Jacques Villeneuve's future

[Kicking-back]

Good performance from Jacques in qualifying today, I thought.

[Inigo Montoya]

Yup, and Massa too

[Knowlesy]

Solid effort from Jacques today, but Massa was even better still.

Hopefully Jacques can make a race of it tomorrow....

[Kirk]

Originally Posted by knowlesy

Solid effort from Jacques today, but Massa was even better still.

Hopefully Jacques can make a race of it tomorrow....

SO DRAMATIC Knowlesy. It is obvious JV has turned the corner and time-wise is even or better than his teammate. You can grasp at those thousands of seconds difference in qualy, if you prefer.

[JeremySmith]

Originally Posted by Kirk

Can we close this thread already or are we going to have a perpetual Villeneuve thread for the bashers, most of whom have no idea of what they are talking about?

Best idea I have heard this week..

[Don K]

Originally Posted by Kirk

Can we close this thread already or are we going to have a perpetual Villeneuve thread for the bashers, most of whom have no idea of what they are talking about?

Why would there be need for a thread for bashers? Bashers are normally not allowed on this forum.

Let's just keep this thread as it is, for discussing Villeneuve and his current and future performance.

[hando]

I agree. Lets keep the thread open and hopefully we'll be still talking about him as a Sauber driver until the end of the F1 season. That can only mean he's doing a good job.
While a lot have said he is almost finished and should retire, I think most agree he is/was a great driver and we just want the old Jacques back. Agressive, competetive.......fast!!

[Knowlesy]

Originally Posted by Kirk

SO DRAMATIC Knowlesy. It is obvious JV has turned the corner and time-wise is even or better than his teammate. You can grasp at those thousands of seconds difference in qualy, if you prefer.

Kirk, once again you take offence at nothing.

All I have said was that Massa had a better lap (although we don't know fuel loads yet) and that I hope Jacques will have a good race tomorrow. I say hope, because out of the 8 races so far this season he has had 1 good race.

I could say I hope Jacques does rubbish if you wish, but that is not what I want to see.

[VilleneuveTracy]

Villeneuve ran well in qualifying, assuming that he, as usual, had substantially more fuel on board than Massa. It is a shame that Sauber is not one of the Bridgestone teams.

Why aren't marginal teams like Sauber and RBR on Bridgestones anyway? If Bridgestone found an advantage over Michelin it would help them beat some of the top-tier teams, especially the weaker top-tier teams such as BAR and Toyota. By running the same tires as all the major teams, with the lone exception of Ferrari, they have to rely on other areas to beat those teams and obviously that is very difficult for these relatively underfunded teams.

[DaveBrockman]

Originally Posted by VilleneuveTracy

Why aren't marginal teams like Sauber and RBR on Bridgestones anyway?

Sauber were up until this year. PS reckoned at the start of the season that switching to Michelin had netted him half a second per lap, which gives you an idea how dire the car must be if it's still so slow despite running better tyres and a Ferrari engine.

[Peter Mallett]

Welcome to our friendly forum Dave.

[DaveBrockman]

Thank you, long time reader, first time poster....

[curveball]

Sure is nice that everyone has something else to complain about today other than JV's driving! But honestly, I think he could have driven a better race than he did, did you see that messy entrance into the pit lane?! Just kidding.

[curveball]

Originally Posted by DaveBrockman

Sauber were up until this year. PS reckoned at the start of the season that switching to Michelin had netted him half a second per lap, which gives you an idea how dire the car must be if it's still so slow despite running better tyres and a Ferrari engine.

Actually I think the Michelin tires when run on the C23 did give it a very large performance boost, but it didnt carry over to the C24. Have to go back to Dec. and Jan. testing times to be sure, but that was my recollection.

[chillibowl]

for some reason i remember reading JV had something to do with saubers switch to michelins. either way i agree with curveball, JV could have driven a better race yeasterday!

[VilleneuveTracy]

Ecclestone: Villeneuve needs a better team

Ecclestone said that he belives JV still has a lot of talent. What do longtime F1 fans think about this? Is he insufficiently motivated or has he lost the talent that allowed him to set rookie records for wins, podiums, and points and win the WDC in just his second season?

[Inigo Montoya]

Hmmm. Wasn't bernie just on record saying the Jacques wasn't good to anyone, not even himself?

[VilleneuveTracy]

Here is a link to a similar but better article:

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/spor.../19/2003259953

"Jacques has to get faster," Sauber said. "That's all there is to it. His qualifying effort must be better."

So why doesn't Sauber order JV to abandon his heavy fuel load strategy?

[curveball]

Its actually quite amusing to read these "new" news stories because you can read them and figure out which press releases they came from months ago. Quite comical!

[Dixie Flatline]

Originally Posted by DaveBrockman

Sauber were up until this year. PS reckoned at the start of the season that switching to Michelin had netted him half a second per lap, which gives you an idea how dire the car must be if it's still so slow despite running better tyres and a Ferrari engine.

I've read somewhere that JV pushed for the change to Michelin tyres. He had run the BAR on Bridgestones in 2003 and had seen the improvement (we all had) in the BAR in 2004, some of which could be attributed to the Michelin switch.

However, the characteristics of Bridgestones and Michelins differ, and apparently the C24 was well into its development when the switch was made, so the C24 was being prepared with Bridgestones in mind.

[Dixie Flatline]

Originally Posted by VilleneuveTracy

Here is a link to a similar but better article:

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/spor.../19/2003259953

"Jacques has to get faster," Sauber said. "That's all there is to it. His qualifying effort must be better."

So why doesn't Sauber order JV to abandon his heavy fuel load strategy?

There was a story on his official website (which I can't find now) where JV explains that he adopts the heavy fuel load because he feels that typically with a light fuel load in qualifying, he still wouldn't be able to make up enough positions on qualifying to make the earlier stop worthwhile, and by having a heavier fuel load he can stay out longer and pick them off one by one.

[VilleneuveTracy]

Thanks, Dixie Flatline.

Here is a piece from JV's site regarding his recent improvement:

link

Jacques Explains Upturn In Form

After struggling in the opening races of the season, Jacques has made a blistering return to form in recent events to silence his critics.
Having produced an impressive points-finish at Imola, he ran strongly at Monaco before tangling with team-mate Felipe Massa at Monaco, while qualifying eighth at Montreal represented JV's best qualifying position of the season.

At Indianapolis, Jacques appeared well set for a productive race until the Michelin tyre debacle resulted in a premature end to his weekend.

Asked to explain this reversal of form, Jacques claimed it was a matter of "just getting used to the car and to the team and also because we working closer together to get the car to be something that I drive naturally."

Moreover, Jacques accepts that he is still adapting to the way Sauber operate.

"I try to communicate with the team. It is just a different way of working. The team is more used to going on numbers and looking at data and not really calculating the human factor. I've been used to working on the human side and using data to help the human side. So, it's just a different approach than what I'm used to," JV explained. "Felipe only knows this approach in Formula One and it works fine for him, but I've raced the other way for eight years and so this is just very different.

"Other teams in Formula One are like that as well and it is just a different way of doing things. But, I've also worked with the same people for many years and we've only worked together for six months now.

[mabs_nsx]

I hope Villeneuve will be racing in the GPWC

[Skam85]

Originally Posted by VilleneuveTracy

while qualifying eighth at Montreal represented JV's best qualifying position of the season.

Geez, his own website can't even get it right!!

He qualified 4th in Australia.

[VilleneuveTracy]

True, but that was a freak event. Interestingly, JV's 8th place qualifying effort was the best real effort of a Sauber driver this year, which is surprising given Massa's speed this year.

The great news about BMW purchasing Sauber is excellent for JV. If he can stop having bad luck and keep his ride this will give him a chance to once again contend. Sauber has substantial infrastructure and BMW financing should allow it to move to the next level immediately. Am I saying BMW-Sauber will be a title contender next year? No, it will take time to reach that level. However, BMW-Sauber should be able to rise to the level of Toyota or BAR next year and eclipse RBR.