is definitely not the most fun thing you can do! It’s part of the weekend craziness.

Q: In terms of tyres, how does this track play as far as tyres go, because it’s high speed but slow corners, with a lot of braking? How do you expect the tyres to perform?
JV: The high speed straight lines put a lot of stress on the tyres and so they need to be hard, but depending on how the suspension works, the tyres will make bubbles. But then you still need a soft tyre because the corners are very slow and you don’t have the downforce to keep the tyre on the ground. So that’s the trade-off you have to make.

Q: What makes this race different for you to the others?
JV: This is home. This is where I come from so it’s very special.

Q: At this point in the season are you where you thought you would be, in terms of expectation?
JV: Definitely not. I could see how competitive Sauber was last year and how much progress they made throughout the season. I had a fair idea on the tyre difference and where they would have been had they been on the tyre last year. Then when we got the tyres on last year’s car the car was extremely fast, it was a big improvement, compared to anything that had happened to them before. So we were all surprised and disappointed when the new car came out and it actually wasn’t as competitive. It’s doesn’t feel bad to drive, it’s just slow on the lap times, and it’s very hard to pinpoint.

Q: Regarding tyre changes, are your new rules in Formula One, from a strategic and safety point of view, wasn’t it better last year?
JV: No, definitely not. I think you’ve seen some better races this year. Safety wise why should it be dangerous? I’ve said before, the only reason there was a problem at the last race was because of flat-spotting a tyre and braking vibrations, and that could have happened even with last year’s rules. Last year you wouldn’t have come into the pits to change your tyre, you would have tried to survive until the end of the race if you are in the lead, that’s just the way racing is so the new rules had no effect on that and you could damage your front wing or suspension by banging wheels with someone and you would still try to stay on the race track until it broke so the new rules have a very tiny effect on that.

Q: In terms of qualification are you happy that it’s back to one day?
JV: I wasn’t happy qualifying on Sunday, but I was happy with the fact that at least one of the qualifying was with low fuel. Now it’s back to being with high fuel and you never know who is quick. You determine your qualifying lap by deciding how much fuel you put in, so it’s not a pure qualifying lap anymore. It’s part of the race and it’s purely strategy. I’m not a big fan of that.

Q: How much difference is there in how you feel today than this point two years ago before your last race here?
JV: I feel a lot better than I did two years ago. The last two years at BAR were hell, so anything is better than that. It wasn’t because of the car or the people; it wasn’t the engineers or the mechanics. It was only down to one person who was on a mission at the time to discredit me. That made life very difficult. The year off has allowed me to take a breather, to see what was going on and relax, to come back and not be affected by stuff like that anymore.

Q: Peter Sauber has made some comments that you’ve been a little slower than he expected. How do you react to that?
JV: I don’t want to react. It’s the kind of comment that can get you really angry and really have a negative effect on the way you drive, so I’d rather not pay any attention to it and just take it as humour. As little as possible that gets in public the better it is. Anything of that kind that gets into the public shows a weakness in the team, and makes the rest of the team weaker. It’s not constructive to performance.

Q: What was going through your mind when this event (Canada) was held last year?
JV: That I wasn’t here for the party after the race! It was good to be away from racing for a while but of course I was missing not being here. It’s always a special weekend because of the atmosphere, the people and the fans. It wasn’t nice to not be at this one.

Q: When you started with the new team it got off on a bad foot, today are you comfortable or is there still pressure?
JV: Of course I’m not satisfied. There was Imola which was good and Monaco we were competitive but other than that we’re the slowest Michelin car right now so that’s definitely not a good position to be in. Apart from changing springs and anti-roll bars there’s very little we are doing on the car so from that aspect from the way I enjoy working that’s not very satisfying, but that’s just the way it is so I have to make the best of it.

Q: You are getting older, how many more years do you see yourself doing this?
JV: Well one more year means more experience, so it’s only a positive. You should carry on as long as you’re hungry, you enjoy working and fighting, pushing the limits and you enjoy figuring out problems. Working on a race car is not only driving it, it’s figuring out what you can change on it to allow yourself to drive faster. That’s fun, but you need the budget and the team to try different aspects and right now we don’t have a big budget so we can’t do that.

Q: You obviously would love to win a race, but what would be satisfactory this weekend?
JV: I’ll know on Friday what I want to shoot for. Of course going home without points would be a disappointment definitely. 7th and 8th are points but what feels like real points are from 6th onwards, because that’s how the rules used to be. 7th and 8th are good to bring home but they aren’t that satisfying.

Q: Did you watch the Indy 500 and what did you think of Danica Patrick?
JV: She did a very good job. The funny thing is her mistake allowed her to be in the lead at some point so it would have been a little bit unfair if she had won at that point. That’s all. But she did a very strong job all weekend so she’s a strong racer.

Q: Given the right package, do you still think you’re one of the quickest drivers in the world?
JV: Definitely. If not I wouldn’t have come back to race if I didn’t believe I could do it.

Q: If you look at Formula One at the moment you have (Fernando) Alonso dominating and (Michael) Schumacher off the pace. What’s been most surprising for you?
JV: Even before we started winter testing I was discussing with a few people, and I didn’t expect our competitors tyre-wise to be able to bridge the gap with Michelin, but it felt like I was the only one thinking that and everyone else didn’t believe me. Since the beginning of the season that’s how it’s been so I’m not surprised at all. I expected the McLaren to be leading the championship, not the Renault, and Kimi definitely has the faster car but somehow they haven’t managed to get the points and so Alonso is off on another planet. When you’re in that position it’s difficult for you to miss it. The way he feels right now they can lose the championship if they do something stupid, that’s all.

Q: Being with a weaker team, have you given up hope of catching onto one of the big teams?
JV: With the way the season's going it definitely won’t allow you to be on strong end of negotiations and get with a team that’s winning races. But I enjoy working with the team even if you’re not at the front, as long as you are going forward, so it depends on what we plan for next year. If the team wants to progress and make leaps forward then I will be very happy to keep working on the project.

Q: Ferrari has always had this dream to drive Villeneuve with Ferrari. If Schumacher retired, is there an opportunity for you?
JV: Nothing has shown that it could be an opportunity so it’s not something I can comment on.

Q: What reception do you get from fans when you come back to Canada?
JV: When you meet people you feel like you are part of the country. It’s become more like that over the years. At the start because I grew up in Europe and it took longer for the people to accept that, but over the years it’s become more and more respectful.

Q: There are suggestions that Andrew Ranger might be ready to make a step to F1 sooner rather than later. What advice would you offer him?
JV: Not to jump bridges. He’s still very young and has a lot to learn. He definitely has a lot of talent, but it’s difficult to know what’s going on when you’re in Europe - I try to see as much as I can. So many things can happen psychologically when you’re racing and that will often have a bigger effect on your future than pure talent. Getting wins and crashes can affect the way you drive. I think it’s important not to get into F1 too early, although if you get the chance then you take it.

Q: When you look at your rivals they’re all basically kids. The last few years have seen more and more of the characters leave the sport. Do you see younger guys with good talent but robots?
JV: It’s more difficult now to judge talent because there are so many driver aids in the cars that any good driver will be able to drive the car. You just brake as hard as you can, throw the car into the corner and step on the throttle and the car will take care of it. It’s easy for a driver new to F1 to adapt to it than a driver that’s been there for a while. If a driver arrives in F1 without experience then, of course, it will be much harder for them to express themselves. They are 19 or 20 and just happy to be there. They will have a big sponsor and a big team owner who wants to be a star himself and will not want the driver that’s the star. So the driver will just be happy to be there and drive the race car and that’s just the way it’s evolved. That’s partly the media’s fault, not only the team owner. That’s because of the way they take comments out of context on purpose that puts a whole marketing department or sponsor on the back of a driver. So everyone’s at fault for that. The media makes and breaks heroes, so if they keep making characterless people as heroes, then that’s what we’ll keep getting.

Q: Did you make up your mind about what will happen after 2006?
JV: No idea. If it continues like this year there won’t be much choice.

Q: Has the media been too hard on Jacques Villeneuve?
JV: No, it’s okay, I can take it. The media’s only been harsh because more is expected. If I hadn’t won in the past, then there would be no criticism now. I’ll take criticism any day if it’s because I’ve won in the past. You don’t get anything for nothing. There’s always a price to pay.

Q: How is your relationship with Felipe Massa?
JV: Surprisingly very good. When he first arrived in F1 he didn’t go down too well because he arrived very young without experience and at the time he was making mistakes. Since then he’s improved a lot and he’s matured a lot. He spent one year as test driver at Ferrari and he’s become a very strong driver. He’s much calmer than he was so he’s controlled his Latin blood a lot and that’s made him a stronger driver. There’s a mutual respect and we get along well now. We work together on the same lines so that makes life a lot easier.

Q: After this you are on your way to a department store to do an autograph session, is that still fun for you in the lead up to a race?
JV: No, sitting in a department store is definitely not the most fun thing you can do! It’s part of the weekend craziness.

Q: In terms of tyres, how does this track play as far as tyres go, because it’s high speed but slow corners, with a lot of braking? How do you expect the tyres to perform?
JV: The high speed straight lines put a lot of stress on the tyres and so they need to be hard, but depending on how the suspension works, the tyres will make bubbles. But then you still need a soft tyre because the corners are very slow and you don’t have the downforce to keep the tyre on the ground. So that’s the trade-off you have to make.

2009-08-05T16:38:00.000-07:00

GJ1

GJ2

GJ4

GJ5

GJ6

GJ6

F1 2005 Championship

2009-08-01T10:11:00.000-07:00

On a two-year duration contract, Villeneuve made his F1 full season comeback with Sauber Petronas Team and. Eventhough Villeneuve had a shaky - rusty start and was defined as one of the slowest drivers on Michelin tyres his pace was improved in comparison to his highly-motivated team-mate Felipe Massa who was a Ferrari protege. In the end of the season he collected 9 points, 2 less than his team-mate and he was ranked 14th in the driver's championship.

His Sauber debut at the Foster's Australian Grand Prix saw him start the grid in fourth position. In Saturday’s rain-hit session he was the first driver brave enough to drive on dry rubber – a gamble that paid off and despite the spunning behavior of his car he managed to keep it on track undamaged.

"The weather made things pretty difficult for us today. When it was my turn it was a very tough decision which Michelin tyre to go for. It was a choice between intermediates and dries, so we went for the latter. As you saw, it was slippery on them during my out lap but I was fortunate not to hit anything when I spun. After that I wasn't too aggressive on my qualifying lap. It was pretty good, so in the end I guess it was our lucky day."

Surprisingly, in the race, Villeneuve experienced one of his worst start ever. Initially he was overtaken by Nick Heidfeld, and as a result he lost momentum on the run down to Turn Three, where Christian Klien squezzed him inside the turn. That meant five places were lost in the first lap, and Villeneuve never looked like making them up again. Villeneuve, then struggled to hold off a charging Alonso who started the race in the 13th position. The Spaniard soon managed to pass Villeneuve only to have the Canadian retaken his position back in the following corner. A very usual to his performance scene, as many times in the past Villeneuve kept battling and re-gaining his position after being overtaken by faster cars. However, just before the first round of pit stops, Alonso finally found a way to overcome former champion and achieved a podium finish. On the contrary Villeneuve kept having pace problems and finish the race back in 13th position and a lap down to race winner Giancarlo Fisichella
After the race he claimed that the wrong tyre choice contributed to his disappointing performance.

Rumors about an imminent replacement of Villeneuve after the three opening races were proved unfounded and at the "Gran Premio Foster's di San Marino" in Imola he scored his first points for the season with an excellent fourth place as the BAR-Honda drivers were disqualified when Button's car was found illegaly under the 600 kg minimum weight requirement when drained of fuel. "I feel great because we took every opportunity there and maximised it. The team had a fine strategy and did a good job with the pit stops. In addition, the characteristics of the car were such that I could really push it to the limit for the first time."

During Saturday's free practice session of the Grand Prix de Monaco, Villeneuve was involved in the pileup collision with Juan Pablo Montoya, Ralf Schumacher and David Coulthard. The incident took place when Montoya was driving without reason too slow on a fast part of the circuit as he headed up the hill towards Massenet, shortly after he had passed Schumacher who was exiting the pits. The result was that as Schumacher slowed behind the McLaren, Coulthard was obliged to pull out to pass, just as Villeneuve was coming up behind him. The Canadian collided with Coulthatd who spunn and hit Ralf Schumacher's Toyota. After the incident Montoya's qualifying time has been deleted after stewards decided he was the one who triggered the accident.

At British Television footage David Coulthard, Juan Pablo Montoya and Ralf Schumacher explained how the accident happened. Still, Ralf Schumacher and David Coulthard accused Montoya for reckless driving during the free practise session.

Villeneuve explained also how the accident happened from his own point of view.

While both of Sauber's drivers were in scoring positions on lap 62 Villeneuve, in an over-optimistic move, tried to overtake Massa at at Ste Devote turn. However, after pushing his team mate off the track he lost the braking point and he hit the barriers destroying his front wing.
The Canadian finally finished the race in the 11th position and Massa just 9th. Villeneuve explained about his fault:
"Towards the end I caught up with Felipe again and I could see that his rear tyres were finished, whereas my car felt pretty much as good as it had been all through the race. I was told to reduce the gap to the guys in front of me because a lot of us were closing up in the fight for points, and I tried something that unfortunately didn't work"

However, the team lost 9 valuable points and a frustrated Peter Sauber claimed that, “What happened today is the most depressing thing that a team can experience” putting Villeneuve under pressure for more succesful performances until the end of the season

Ahead of his home race, Jacques Villeneuve was interviewd by press about this weekend’s Grand Prix, life at Sauber, the Indy 500, his future and Ferrari…

At the "Grand Prix Air Canada", the local hero Villeneuve pushed hard for a successful result. Qualified in the 8th position behind McLaren Mercede's Kimi Raikkonen he wa ready for a strong finish in the race. However in the very 2nd lap of the race, he lost his front wing following a collision with Takuma Sato. Fighting hard for the whole race he finished 9th just outside the scoring position while his teammate finished in the 4rth position and accepted Peter Sauber's congratulations for his performance.
Villeneuve just commented after the race:
"At the start the grip was poorer than expected and the car just didn't want to get off the line so I lost ground immediately, and then in the second corner Sato came across me and damaged the front wing so I had to pit straight away for a replacement nose section. That was effectively it for me because I just lost too much time. That was a great pity because the car was fast today. At the end I could attack Klien, but he was exiting the corners well and I could never quite get close enough to challenge him."

At "Foster's British Grand Prix" Villeneuve made another disappointing appereance. Qualified back in 11th position just behind Michael Schumacher but he kept fihgting with the backmarkers for the whole race. During his first pit stop and while being into battle with Christian Klien, Villeneuve got distracted and left his pitbox prematurely, running over his refueller Silvan Ruegg’s foot. Fortunately there was no injury to the mechanic but that delay put the Canadian ace among the incoming traffic. So, for the last 20 laps Villeneuve was in a strong fight between Nick Heifeld, David Coulthard and Christian Klien for 12th position but the Canadian finally finished the race back at 14th position. Villeneuve explained about his accident: “Unfortunately"I screwed up my first pit stop. I was looking at the lollipop, but then I got distracted by what was happening in the Red Bull pit and when I saw movement out of the corner of my eye I mistakenly thought it was my lollipop signal to go and moved too soon. My apologies to our refueller Silvan Ruegg, whose foot I hit. Fortunately he is okay. “That incident cost me some time and because of that I got stuck in some traffic and had a pretty cut and thrust race all the way to the finish with Heidfeld and the Red Bull cars. My car was hard to drive today, so it was a tough race.”

At the "Großer Mobil 1 Preis von Deutschland" Villeneuve had a very messy race as he kept colllided 3 times with other drivers. Qualified in 14th position he had an early collsion with Rubens Barrichello on lap 1 which made him to lose his position from the incoming cars. While he was chasing Robert Doornbos' Minardi on lap 4, the rookie driver braked prematurely and Villeneuve fell on him.

Much later on lap 27 he was pushed off the road inadvertently by another inexperienced driver Tiago Monteiro when the Portuguese driver of Jordan didn’t realised Villeneuve's overtaking move from the outside. A frustated Villeneuve commented: "I seemed to get hit by everybody today! On the first lap Rubens came into the side of me at the hairpin; I think maybe somebody pushed him. Then I had the thing with Doornbos on lap four. He was being very over-aggressive in his first race, and he moved over on me while he was braking so we touched. That was Formula Ford stuff, unnecessary. As for Monteiro on lap 27, I really don’t think that he saw me."

Eventhough he was obliged to change his broken front wing, the damage due to his collison was more extensive as he was experiencing a serious vibration of his car. The team tried to cure the problem by changing his front tyres but that cure didint work and then Villeneuve chose to slow his pace for the remaining of the race instead of retiring, just to finish back in 15th position 3 laps behind the race winner Fernando Alonso: span style="font-weight:bold;">"The funny thing is that the car was still good after all that contact, but eventually it developed a serious vibration. We changed the front tyres but that didn’t fix it, and it began to get worse and worse, so I had to ease off a little. There was no point in risking everything by then."

At the Marlboro Magyar Nagydij, the Sauber team faced many overheating problems. Both cars were qualified back on the grid and Villeneuve was 15th behind his teamate. During the start of race he experienced a tyre contact with Christian Klien at the first turn. However this time Villeneuve escaped undamaged from this contact while while Klien was sent into a spectacular barrel-roll. Fighting back in 12th place, Villeneuve finally retired from the race on lap 57 when his engine blew up into fire. After the race he commented: “It was a hot, disappointing race, particularly as we will now have bad qualifying starting positions in Turkey. We tried to make the finish to improve that situation, but unfortunately I was unable to make it home. I had the same problem as Felipe, losing power because of an overheating spark coil, but otherwise the car was strong today. Our strategy was good and it looked quite promising that we could challenge for points at one stage. Now the summer break will help everyone in the team, and we will try again in Turkey."

His disappointing races for the whole racing summer put him in an incomfortable condition but his performance finally improved at the Belgian Grand Prix.

Even though he was qualified for one more race back in 14th position, his one-pitstop strategy, the various accidents during the race and the wet conditions of the circuit helped him to finish at the 6th position earnign 3 points for his team

A heavy fuel-loaded Villeneuve managed a brilliant save after his Sauber went completely sideways in Eau Rouge on the 29th lap while he was under pressure from Narain Karthikeyan's Jordan.

Fighting through the straight, the two went on to bang wheels at Les Combes. Karthikeyan cut the chicane and went airbone in his 4 wheels as he was driving through the grass and managed to overtake Villeneuve.

Once his fuel load diminished, his Sauber became lighter and quicker and so Villeneuve was able to make up places again up to 6th place. While he was almost caught by the recovering Schumacher Jnr's Toyota on the last lap after having to lap a Minardi, he managed to hung on the German by a tenth of a second. A smiling Villeneuve explained after the race:
"This result makes it all worthwhile going into qualifying with a heavy fuel load! The decision to stay out when the safety car was deployed was exactly the right thing to do. As the race progressed things got better as the fuel load decreased, but I had plenty of adventures along the way. I was completely sideways in Eau Rouge on one lap and I really thought that was it. But I saved it, and then had some wheel-banging with Karthikeyan up at Les Combes, so it wasn't a dull race for me! As the track started to dry it got difficult on intermediates, but the reason Ralf caught me so much on the final lap was because I had to lap a Minardi in a tricky place and lost time. Overall this was a great result that brought me a lot of satisfaction, especially on this challenging track."

At the "Fuji Television Japanese Grand Prix" Villeneuve had a storng and promising qualification at 8th position. He quoted: "I had so much oversteer that I thought the lap was really slow until I saw the time. It felt like I was driving a rally car I was so sideways but that's the way I like it, at least over a quallie lap. If it was like that through the whole race it would be more difficult, but overall I'm happy with the way things went and it's looking good."

At the beginning of the race, Villeneuve had a contact with Juan Pablo Montoya's McLaren Mercedes. The Canadian appeared to run wide at the final corner, forcing Montoya off the circuit. The McLaren skipped through the gravel and collided with the barriers, sustaining heavy rear damage and forcing Montoya to retire early from the race. Villeneuve continued to finish 11th. After the race the stewards examined the incident and decided to penalty Villeneuve by adding 25 seconds to his racing time after deeming him responsible about Montoya’s crash when he in fact forced him off the track, which brought out the safety car at the end of lap one.
His subsequent penalty droped him to 12th place in the results which was little cncern but Montoya’s retirement dealt a blow to McLaren’s constructors’ championship hopes, leaving just team mate Kimi Raikkonen to pick up points, as rivals Renault got both cars home and regained their lead in the standings.

Villeneuve commented about the incident:
"....As for Montoya on the first lap, I never even saw him so I have no idea what he might have been trying to do when he went off."

When Peter Sauber sold his team to BMW Motorsports there was much uncertainty about Villeneuve's contract. However, in late 2005 BMW Sauber F1 confirmed that Villeneuve would race for the team in 2006. GP2 frontrunner Heikki Kovalainen and Indycar champion Dan Wheldon had both been linked with the seat, but BMW opted to honour Villeneuve's contract; to cut the contract would possibly have been an expensive exercise that would have cost them around $2 million, and Villeneuve was popular with the sponsors and team personnel. The new Team Manager of the team Dr. Mario Thiessen quoted:
"We took a close look at Jacques’ performance level at the end of last season. After an extremely tough first half of the year, which showed that even a former world champion cannot come back after a period away and be competitive from day one, he got closer and closer to his team mate over the second half of the season. We are in no doubt that Jacques will make the BMW Sauber F1 Team stronger."

F1 2004 Championship

2009-05-06T11:54:00.000-07:00

After the Goodwood event, Villeneuve visited Sauber's factory in Hinwill and he has made no secret of his desire to return to Formula 1 racing while the Swiss team had a vacant race seat for 2005. During his visit, Villeneuve checked out the team’s facilities and discussed with Team's boss Peter Sauber the potential about driving for his team.

Still, it wasn't until the September of 2004, after almost 12 months off the track, when Villeneuve was called up by Flavio Briatore as Jarno Trulli’s replacement whose commitment in the team was in doubt after signing to Toyota for the 2005 season.

"We are very excited to welcome Jacques Villeneuve to Renault for the final three Grands Prix of the 2004 season. He is highly motivated and has impressed us with his performance this week
The Renault F1 Team's objective is now to claim second place in the Constructors' Championship and we are focused intently on doing so." Renault's Managing Director Flavio Briatore commented.

Villeneuve agreed to drive for Renault for the final three races of the season, in China, Japan and Brazil in order to help the team to secure the 2nd place at Constructor's Championship. After all, Villeneuve was Renault’s last champion back in 1997 when he was driving for Rothmans Williams Renault, since the French manufactured withdrew from F1 and returned as a complete F1 team in 2003.

Yet, it was to prove a pointless partnership. After being a year away form F1, Villeneuve’s fitness was significantly affected. Although his quick adaption to the car and to its driving behaviour on track, he was unable to get close to the pace of Fernando Alonso - and he score no points. Still his telemetry data during these 3 races contributed to team’s following victorious seasons.

At the "Sinopec Chinese Grand Prix", Villeneuve was made to look an ordinary driver by his team mate Fernando Alonso, as he finished 11th to the Spaniard's 4rth.

At least Villeneuve was in good company as he found himself battling hard with David Coulthard and Michael Schumacher – also suffering from disappointing performances relative to their respective team mates. Undoubtedly it must have felt like old times... back in mid 90s.

After the race Villeneuve quoted;"I learned a lot during the race this afternoon. I know the R24 better, I have got a full race distance under my belt and I have also understood what a 2004-style race is like. To be honest, I just needed too long to get into the rhythm at the start of the race. I made a good start but I hadn’t warmed up the tyres enough and lost a lot of positions I had made up."

At the "Fuji Television Japanese Grand Prix", Villeneuve was expected to bounce back and prove his driving capabilities. But, it was another mediocre performance for him. He qualified back in 9th position and after a rather boring race he finished 10th a lap down to race winner. On the contrary, Alonso finished 5th securing 4 points for Renault.

"When the race started, we quickly found that the set-up was not ideal for the dry conditions. The car was understeering a lot, so we added front downforce at both pit-stops, but I could not increase my pace in the final stint. It's a disappointing result, especially as our main rivals scored points with both cars this afternoon." Villeneuve said later

Embarrassing was the moments that both Sauber's of Giancarlo Fisichella and Felipe Massa overtook Villeneuve at the end of the start-long straight, eventhough Villeneuve pushed hard to keep them behind.

Fisichella finished 8th scoring 1 point and Massa 9th just ahead of the Canadian ace.

By the end of the season it was officially announced that Villeneuve signed a 2-year deal with Peter Sauber’s team, confirming a full-time return to F1 for 2005.
"I am extremely excited to be back in Formula One with the Sauber Petronas team, and I appreciate the confidence everybody is showing in me. It is my goal to work with Peter (Sauber) and his team to bring them forward in the championship during the next two seasons."

Expressing his enthusiasm about signing Villeneuve, Peter Sauber also stated; "I have to admit that signing a former World Champion is something truly special for me. However, I want to make it clear that this was not the decisive factor. When I was talking to Jacques, I could feel that he is absolutely keen and committed to return to Formula One. He was always a great fighter and I am convinced that together we can achieve a lot.
I fully realise that signing a former World Champion is also an obligation for the team to provide him with a car that meets his expectations. Sauber Petronas has made considerable progress this year, and I am confident that we are ready to tackle this challenge."

Villeneuve was ready to make a new F1 beginning driving for Peter Sauber's team

F1 2004 - Goodwood Festival of Speed

2009-04-27T14:54:00.000-07:00

Many are wondering why Villeneuve didn't try to secure a seat to another team, when his contract with BAR was about to expire by the end of 2003 and no renewal proposal was still offered to him.
Villeneuve denied his motivation for staying in BAR was his champion-level wages as the damage in his reputation due to BAR's performance was more severe.
Villeneuve was established on the very opposite side of Juan Manuel Fangio whose driving philosophy was to jump from race-winning contender to race-winning contender in order to accomplish 5 F1 World championships.
Villeneuve declared "If I do something, I will do it until I get to the point I want to reach. Once I've reached that, I can put it down." and stayed loyal on the challenge of the BAR concept as he was a part of it since its foundation. He stayed loyal in the end of 2000 when he had proposals by McLaren and Benetton. He stayed loyal when his manager was dismissed by the position of Team Principal at the start of the 2002 season. He stayed loyal when his performance was destroyed 9 times by mechanical reasons during his latest season. But seemed that this hyper-loyalty to BAR proved to be his disaster in his F1 career.

His former boss, Frank Williams, showed also his admiration for Villeneuve's loyalty to an uncompetitive team for so long; a decision Williams believes has not been solely about money, as many Villeneuve detractors would have you believe.

"The facts are that Jacques chose to move to a team and remain loyal to a team that, despite the fanfare, never quite got into the first group," insists Williams... "You can't fault his loyalty. He can't be blamed for what he did. But what we have here is one of the basic tenets of Formula One: no matter how good he is, a driver is always coloured by his car. Put Michael in a Minardi and he might move it up the grid a few rows. But no more. Give Jacques a better car and I'm sure he'll do better."

Despite the embarrassing performance of the car, Villeneuve sensed car’s potential towards the following years and maybe even anticipated team’s takeover by HONDA in 2005 which led to the replacement of Davind Richards by Nick Fry. And he was optimistic that his contract with the team, still owned by 50% by BAT, would have been renewed again. It is believed that his dismissal was a combination of Honda's desire to lineup a Japanese driver in the team - Takuma Sato, and Richard's speculation that Jenson Button was more capable than Villeneuve to push the team in victorious results.

With the rest of the grid already determined for 2004, many presumed Villeneuve's Formula One career was effectively over at this point.

However, the Canadian insisted that he had given no thought to retiring and was just confined to a season out of the sport looking the possibilities of a phoenix-like return.
Numerous reports thoughout the season linked Villeneuve with an imminent return, most notably with Williams who was looking for a high-class driver after Montoya’s departure for McLaren the following year.

Until the summer of 2004, Villeneuve's unique driving appearance had been at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. In one of the festival's most significant and emotional moments, Villeneuve wore his father's helmet to drive his 1978 Canadian Grand Prix-winning Ferrari up the Goodwood hill accompanied by Gille's good friend and competitor Rene Arnoux reviving their 1979 duel at Dijon.

It was really great, and very special, even if it was short"..."The safety levels aren't exactly the same but it doesn't feel like an old car. I could still imagine my father racing in it."" the former World Champion commented.

Villeneuve's drive with his father's car perfectly encapsulates Goodwood's central concept which is a celebration of how the desire to race is passed down through the generations.

I never thought I would do this. It's something you do once in a lifetime, and that's what it will remain. This run was like thank you and goodbye to my Dad."

F1 1997 Championship (European GP)

2009-02-22T16:13:00.000-08:00

Like 1996, the title was again decided at the final round of the season, this time, at the European Grand Prix in Jerez de la Frontrera.
Michael Schumacher was leading the drivers' championship having 78 points to Villeneuve's 77. In order to become champion, Villeneuve had just to finish the race in a points-scoring position and ahead of Schumacher. Having won 3 more races than the German, he had the advantage in case of a points tie. On the other hand, Schumacher would had been world champion only if he had finished ahead of Villeneuve, or if the Canadian had failed to score any points by finishing lower than 6th or by not completing the race.

During the free practice session, Villeneuve attacked Schumacher's teammate Eddie Irvine and accused him for blocking him while he was running his setup laps.

Before the race, FIA officials had already announced strong warnings that they would issue strict penalty to anyone trying to influence the outcome of the Championship. In the pre-race interview, Villeneuve remembered how Schumacher had previously been involved in a Championship-deciding crash in 1994 when he collided with his ex-teammate Damon Hill at the Australian Grand Prix in Adelaide. In that incident it was strongly suspected, but never proved, that Schumacher had caused the collision on purpose.

The Grand Prix seemed to be exciting, when 3 drivers set identical pole position timing by 1:21.072, "...to one-thousandth of a second" as the legendary Murray Walker quoted. Jacques Villeneuve was first to set his fastest time, 2nd was Michael Schumacher and finally Heinz-Harald Frentzen was 3rd. According FIA's regulations, "In the event of drivers setting equal times in qualifying, the first driver to set the time is given precedence". Thus, Villeneuve was awarded with the pole position and he was followed by Schumacher and Frenzen.
Yet, there were still questions over why Schumacher wasn't disqualified for turning his fastest qualifying lap while his brother's Jordan car was still being removed from the gravel trap. Although the corresponding to session's condition yellow flag was clearly still being displayed at the corner, it was "only" a steady yellow and not a waved yellow. This subtle distinction in the flagging rules allowed Schumacher's lap to be considered legal.

At the start of the race, Villeneuve had again too much starting spin and so Schumacher managed to take the lead, followed by Frenzen. Soon, under the instruction of Patrick Head, Villeneuve overtook his teammate in order to chase Schumacher.

Even though Villeneuve was in a 4sec distance behind Schumacher, he wasn't about to concede easily and was determined to pursue his competitor till the wavering of the checkered flag.

On lap 30, Villeneuve was deliberately blocked by Norberto Fontana's Sauber for 3 consecutive corners, costing him around 3 valuable seconds.
As well as the television footage, the incident is also backed up by a sequence of remarks between Murray Walker and Martin Brundle, the ITV commentators. The exchange went like this:
Murray Walker:"Case of champagne from Ferrari to Sauber Norberto Fontana...Because the Argentinian newcomer, up from Formula 3, really, really, helped Michael Schumacher on his way there."
Martin Brundle:"What engine have they got in that Sauber, Murray?...Isnt' it a Ferrari?.
Murray Walker:"Well, it is, yes,... Martin you are a cynical chap.
Despite Walker and Brundle didn't know exactly what might had happened, by their comments its clear that they've been suspected that Fontana's blocking was provoked by Ferrari's influence.

Norberto Fontana was a talented young driver who had won the German Formula 3 Championship two years before, but the Argentinian's career stalled and he finally got an opportunity in Formula One after replacing the injured Gianni Morbidelli at the Sauber Petronas team, which was powered by Ferrari, for the 4 last races of 1997 season.
In September 2006, just after Schumacher's retirement announcement, in an interview with the Argentinian Magazine Ole, Fontana claimed that a few hours before the race, the Ferrari team director Jean Todt visited Sauber's motorhome and demanded to block Villeneuve if they were in a position to do so in order to help Michael Schumacher win the World Championship. The order was given to Sauber Petronas' drivers, Norberto Fontana and Johnny Herbert, who in fact had already a collision with Villeneuve in the very first corner of the 1997 season, during the Australian Grand Prix.
Fontana said: "We were in Peter Sauber's motorhome with the masseur and Johnny Herbert, softening the muscles. It was two or three hours until the race started. Jean Todt entered and went straight to the point: "...By strict order of Ferrari, Villeneuve must be held up if you come across him on the track ... To whoever this applies." And this applied to me"
Fontana contunued; "... Todt realised I was an actual backmarker, qualified in 18th position for the race, and I might have more chance to block Villeneuve than Herbert would."
According to Fontana, Peter Sauber told him that whatever the morality he had little choice but to comply.
Nevertheless, in an interview with his close friend, the famous journalist Roger Benoit published in Blick, the Swiss daily newspaper, Peter Sauber strongly refuted Fontana's claim and accused him as a liar. Sauber stated that in the nine years Ferrari and Sauber worked together, the Italians never asked his team to block other drivers. He told Benoit: "Ferrari never expressed the desire that we should obstruct an opponent of Schumacher on the track."

Still, Villeneuve soon managed to reduce to a less than a second the distance from his rival. On 48th lap he attempted to passed Schumacher at the Dry Sac corner.

In fact, it seems that Schumacher deliberately left the door wide open to Villeneuve in order to "squeeze" him toward the corner, forcing him to drop one wheel off the track and to spin off into the nearby grass.
Yet, Villeneuve succeeded in braking later than his competitor, held the inside line and when Schumacher turned into the Canadian's car he was already ahead of him on the track. During the resulted collision the right-front wheel of Schumacher's Ferrari hit the left radiator pod of Villeneuve's Williams. In the end, Schumacher exited to the gravel causing him to retire while Villeneuve continued the race but having his sidepod damaged.

It is also believed that if Schumacher had simply stayed behind Villeneuve leaving him to pass, he might have retaken the lead as Villeneuve was about to slid wide at the apex, because of his speed, exiting into the nearby gravel. Instead, feeling that his Championship was slipping away, Schumacher turned hard into the side of Villeneuve's car and retained him in that way on the track.

Onboard view of Michael Schumacher during the collision
Its clearly demonstrated how Schumacher twitched his steering wheel left before turning right into Villeneuve

In the remainig 20 laps Villeneuve had to slow down his pace and in the very last lap he allowed to Mika Hakkinen and David Coulthard, to overtake him in order to secure both a finish and the title

Jacques Villeneuve discussed the collision with Michael Schumacher at the press conference after the race, "The car felt very strange. The hit was very hard. It was not a small thing."
About the overtaking by the McLaren cars, he also stated, "I did not fight then. It was better to let them through and win the World Championship. It is a good exchange."

A virtual demonstration of the accident at F1C 1997

After the race Villeneuve and Schumacher were called before the stewards who later announced in a statement that"unanimously concluded it was a racing accident and no further action is necessary" as was issued in a statement.
Michael Schumacher admitted, in another press conference that he had made a mistake but insisted that it was a misjudgement rather than a deliberate attempt to take out Villeneuve.
"I am human like everyone else and unfortunately I made a mistake," he said. "I don't make many but I did this time."
But, FIA didn't have the same view. After a disciplinary hearing, Michael Schumacher was penalised by disqualification from the entire 1997 World Championship, and removed all his points. Moreover, Michael Schumacher did serious damage to his reputation too, as the whole racing world and even the German and the Italian press, condemned his infamous manoeuvre.

In just his second season in F1, Jacques Villeneuve fulfilled his father - Gilles Villeneuve dream of becoming Formula 1 World Champion. He also joined another unique club with only 3 other members, Mario Andretti, Emerson Fittipaldi and Nigel Mansell, as the only drivers to win both the F1 and CART championships.

F1 2003 Championship (Part II)

2009-02-16T13:16:00.001-08:00

The "Allianz Grand Prix of Europe" that held in Nurburgring was catastrophic.
Hoping that the race conditions might deteriorate, Villeneuve was the first driver out during the rainy Friday's Qualifying session. Inevitably, he spun off and exited in the gravel without acquiring any time as the track was too wet and aquaplaning by then. When he returned to the pits, he commented: "Halfway round, the wheels weren't even touching the ground; I was just floating like a boat,” he said. “Normally when you aquaplane it's only for a tenth of a second or something, but there it was all the way down."

Villeneuve started the race back in 17th position, and he kept struggling during the whole race with the backmarkers when he finally retired at the 51 lap due to a gearbox failure. "... Just as it looked as if I was at least going to be able to finish the race, second gear broke and it was over. I'm pleased to see the end of a very bad weekend."

The "Foster's British Grand Prix" in Silverstone was one more race that Villeneuve finished 10th outside the points ranking. However it would be more remembered when a now-defrocked priest Neil Hora, wearing a saffron kilt and waving religious banners, invaded into the track along the Hangar straight and ran ahead to the 280 km/h train of cars.

During the race, Villeneuve had also a duel with his team mate who tried to overtake him, while he has been lapped by Michael Schumacher's Ferrari.

The "Großer Mobil 1 Preis von Deutschland" was again disappointing for Villeneuve. Even though there wasn't any mechanical failure during the race, the Canadian finished 9th, 2 laps behind Juan Pablo Montoya who was the race winner. The race was destroyed when Villeneuve was hit at the first corner by Justin Wilson’s Jaguar and the subsequent change to an one-stop strategy proved to be a wrong choice.
"A frustrating end to a very tough race for me. I got hit from behind in the first corner and that just destroyed my race. It's a great shame because the car was good today and we had a good strategy. Because of where we were on the track, we changed to a one-stop strategy. This wasn't the best choice in the end, but we decided to take a gamble and it didn't work out. The engine worked well and the car was quick, so we had a good chance of points today and it's very disappointing."
Even Dave Richards was sympathetic for the race outcome, acknowledging that "...Jacques' race was also impressive, given that he was hit by Wilson in the first-corner incident and this upset his planned race strategy..."

However the latest appalling results during the summer races, made clearer that Villeneuve and Richards’ frosty relationship was about to crack soon.
Jos Verstappen, Minardi (12th):
"I had a good start and made up some places and once the race settled down, I was able to lap consistently. I think this has been one of the better races of the season for us although it is clear that we are still not able to run at the speed of the other cars yet. From a personal point of view, I thought this race might also be a tough one physically, but I was pleased to find that I felt good when I climbed out of the car at the end. All told, it has been a positive weekend for us."

At the "Gran Premio Vodafone d' Italia" in Monza, Villeneuve had an excellent performance finishing 6th. However, he had to struggle hard the whole weekend with setup difficulties that made him spin up during Friday's unofficial testing and losing valuable racing time.
"I'm really pleased to finish sixth today and get three more Championship points for the team. The race was a great team effort and the guys did a fantastic job during the pitstops. We didn't qualify as well as we hoped yesterday but we were working for the race, so it was great to stay reliable and be able to make the most of a good race set-up..."

Still, Richards seemed not to have been so excited with Villeneuve's race and no renewal proposition for his contract was yet offered to his driver.

At the unpredictable "SAP United States Grand Prix" - due to weather conditions, Villeneuve had no lack on his side. During the practice sessions, he was found off the pace due to setup problems caused by his Bridgestone tyres and he qualified back on 12th position. Jacques Villeneuve, BAR (12th, 1m 13.050s):
"We've had some trouble with the driveability of the car this weekend, mainly due to lack of grip, and this morning it was very close to being undriveable. It was a little better in warm-up then we made some changes prior to qualifying, which is always a bit of a gamble. It helped the car a lot and finally I had grip. There was still some time left in it because that's the first lap I've done all weekend where the car has been working well. The car will be good for the race but if we had found the set-up much earlier we would be a few tenths quicker than we are now."

Unfortunately, with only 9 laps on the race and following a false forecast for rain, Villeneuve took the risk for an early pitstop in order to change to wet tyres. However, team's decision proved only a rushy misjudgment as the rain didn't last and the driving line kept being dry. Consequently, within 2 laps Villeneuve was forced to return to the pits switching back to slick. The damage, though, had been done and Villeneuve was already a lap down on the field with no hope of a successful performance.

Villeneuve quoted afterwards;
"There was no grip off the start or during the first lap but then the car improved and we were really quick on wet tyres. When it started raining we came in first to put on wets but it stopped raining at the same time, which was really bad luck. It was havoc out there. One lap too many and you're on ice and can lose 30 seconds, one lap too early and you overheat your rain tyres. We took the risk and it didn't pay off..."

Against all odds, as the rain started pouring soon again, Villeneuve kept battling and with 10 laps to the race finish he was 9th, just outside the points-scoring positions, hunting Justin Wilson's Jaguar. Yet, his Honda engine blew up and Villeneuve's scene climbing out of a stricken, smoking BA005 on lap 63, soon proved to be his last act in the team.

On October 3rd, when Villeneuve traveled to Suzuka for the final race of the season he was informed by phone that his contract with the team would not be renewed for the 2004 season. The frustrated Villeneuve decided then to pull out from the event, and insisted that "I don't have the level of motivation that I need."
Pollock explained Villeneuve's decision, saying: "Jacques is extremely disappointed not to be staying with the team next year, and he simply felt that his heart would not be in it for the coming weekend. As a result he asked that he be allowed to stand down. We are grateful to David Richards, and the team, for releasing him early from his contract."

Richards lost no time and Villeneuve was immediately replaced by Honda's protege and team's test driver, Takuma Sato, who was due to replace the Canadian the following season.
"I've agreed to this," said Richards about Villeneuve's request. "If somebody doesn't want to drive, they don't want to drive and so Takuma will be driving on Sunday... The end of our season has been rather dramatic, and I certainly was not expecting this, but you have to respect a driver's decision if he feels he cannot give his best when facing these circumstances."
Richards continued on a typical tribute over the Canadian;
"The team very much appreciates Jacques Villeneuve's commitment over the past five years," he said. "However, as his contract with the team has come to an end, we believe this is the appropriate time to refresh the driver line-up."

Ironically, Sato managed to finish 6th in the race, helping the team to secure the 5th place in the Constructor's standings.
After the race, Richards, having a wide grin on his face simply quoted I think we have a lot to be excited about for 2004,"

Jenson Button admitted that he was sorry about his team-mate's departure from the team in such way.
"Jacques has been here at BAR for five years, up and down, and it's disappointing to see him leaving F1."

Villeneuve's manager Graig Pollock made also a statement.
"We received a call from BAR Managing Director, Dave Richards, on Friday evening informing us of their decision. What is so disappointing is the fact that this team was built for and around Jacques, and he underwent all sorts of trials and tribulations over the years as BAR struggled to find its place in Formula One."

Jacques Villeneuve and British American Racing 5-year relationship was finally over once and for all.

F1 2003 Championship (Part I)

2009-02-07T05:59:00.000-08:00

The 2003 F1 season proved to be Villeneuve's last season in B.A.R. After Graig Pollock had been dismissed the previous season, many believed that it was time for Villeneuve to leave the team as well. And the new message from David Richards for the incoming season made clearer his intentions as he begun to debate deliberately over Villeneuve's champion-rated salary which was distinguished as the fly into the milk. "Jacques needs to decide what he wants. It is not practical for us to hire drivers like Michael Schumacher at this stage of our development. Villeneuve, if he wants to stay at BAR, will need to accept a substantial pay-cut to his lucrative salary negotiated by close friend Pollock."

With one year left to run on his under-threat contract, Villeneuve appeared to have falsely turned down an attractive proposal to spend a season racing back in Champcar World Series, in terms of "F1 sabbatical", before returning to BAR for 2004 and 2005. The purported deal, tipped at some $26 million over 3 years, included a year of driving the Player's backed ChampCar in the US, while BAR chief David Richards added a further 2-years at BAR for 2004 and 2005, and was produced after an accordance of Chris Pook, CEO of ChampCars World Series, Gerald Forsythe, Team Forsythe owner and Players Ltd owned by BAT.
After Villeneve's manager Craig Pollock verbally rejected the proposal from the American trio, he requested that a written, formal offer had to been put on the table in order to be negotiated.
David Richards claimed "The people in North America made an offer to me as to what their contribution would be, but no firm financial offer was made to Jacques because it wasn't worth discussing... It wasn't at the appropriate level that Craig had indicated would be acceptable, so I didn't waste anyone's time by offering it officially."
The North American party, however, formally requested that David Richards submit a written offer to Pollock and Villeneuve. Forsythe said: "I phoned Dave Richards on Friday and respectfully requested that he put the offer in writing ...and if I don't get the answer I want, I will go right to the top of BAT."
In tandem, David Richards contacted Gerry Forsythe back at his Forsythe Player's CART team with the news that Pollock and Villeneuve had respectfully - and officially - turned down the offer. However, Villeneuve claimed that he was spoken about an offer which was never actually produced for him to sign.

Although David Richards kept looking ways to push him out of the team, the French-Canadian decided to stay loyal to his contract and full motivated for strong racing performances like every professional sportsman. In fact, a possible dismiss of Villeneuve earlier than the end of 2003, would oblige B.A.R. to compensate him with an amount equal to his salary putting team's budget in trouble.
Therefore, Richards' plan was to extend Villeneuve's isolation from the team. His first move was to replace the sympathetic Olivier Panis with the British promising star Jenson Button about whom, he began talking soon as a future World Champion. Villeneuve bristled with indignation at a perceived lack of respect and responded instantly on the track demonstrating his driving skills.

Yet Villeneuve’s season was plagued once again by both unreliability and misfortune while the gearbox, electronics, hydraulics, brakes systems and Honda's engine all failed on at least one occasion.
On the contrary the BAR005 was undoubtedly a fast car, although its speed was undermined by its Bridgestone tyres, comparing the excellent performance of Michelin tyres in other teams. According to Villeneuve during the preseason testing, the BAR005 was the fastest car he had driven since his racing days at Williams.

Despite the fact that Villeneuve had been out-qualified for the first time by his teammate, albeit by just 8-7 score, he usually had to carry more fuel than his teammate in the qualifying sessions, following Richard's methodology about different pit-stop strategies for his drivers. On average, when Button out-qualified Villeneuve, it was by a margin of 3.125 positions, whereas when the Canadian out-qualified his team mate, there was a 4.2 positions gap.
The Canadian scored only 6 points, finishing twice at 6th place at the Brazilian and at the Italian Grand Prix, while Button scored 17 points. Nevertheless, Jenson Button’s car was relatively unaffected by these mechanical problems that tantalized Villeneuve's car during the races, failing only 3 times in comparison to Villeneuve's 9 retirements.

The season started wrongly at the "Foster's Australian Grand Prix" when Villeneuve's engine blew up during the unofficial free practice session.

Despite his engine's problems, the Canadian qualified provisionally 3rd, at Friday’s qualifying session, with a blistering time gap of 0.46s to session leader – Rubens Barrichello.
Villeneuve reckoned; "I'm really surprised with 3rd because we did hardly any running or set-up work this morning. I only completed two laps so I didn't know where to be on the race track, where to brake. I had to switch to the T-car and I thought that was it for the day; I thought we'd be qualifying 15th or something."

The Canadian finally qualified strongly at 6th, but he finished 9th in the race, just ahead of his teammate.Jacques Villeneuve described his decision to pit in Melbourne on the lap intended for team-mate Jenson Button as a problem with the radio communication in his BAR Honda. "I had radio problems so it was very difficult to communicate with the pit wall and both cars ended up pitting at the same time," the 1997 world champion said.

But Button took a different view. "It was very frustrating that we made the wrong tyre choice at the start and for my team-mate to come in on the wrong lap was disappointing and quite embarrassing, really," he said, diplomatically.

The Englishman had been right on Villeneuve's tail but lost 13 seconds while the team had to move his tyres and fuel out of the way and grab Villeneuve's from the garage.
Villeneuve simply quoted
"It took a long time to get the tyres working and I didn't get enough time on any set. Our strategy would have been good without the safety cars but things definitely didn't work out for us today."

The "Petronas Malaysian Grand Prix" in Sepang was Villeneuve's shortest race in his racing career as the BAR005 failed to leave the grid on the warm-up lap due to a gearbox failure. In addition, when he returned at BAR;s paddock to take the reserve car and start the race from the pitlane, he was told by David Richards to return back to his car, not permitting him to race at all!
Before leaving the circuit, a frustrated Jacques commented;
"We didn't look too good in qualifying but we were confident for the race. We couldn't show it though because of an electrical problem from the start. Bad luck, but that's life." And as proved later that was also the story of 2003...

Villeneuve earned his first season points at the "Grande Premio do Brasil" in Interlangos after "surviving" from the chaotic wet conditions of the circuit.

The race was eventually "red flagged" after Fernando Alonso crashed into the wreckage of Mark Webber’s Jaguar on lap 55, with only 9 cars on track.
Alas, ITV’s James Allen was just commenting about Villeneuve's impressive performance just before Mark Webber crashed before the pit straight with 17 laps left of the race; "Take a look at Jacques Villeneuve. He’s just done the fastest first sector of the race... his best lap of the race,... he’s beginning to come into the frame...and a huge crash for Webber..."

After the race, Villeneuve criticized his fellow drivers for reckless driving in the wet conditions of the race.
"There wasn't that much water really... It's down to the drivers to be less crazy in those conditions, and there was some crazy driving out there..."

At the Gran Premio Marlboro de Espana, Villeneuve qualified 11th but he was obliged to retire very early in the race, at the 12th lap, due to electrical failure of his car.

Even though Villeneuve had no mechanical problems at the "A1 Grand Prix von Osterreich" in A1-ring, he finished 12th, a lap down from the race winner as his car stalled during his second pitstop.

Villeneuve had again an unpleasant weekend during his home Grand Prix Air Canada with many problems caused by his breaking system.
During the wet free practice session, he had an embarrassing spin in front of BAR's pitwall upsetting his Team Manager.
Villeneuve qualified back on 14th position but after only 14 laps in the race he retired as his breaking system failed for one more time.

F1 2002 Championship

2009-01-07T05:31:00.000-08:00

The 2002 season proved to be miserable both for Villeneuve and the team. It begun with the replacement of Graig Pollock as Team Principal by David Richards, owner of Prodrive Corp., just before the presentation of BA004. It was a surprise for the whole F1 world as Graig Pollock was the godfather and architect of the B.A.R. concept since its foundation.
While Villeneuve stood alongside David Richards, amid the new 004, he obviously looked ill and faded. His words were reflected to his visage as he appeared being intensely furious and aghast at the same time. "If I could physically walk out, I would. I am too shocked to react. I am utterly shocked."
Once the shock had settled at the base of an annoying spine at Villeneuve's shoulder, he laid down his emotions and reflected "Craig was definitely a big part of my involvement in this team, and he was a big part of my decision when I re-signed last year. What's going to happen now ultimately depends on how the car is, how the team works or how happy or unhappy the team becomes during the season."

Since his arrival in BAR, David Richards was focused on providing his own Prodrive-like flavor to the team by re-orienting team's "scope" and removing its initial "unsuccessful" elements. Thus, Richards ousted Malcolm Oastler as Technical Director in favor of Geof Willis and 50 more members of BAR's engineering staff. It was obvious that the team wasn't any more Villeneuve-centric as it was established by BAR's foundation. Richards demanded more teamwork over individuality by BAR's personnel and he kept saying that "Individuals have to realise their responsibilities to the team and to the people around them. They cannot just be individuals. There are some people with extraordinary talent who are irreplaceable - but there are not many of them." It remains to be seen whether the French-Canadian is one of them.

As a consequence, Villeneuve started feeling less comfortable at the team.
"The fact that I hadn't been informed of the decision to fire Craig beforehand shows how the team truly value the driver. Obviously they are not interested in what I feel or think. That is not a good basis for trust."

Initial testing of the 004 proved more favorable than its predecessors, enabling the Canadian to at least enter the corners with speed and stability; but he made it clear that it was now or never for the post-Pollock BAR team.
"I just want to be able again to win a race. If the car cannot do these things, I will leave as soon as possible. Which is at the end of the year."

However, during the season, the car kept being off the pace and unreliable with many mechanical and engine failures. Villeneuve completed 7 retirements and he managed to score only 4 points.
It was a season to forget for the B.A.R. team as a whole.

At the "Grosser A1 Preis von Osterreich" in A1-Ring, Jacques Villeneuve faced many problems during the weekend. After testing the new radio communication system with his Senior Race Engineer Jock Clear, he had one more engine failure. During the radio communication its obvious at Villeneuve's voice his disappointment and frustration about car's performance.

"The car handles well", said Villeneuve, "its just too damn slow. We have a poor aerodynamic package, which is difficult to believe after four years."

In the race Villeneuve finished back in 10th position, a lap down from the race winner. That was Michael Schumacher who won after he controversially overtook his team mate Rubens Barrichelo few meters before the finish line, following orders given by Ferrari.

For one more season, Villeneuve failed to finish "Grand Prix Air Canada" in Montreal. Even though he qualified 9th, he was forced to retire early at lap 8, due to engine's oil pressure drop-off.

Villeneuve kept having mechanical problems the whole season long. At the Marlboro Magyar Nagydíj he retired early from the race in the 20th lap after his car transmission failed.

Eventhough Villeneuve had a crash in the unofficial free practice session of "Fuji Television Japanese Grand Prix" in Suzuka, he managed to qualify 9th for the race.

However, Villeneuve was once again obliged to retire at the 27th lap when his engine blew up while fighting with Giancarlo Fisichela's Jordan Honda, whose Honda engine was blown up too few laps later.

As the tale of BAR's "Tradition of Excellence" kept declining by the end of 2002 season, Villeneuve finally started making deep serious thoughts of leaving the team.
"I try to find reasons to stay positive, but its getting harder and harder.You've always got to work hard, bust a gut to make things work. But BAR have not done enough.
I will leave unless something drastic happens to our performance. This is the fourth season now and it is obvious that we are not going forwards - we're going backwards. I have to look around to see what possibilities there are."

Still all interesting vacant driving seats among the F1 grid were already taken. A great opportunity had arosen when Graig Pollock - leading a new financial consortium - got interested to Tom Walkinshaw's Arrows Grand Prix team who found himself into financial problems. However the buyout of the team failed as Walkinshaw's creditors blocked it. As an effect, Walkinshaw declared a fake "force majeur" for his team which didn't took part in the last 5 Grand Prix of 2002, breaking its Concorde Agreement. In addition, Villeneuve's position at BAR was highly under threat by the Japanese Honda's protege Takuma Sato.

CART 1995 Championship

2009-01-06T11:06:00.000-08:00

In his second year in CART PPG IndyCar World Series Villeneuve won the Championship. Racing for Player's Green Team, he scored 172 points and took 4 wins.

The first victory was acquired at the first race of the season, the "Marlboro Grand Prix of Miami presented by Toyota". The race took place at the temporary street course in Miami's Bicentennial Park, along Biscayne Boulevard.

Villeneuve's most significant victory, was at the famous race of "Indianapolis 500".

During the last laps, Jacques Villeneuve was 2nd behind Scot Goodyear. Despite a 2-laps-down penalty he managed to take the lead when Goodyear was penalized for illegally passing the pace car during the restart of the race. So, at the age of 24 he became the youngest driver to win the historical Indy 500.

Villeneuve's victory in the "Brickyard" was the passport in order to attract the interest of Frank Williams himself. In July he made his first private test drive for Williams Grand Prix and after extensive testing during winter he signed a 2+1 years contract .
Many years later Frank Williams confessed about what he and Patrick Head first saw in Villeneuve when he tested for the team, prior to hire him.
"He had clearly outstanding car control and speed," Williams recalls. "In testing he adapted to all the European Grand Prix circuits very quickly. And at the same time he had done quite a bit of racing in America and we always believed that any man who's raced around Indy at over 200 miles an hour, and also run 800 to 900 horsepower turbo cars and won consistently with them, was a bit of a winner. So we thought we'd give him a bit of a go."

After his first successful F1 test, Villeneuve won one of the most breathtaking CART races, the Budweiser Grand Prix of Cleveland in Burke Airport, where he passed Robby Gordon and Michael Andretti on a single move during the last lap.

Villeneuve was the last CART IndyCar World Series champion before the 1996 split and creation of two rival series: The Indy Racing League (IRL) and the ChampCar World Series.

CART 1994 Championship

2009-01-06T10:42:00.000-08:00

In 1994 Villeneuve ignited his professional racing career in the CART PPG IndyCar World Series, racing for Player's Forstythe-Green Team. Driving a Reynard Ford, he was ranked 6th in the championship and was named "Rookie of the Year".

Young Villeneuve's first interview as an international racing driver was taken by James Allen. The comparison with his father was inevitable and would follow Villeneuve in his entire racing career.

Villeneuve's first IndyCar race was the "Australian FAI IndyCar Grand Prix" in the street circuit of Surfers Paradise. Villeneuve qualified 8th, but in a wet and tough race full of accidents, he retired on lap 35 due to a racing contact.

As he kept gaining racing experience Villeneuve had some awful accidents. His first major crash came at "Slick50 200", in Phoenix International Raceway when he hit at full speed Hiro Matsushita's car. Although nobody was hurt, Villeneuve was accused by press of reckless driving.

Footage of the accident by abc

On his first appearance at the "Brickyard" at "Indianapolis 500", Villeneuve qualified 4rth. It was an amazing result as his qualifying lap was the fastest ever run by a rookie for the historical race.
During the last laps Villeneuve was 3rd, a lap down on race leader Emerson Fittipaldi and 2nd was Al Unser Jr. 15 laps from the finish, Fittipaldi crashed out, however the remaining "yellow period" meant that Unser didn’t need to make any other pit stop although he was running out of fuel. Villeneuve finished 2nd in the race and suddenly the whole world was taking notice.

Post race interview. Villeneuve was asked how his father would have felt if he had been watching his son racing in Indy 500 as Al Unser did for his own son.

Villeneuve had one more scary accident at the "Marlboro 500" in Michigan Speedway, when he crashed on the wall after a tyre puncture.

His maiden victory took place at "Texaco/Havoline 200" in Elkhart Lake. During the final laps of "Road America", Villeneuve overtook both Paul Tracy and Al Unser jr. in one single move.

At the "Toyota Grand Prix of Monterrey" in Laguna Seca, Villeneuve qualified 2rd but he finished 3rd, completing a fantastic Rookie season in the 1994 IndyCar World Series.

F1 2001 Championship

2008-12-31T12:09:00.000-08:00

Although there were rumours about joining McLaren or Benetton Renault, Villeneuve decided to stay focus at Graig Pollock's B.A.R. project. After further persuasion from his close friend, manager and mentor, he signed a new 3-year contract with an estimated salary of $25 million per year. Formula One world started then whispering the possibility that the Canadian ace had entered already the "cruise-and-collect" phase of his motor-racing career.
Villeneuve replied instantly to these accusations. "Lots of people are pissed off, because they don't understand why I re-signed with BAR at the end of last season. They just won't forgive me for it. I think it accounts for a good chunk of the bad press I've had recently. People decided I'd signed again for the wrong reasons ...I didn't sign for the money, I could have had a similar salary from lots of teams. I believe in this team. I believe in Craig Pollock. I believe in him more than any other person on the planet."

Nevertheless, Ricardo Zonta left the team and Villeneuve was partnered with his old friend since 90s, Olivier Panis. The team seemed most powerful than ever after the successful 2000 season but smiles very quickly went down. The 2001-spec BAR003 was the culmination of two years of steadfast development, thousands of miles of track-time, and immeasurable blood, sweat and (gallons of) tears.
Villeneuve hopped into the car for the first time in January testing in Jerez, did three shakedown laps and reported frustrated back to the pits. "The car is terrible".

During the 5th lap of the "Qantas Australian Grand Prix" in Melbourne, B.A.R. Honda of Jacques Villeneuve hit the back of Ralf Schumacher's Williams BMW and crashed into the wall.

Just like in 1999 in Spa, Villeneuve's horrifying accident woke up again sad memories from his father Gilles fatal accident in Zolder, back at 1982.

Onboard view of the Crash
Its clearly shown that Ralf Schumacher slowed down prematurely much before the braking zone of turn 3

Unfortunately, during the accident a race marshal died after being struck by a wheel that broke free after the high-speed collision.

Footage of the accident by the German Television

Despite, the recent fatal accident in Australia, Villeneuve competed as normal at the following Malaysian Grand Prix. He was qualified in an hopeful 7th position and seemed to have overcome the unpleasant accident both in physical and psychological way. Still, a sudden monsoon hit the circuit by the start of the race. Villeneuve was forced to retire after spinning off into the gravel and while he was on his way to enter the pits for a tyre change.
It was a very bad start of the 2001 as Panis' engine blew up at the 1rst start of the race just before the start of the heavy rain and fears of another scoreless season were strong obvious at Graig Pollock's eyes.

At the "Grande Prêmio Marlboro do Brasil" in Interlagos, Villeneuve finished the race 7th just outside the scoring points. However, the scene where BAR's pit crew stormed to change Villeneuve's tyres and to supply him with fuel while Panis has been waiting for his turn, was really embarrassing for the team.

Although the awful start, Villeneuve managed to achieve 2 podium finishes in Spain and in Germany.
At the "Gran Premio Marlboro de Espana" in Barcelona, he earned team's first-ever podium finishing 3rd when the race leader Mika Hakkinen retired on the final lap when his engine blew up.
In the press conference after the race a bearded Villeneuve quoted: "It's great. The whole team, everyone in the team, has worked really hard for the last three years, and the beginning of the season has been really, really hard and to finally get a podium is great."

Despite a chase by Giancarlo Fisichella during the last laps of the "Grosser Mobil 1 Preis von Deutchland", Villeneuve retained his 3rd place and managed his second podium finish of the season. It was a result Villeneuve described as "more pleasurable than the one at the Spanish Grand Prix because this one had more work put into it than in Spain. Here today the whole weekend we worked really hard, we improved session after session and we knew that the car would be competitive so this one."

However, later he admitted that the true obvious reasons of his podium instant successes had little to do with car's real capabilities.
"The two podiums didn't happen because we were quick. We got those 2 podiums because a whole load of people retired. This year's results are not the ones I'd been promised."

Towards the season, the car kept suffering lose of grip.
At the "SAP United States Grand Prix", Villeneuve qualified back in 18th even behind Fernando Alonso's Minardi. For the first time, Formula 1 world questioned the French-Canadian's motivation. A rumor had been spread in the paddock that Villeneuve had finally given up.
The Canadian repelled the false rumors once again. "I got ripped to shreds by the media. Some team members accused me of not trying. That's pretty hard to take after three hugely effortful seasons, especially since, right from the start, BAR made a whole load of mistakes that the drivers covered up to protect the team.
I think the team and some of our sponsors didn't appreciate my frank speaking in a few interviews I gave, to be honest. But then they shouldn't capitalise on my image and hate me for it afterwards, should they?"

The following day, in the race, Villeneuve retired once again, on lap 45 due to a suspension problem. The problem was caused by a collision with Pedro de la Rosa's Jaguar while fighting for the 12th position.

It was an appalling result for the team in comparison to the previous year performance when he was battling for a podium finish against Heinz Harald Frenzen.

At the "Fuji Television Japanese Grand Prix" in Suzuka, it went really obvious that even BAR's staff started doubting over Villeneuve's leading role within the team.

The Canadian just finished the year hoping for better performances in 2002.
However, tiny cracks had just begun to appear in the façade of Villeneuve's spirited, energised, potent character and then slowly widened as the somber 2001 season was finishing. The marriage was clearly souring.

Apart from his racing duties in the 2001 F1 Championship, Villeneuve starred also as a racing driver, in Sylvester Stallone's movie about motorsports; "DRIVEN".

F1 2000 Championship

2008-12-30T11:55:00.000-08:00

In 2000, Villeneuve stayed for his second year in B.A.R. which was powered by HONDA this season. Despite the still lack of victories or podium finishes, improvements inside the team were great. The operation of the new wind tunnel at BAR’s headquarters in Brackley helped resolving the previous season aerodynamic problems. As a consequence, the car became more stable helping Villeneuve to score 17 from 20 team's points and B.A.R. to be ranked amazingly 5th in the constructor's championship.

The first race of the season, the "Qantas Australian Grand Prix" in Albert Park, was a salvation for Villeneuve and the B.A.R. team as a whole, after a struggling 1999 season. Villeneuve finished 4th and his teammate Ricardo Zonta 6th, providing their team with its first ever F1 points.

At the "Warsteiner Grand Prix di San Marin" in Imola, Villeneuve qualified 9th but after a tough race he succeeded in finishing 5th scoring 2 valuable points.

At "Grand Prix Air Canada", Villeneuve proved his driving skill and competitiveness against superior racing combinations.
Starting form the 6th place he earned 3 positions at the start of the race and kept behind him Ruben Barrichello's Ferrari and Mika Hakkinen's McLaren Mercedes for several laps reaching up to 2nd during the first half of the race. Unless he had wrongly chosen dry tyres while rain has started few laps later after his pitstop, Villeneuve might had managed a great performance at his home Grand Prix.

During the free practice session at the "Grosser A1 Preiss von Οsterreich" in A1-Ring, Villeneuve had an amazing 360" spin.

At the "Gross Preis von Deutchland", Villeneuve pushed hard for a good result in the race. But after an unfortunate collision with his teammate Ricardo Zonta, and the mixed weather conditions during the race, Villeneuve finished back in 8th position. The winner was Rubens Barrichello who celebrated his first ever F1 victory of his career with tears during the podium ceremony.

Villeneuve's greatest chance to achieve a podium finish was at the "Gran Premio Campari d' Italia" where the Honda engine proved both its power but weakness. Jacques qualified 4rth in the grid among the Ferrari and McLaren cars and maintained a 3rd position following an accident that killed an Italian marshal. But after the restart of the race, Villeneuve was forced to retire due to failure of his engine.

Another great performance of Villeneuve was at the inaugural "SAP United States Grand Prix" in Indianapolis where Villeneuve won the historical Indy 500 race some years ago. In fact he was the only current driver in the grid with racing experience in an oval circuit.
On lap 35 he had a spectacular spin at turn 5, while the following Rubens Barrichello avoided a contact with the spining car in the very last second. Michael Schumacher who was leading the race, had a similar spin almost at the same point of turn 5 with 4 laps to the finish but without any further consequences.

In fact, Villeneuve's spin might had caused him losing the 3rd position of the race. Unfortunately, he failed to overtake Heinz Harald Frenzen's Jordan during the last laps of the race and finished 4rth.

As Villeneuve explained after the race "...I wasn't really close enough to pass Frentzen, but I just decided there was no sand trap and no tire wall, so I'd take a chance. I lost track of where the corner was, and as soon as I touched the brakes I knew I was not going to be able to stop."

Many observers believe that Villeneuve’s performances during the 2000 season had been even better than those that had won him the 1997 World Championship.

F1 1998 Championship

2008-12-30T11:24:00.000-08:00

In 1998, everything seemed ready for a Schumacher vs Villeneuve era.
Villeneuve retained his seat at Williams Grand Prix, but the team was unable to maintain its racing dominance. The car was powered by the old V10 Renault engines under the label of Mecachrome and Goodyear were in its last F1 season freezing tyre's developememnt. Moreover, William's Chief Aerodynamist Adrian Newey who was the designer of the previous victorious cars (FW18 and FW19), departed also to McLaren Mercedes the year before. In fact, it was commented that FW20 was just a virtual copy of the 1997 car adjusted to 1998 regulations as was lacking actual development!
The team was struggling to match the pace of its competitors for the whole season and for the following years Williams rarely found itself in a continuous leading role in F1.
The statistics revealed Villeneuve's misery. He never qualified in the pole position and had to be content with only 2 podium finishes but on its lowest step fro the whole season. For a racer who loved being in the front, the number of laps he led all season long was exactly zero. Villeneuve finished the season 5th scoring 21 points only one more than Jordan's Damon Hill, less than half that of Ferrari's Eddie Irvine, and practically only 1/5 Mika Hakkinen who was crowned new World Champion and established himself as Schumacher's new nemesis for the following years.
Villeneuve was just named "Best of the Rest".

Villeneuve had a great opportunity to win a race at the "Grand Prix du Canada" in Montreal. During the race, he was running 2nd to Giancarlo Fisichella's Benneton while the safety car was on the track. Villeneuve immediately after the restart of the race, tried wrongly to overtake Fisichella from the outside line and take the lead, but he braked too late at the first corner, exited the track and lost his current position.

When he re-entered the track he collided with Esteban Tuero's Minardi and lost his rear wing. After a long pitstop to repair his car he finally finished the race 6 laps behind the race winner Michael Schumacher.

At the "Grosser Preis von Österreich" in A1-Ring, Villeneuve finished just 6th scoring one more point.

During the first laps at the "Foster's Grand Prix de Belgique" in Spa, Villeneuve manage to take the lead but due to the wet conditions of the circuit he spun off and retired from the race.

By the end of the 1998 season, Villeneuve was looking forward to joining the newly formed British American Racing and make a new successful beginning.

F1 1996 Championship

2008-12-30T05:08:00.000-08:00

In 1996 Villeneuve joined Frank Williams' F1 team.
Everyone was so impatient to watch the son of the legendary Gilles Villeneuve racing in F1.

In his F1 debut at the "Transurban Australian Grand Prix" in Melbourne, Villeneuve started from the pole position joining Guiseppe Farina, Mario Andretti and Carlos Reutemann as the only drivers to achieve pole position in their first race. After a duel with his team mate Damon Hill and an oil leak he finished second.

Live commentary of the duel

Villeneuve's maiden F1 victory came in his 4rth race in F1 at the "European Grand Prix" in Nurburgring. He won, despite he was under pressure from Michael Schumacher during most of the race. David Coutlhard was 3rd with McLaren Mercedes.

During the qualification session of the "French Grand Prix" in Magny-Cours, Villeneuve had a huge crash without being hurted. At the following race he finished 2nd behind his team-mate while he was qualified only 6th.

Onboard view of the crash

His driving talent was demonstrated at the "Grande Premio de Portugal" in Estoril. On lap 16, Villeneuve managed an impossible overtake from the outside line to the then twice world champion Michael Schumacher, in the final long fast right-handed turn named "Parabolica Ayrton Senna", while Schumacher was ready to give a lap-down to the back-marking Minardi of Giovanni Lavaggi.

Villeneuve later narrated; "That really pissed him off and he came to me afterwards and said that it was dangerous and stupid and how lucky I was that it was him I was overtaking, otherwise we would have had a crash.
He was really, really angry at me. I had told the team before the race that I would overtake somebody there - they all laughed. It just gave me the biggest grin - I couldn't contain it."

Villeneuve contented his teammate for the world title until the final round of the season at the Fuji Television Japanese Grand Prix" in Suzuka.

Although Villeneuve took the pole position of the race, a poor start and an exit on 36th lap after losing one of his back wheels, made him to retire out of the race.

The championship went to his team mate Damon Hill, who won five races to Villeneuve's four but the French Canadian's amazing F1 debut was the talk of the racing world.

F1 1997 Championship

2008-12-30T04:36:00.000-08:00

In his second year at Williams Renault, Jacques Villeneuve was crowned F1 World Champion. His team mate was German Heinz-Harald Frentzen after replacing Damon Hill.
Once again Villeneuve had a tough challenge for the title dueling with the then double World Champion and Ferrari's driver Michael Schumacher. In his champion season, Villeneuve won 7 races at the Brazilian, Argentinian, Spanish, British, Hungarian, Austrian and Luxembourg Grand Prix and also claimed 10 pole positions. His main rival Schumacher had 5 victories but both drivers refused to give "an inch" to each other all season long until the final race of the season.

At the Qantas Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne, Villeneuve seemed to have a comfortable first victory of the season starting the race from the pole position with his team-mate 2nd.
However, he was obliged to retire early on the very first turn, following a very slow start and a collision with Ferrari's Eddie Irvine and Sauber's Johnny Herbert.

The first victory of Villeneuve's champion season was at the Grande Prêmio do Brasil in Interlagos.
Villeneuve took his 2nd consecutive pole position, but as in Australia, he went again off the track at the first turn. Eventually the race was immediately red-flagged as right behind him took place an incident involving several drivers. At the start, Rubens Barrichello's car stalled causing a track blockage for the following drivers but Eddie Irvine took also some of the blame.
Luckily for the Canadian, the race restarted with the drivers occyping their initial position. This time Villeneuve had a clear start and mainted the 1rdt position till the fall of the checkered flag. 2nd was Gerhard Berger with Olivier Panis 3rd.

Jacques Villeneuve was victorious at the Gran Premio Marlboro de Espana in Barcelona. 2nd was Olivier Panis and 3rd Jean Alesi completing a French-speaking podium.

During the Spanish Grand Prix, it was also announced that Renault Sport was about to retire from F1 by the end of the season. Still the management and the developing of its V10 engines was left to Mecachrome.

Canadian fans were delightful about a Villeneuve's victory at his home Grand Prix Players du Canada, in the circuit that brings his father's name Gilles. Villeneuve qualified 2nd behind Michael Scumacher but in the 2nd lap of the race, he spun off and crashed into the infamous "Bienvenue au Quebec" wall. By the crash his front suspension and wing were damaged forcing Villeneuve to retire disappointing his fans.

In the footage of the British Television, he explained that he wrongly went too fast into the chicane. It was after the race that Villeneuve decided to color his hair in fancy blond, to bring him luck.

Jacques Villeneuve won the British Grand Prix in Silverstone despite he has being stuck in the pitlane for half a minute during his first pitstop, after a wheelnut problem, losing valuable time.However, the two previous leaders of the race retired due to mechanical problems. Michael Schumacher was leading with by over 40 seconds gap before a wheel bearing failure caused retirement. The next race leader was Mika Häkkinen who was about for his first win but his engine blew while he was holding off Villeneuve

In Hungaroring, Jacques Villeneuve was driving second behind Damon Hill's Arrows Yamaha. During the last lap he managed to pass Hill in a very demanding way and took the lead of the race.

Onboard view of Jacques Villeneuve overtaking Damon Hill

Austria

Luxemburg last win

F1 1999 Champioship

2008-12-30T04:31:00.000-08:00

In 1999 Villeneuve joined British American Racing which was formed by his manager Craig Pollock, Adrian Reynard owner of Reynard Motorsport, and British American Tobacco Inc. His racing aim for the new millennium was to create a
"custom-made" outfit in the Schumacher-Ferrari style. While Schumacher merely brough order to a chaotic but nonetheless front-running team, Villeneuve's dream was to take a brand new team to the top. It must have been an alluring prospect - but a misguided one. Sever years later, Villeneuve himself revealed, "I wanted to build something new, and to dream. After winning the championship it was a new challenge."

Expectations were high declaring a victory by the first Grand Prix, as part of Reynard's victorious "Tradition of Excellence". "Why not?", claimed co-founder and chassis designer, Adrian Reynard. "Some might say we are setting our sights too high, but we choose to set high standards."

However, the inaugural 1999 season had been a tough baptism for the team. In fact, B.A.R. finished last in the constructor's championship without scoring any point.
The car was suffering lack of horsepower using the old Supertec engines, aerodynamic balance and mechanical reliability. Jacques Villeneuve's efforts in qualifying sessions weren't enough and he faced 11 successive retirements – 9 of them caused by mechanical failures.
Still, Villeneuve who had walked into success with the established, competitive Williams-Renault team, had his patience, motivation, energy, and character taken for the first time at his F1 career into the limits. "The first year was harder than it was supposed to be. Race after race the car broke down, and it completely sapped my energy. To get back from a test to do three or four days training, knowing that the car probably wasn't going to finish the next race, was really, really hard. It also affected me physically, because even in testing we didn't do a lot of laps, so it was difficult to remain driving-fit, and we didn't do any set-up work."

The first retirement of the season took place at the "Qantas Australian Grand Prix", at team's first race, when Villeneuve lost his rear wing.

Onboard View at Canadian GP in Montreal

During the "Grand Prix Air Canada" in Montreal, 3 F1 champions and a F3000 champion crashed into the infamous "Bienvenue au Quebec" wall. Because of these crashes the wall was alternatevely named "Wall of Champions. The 3 F1 champions were Michael Schumacher, Damon Hill and Jacques Villeneuve and the F3000 was Villeneuve's teammate in B.A.R. Ricardo Zonta.

The "Foster's Grand Prix de Belgique" in Spa was really fascinating for the team.
During the official qualification session Villeneuve and Zonta experienced horrifying accidents at the infamous Eau Rouge corner when their cars spun off in full throttle. Hopefully, both drivers escaped unhurt from their wrecked cars, without any injuries.

Eventhough, Villeneuve finished the race back in 15th position, it was the first time in the whole 1999 season and after 12 races that the checquered flag was waved for the BAR001.

Villeneuve almost to secure BAR's first ever points at the "Warsteiner Grand Prix d'Europe" in Nurburgring. With 5 laps before the end of the race Villeneuve was driving in the 5th place when he was finally obliged to retire due to a clutch failure disappointing his fans. The winner of the race was Johnny Herbert driving a Stewart Ford.