Villeneuve's best days behind him????

[EERO]

From AuotSport:


Former world champion Jacques Villeneuve believes
his best days in Grand Prix racing could be behind
him, unless his British American Racing team can
turn round their fortunes to become a true front-running team.

... he has admitted to Autosport that there is still a lot of work to do before the team is a genuine frontrunner, and feels it is unlikely that he will ever race for another leading team.
When asked if he is locked out of driving for a top outfit, he said: "There is a good chance that might have happened, yes."

A grim but realistic assessment. I have thought it for ages now, but am really surprised he would admit it. Maybe he should return to CART and get back to racing. Though I suspect that when he walks away form the sport it will be for good.

Consider also the plight of BAR-my guess is that 2002 will be that last year for that ill-concieved exercise in greed, hype and baddly made plans.

[Inigo Montoya]

Yes, it really is sad... So much promise in the beginning Cart champion, Indy 500 champion, and F1 champion. But, some would say he dug his own grave by going for the big bucks at BAR.

This is especially sad for me, being a Canadian. Though I never especially liked him (I am a fan of TGF), he was one of a handfull of drivers that could match TGF's arrogance and stubborness, if not his ability.

[Bononi]

Very honest statement.

Usually drivers don't do that.

And JV might be seeing the end of the team too.

[Raoul Duke]

In my opinion, Villeneuve shot himself in the foot be leaving Williams and joining Bar . Just look at where Williams are now and how well both Ralf and JPM are doing.
What surprises me is that there aren't more top teams that are eager to have him. If I was the owner of a front running team and I had the chance to have a former world champion as one of my drivers I would jump at the oppertunity. Raikkonen and Villeneuve would make a good combination at Mclaren, a former WC with lot's of experience behind him and a young and up and comming futur world champion. And let's face it, as much as I like the guy, Coulthard will never be a top driver.

[Ralf's Girl]

RD, I agree with you - BAR is the biggest mistake of Villeneuve's career. He hasn't driven like a champion ever since he left Williams, and it will take an awful lot of improving from BAR to get him back to the front. And I really can't see that happening.

[Piquet]

I wonder if he is preparing us for a return to CART at the end of 2002. It is a crying shame as he is a very talented driver and its never nice to see guys like that leave the sport.

He has not had a good 2001 in more ways than racing, and I suspect he is getting fed-up with the likes of MS & his recent comments /actions (& who can blame him for that )

who knows...

[zealot]

JV's my fave driver, but I'm afraid he's right.

Realistically, if you don't drive for Ferrari, McLaren or Williams, you aren't going to win a race, let alone a WDC.

JV would rather end his career than play second fiddle to Schumi, his personality is too much of a clash to ever drive for Ron Dennis, and Frank will never take him back (although he did take Nigel back). That leaves him, basically, out in the cold.

At the time though, he didn't really have much of a choice. The Williams was in a serious tailspin when he left, Ferrari already had Schumi, and Dennis was never going to hire him at McLaren. BAR was as good as choice as any.

[Liz]

Jacques is right. His best year was 1997 and then it all went Pop.

I would retire this year if I were he. I hate seeing people hang around and embarrass themselves after their day is done, and if he doesn't go soon, nobody will remember that he used to be a champion. They'll just think of him as the guy with the weird looking hair.

[Alan Jones]

Sad but true JV, I loved it when he came into the series and proved them all wrong, that is that a CART driver could win and succeed in F1.
C'mon Bernie, can't you get to work at what you do best, do a few underhand deals behind closed doors and get JV back into a team with a chance.

[Valve Bounce]

Originally posted by Raoul Duke
In my opinion, Villeneuve shot himself in the foot be leaving Williams and joining Bar . Just look at where Williams are now and how well both Ralf and JPM are doing.
What surprises me is that there aren't more top teams that are eager to have him. If I was the owner of a front running team and I had the chance to have a former world champion as one of my drivers I would jump at the oppertunity. Raikkonen and Villeneuve would make a good combination at Mclaren, a former WC with lot's of experience behind him and a young and up and comming futur world champion. And let's face it, as much as I like the guy, Coulthard will never be a top driver.

The trouble with Jacques, and I think Liz will back me on this one, is that he is not a team man. His attitude towards Ricardo Zonta was disgraceful. Any tean managr has to consider who they put in a team nowadays - they may not have to be bosom buddies but they must be able to contribute as a team. In that context, even Rubens and MSch make a good team, so did DC and Mika. Even Ralf and JPM will make a good team because they respect each other. The only way for Jacques to get back onto the podium (without half the top guys falling off) is for him to go to Renault - and I don't know how he would get along with Jarno. Jacques has changed a helluva lot since he won the Indy 500, that is the shame.

[Bononi]

Valve, altough I like JV as a driver, I must agree with you. I don't know how he came to be this way, and that's seems to be his biggest failure. BAR is his team, and nobody's else. Maybe he thought to be like TGF in Ferrari, or whatever. BAR is nil, and he failed.

I hope JV gets back on the trails again. Or he might enjoy his earned bucks in Monte Carlo casinos...

[Gt_R]

Its easy for people on hindside to say Jacques make a wrong move to go to BAR...but to be fair, when Jacques signed up, he had his trusted friend running a well funded F1 team, with what seemed to be a potential climb to the top. And the same time, Renault ditched Williams, and things do not look good for Jacques if he continues staying there, so standing at that point of time, going to BAR was obviously a better risk than staying at Williams.

And true, Jacques is never going to find a seat in either Ferrari, Mclaren or Williams, for all sort of reasons. And no, Jacques shouldnt retire, but fight on. He ought to take the lead to bring the team up, not sitting waiting for Craig to do all the cr*p...

I don't really like him, but i think he has what it takes to give DC, Kimi, Ralf a good run for their money. Hopefully Honda and BAR could deliver...

[Liz]

VB, you are right. Jacques was unfortunately spoilt by Craig Pollock and when anybody gets the idea that no matter what he does, he can get away with it, (besides being told every day that the world revolves around him), that's what he's going to become.

And to throw in a little parlour diagnosis, until he gets past being the 10 year old who lost his father racing, he's not going to change.

As for Jacques going to Champ Cars, I wouldn't hold my breath. Why would he bother?

[ghinzani]

My only hope is that Honda buy out BAR and put someone decent like Dave Richards in charge.. actually thinking about it GM should buy BAR for when they enter F1 ;-) at least American fans will have heard of Jack Newtown... I wanna see Jacques kicking Michaels ass again!

[Tristan]

Hmmm...... personally I've never really seen JV as a former world champ. I've always got that niggling feeling that, despite is obvious talents and lovley driving style, that "It was the car that did it".

I agree with him not being so much a team man, both HHF and RZ were eaten alive. But how come Panis seems to be thriving?? Has this been a change in tack from JV?? Is he mellowing out?? He must be to deliver such a realistic (for an F1 driver) and frank statements as above.

Nethertheless, with Toyota on the way, I can't see Honda waiting around in the mid-grid for much longer. Whichever team they choose, one of the Honda teams is bound to come good sooner or later. Only that BMW, Fiat and DaimlerChrysler are in the way.

[f1manoz]

Jv still appears to have the same commitment he's always had, and to be truthful it's the car that is at fault, not him.

I'd agree with GT that it's always with hindsight that we say 'But only if......' JV may well have thrown away any oppurtunity of winning another WDC by moving to BAR in 1999, but he's a hell of a lot richer now and still holds some control over the driver market each year when he decides if he's to stay with the team.

IMO Honda will take over BAR in a short time as they will not want to be beaten by Toyota at all. Plus the simple fact BAR seem to have little idea about developing a car, or more to the point, building a competitive one in the first place.

Whether JV stays with Honda, or decides to move on, is anyones guess. It will depend on how much Honda will probably be willing to pay.

[Inigo Montoya]

Originally posted by Tristan
But how come Panis seems to be thriving?? Has this been a change in tack from JV??

Panis is French. Believe me, to a French-Canadian, that makes all the difference in the world.

[EERO]

They seem to get along well, and as Inigo has intimated, the language thing is important. I would also suspect that JV has mellowed somewhat-humility can can descend upon even the most raging egotist.

[Mania]

Villuneuve ruined his career by leaving Williams in 98. If he had stuck around, he may have even ended up at another top team - such as Ferrari or Mclaren.

I dont see BAR ever being able to challenge for the championship. I just dont think they have the committment like Ferrari,Williams or Mclaren for that matter. They`re just not good enough and never will be.

I think he needs to leave BAR but at this moment there is no top team that would take him on. Renault is perhaps the only option but they wont get their act together till 03 at the earliest.

Pollock is basically hanging on to JV with all he`s got because if JV goes, so do the Honda engines.

I`m pretty sure JV will never win another championship but he may end up winning a few races if he goes to Renault. Its never going to happen with BAR though.

[Tristan]

Aha, but JV took a RISK when he went ot BAR. He saw POTENTIAL.

TGF ALSO took a risk going to Ferrari. At the time they were a mid-grid team, but he too saw potential.

How come TGF's risk came good and JV's didn't?? Is it because TGF really is better?? Or is it somehting else?? Can it be a finacial thing?? But then BAR are hardly short on cash. Is it Honda?? IS IT ZONTA?????

[BBKing]

Originally posted by Tristan
Aha, but JV took a RISK when he went ot BAR. He saw POTENTIAL.

TGF ALSO took a risk going to Ferrari. At the time they were a mid-grid team, but he too saw potential.

How come TGF's risk came good and JV's didn't?? Is it because TGF really is better?? Or is it somehting else?? Can it be a finacial thing?? But then BAR are hardly short on cash. Is it Honda?? IS IT ZONTA?????

To say that Ferrari won because of Schumacher is too far fetched I Believe. Don't forget that almost half of the good people in F1 moved from other teams, specially Benetton, to Ferrari.

I think Rory Byrnie’s contribution is as important, if not more, to Ferrari’s success. Jean Todt and Brawn were there to make sure Schumacher had everything he wanted therefore their contribution is also very important, even if it reflects badly on them for their single minded commitment to Schumacher to the point of denying Irvine the title in 99.

Schumacher could not win until he was given an unbeatable package in 2000 and 2001. So was Hakkinen in 98 and 99(?). It is a fact that the car is more important than the driver when it comes to win championships. Even if Schumacher screwed it up in 97 and 98 in the last race.


BAR overestimated their abilities. They thought Reynard would give then an unbeatable chassis and Honda a powerfull engine. Nothing of that happened so Villeneuve cannot do miracles.

If Trulli keeps on breaking his car he might not last long at Renault. Then Villeneuve can take over and win the championship for them in 2003.

[Nicholas]

Originally posted by ghinzani
actually thinking about it GM should buy BAR for when they enter F1 ;-)

F1 racing predicted it a couple of years ago. Could be interesting...

JV should have stayed at Williams. Easy to say though, with hindsight. At the moment though Renault seems like the next best choice.

[Mania]

Originally posted by Tristan
Aha, but JV took a RISK when he went ot BAR. He saw POTENTIAL.

TGF ALSO took a risk going to Ferrari. At the time they were a mid-grid team, but he too saw potential.

How come TGF's risk came good and JV's didn't?? Is it because TGF really is better?? Or is it somehting else?? Can it be a finacial thing?? But then BAR are hardly short on cash. Is it Honda?? IS IT ZONTA?????

Tristan, you cant be serious if you're trying to compare Michael with Jacques or Ferrari with BAR? There was no question that, while Ferrari were a mid level team before Michael came over, they were always going to make it back to the top. The name says it all - Ferrari.

BAR can never even begin to match the achievements of Ferrari. Now, as far as Jacques is concerned..I think you would agree that while he`s a good driver - he's nowhere close to Michael Schumacher. Nobody is.

Lets talk about the real reason why JV went to BAR - Pollock and Money. Simple as that. And I think Jacques is beginning to realize he has enough money on him and that Pollock has basically screwed him over.

Honda engines alone cannot win races or championships. As for the Chassis, Im still waiting for Reynard to come up with something half-way decent.

I think realistically there is no way for BAR to win a championship. They dont have the people, the team, the experience, the funding or the commitment to do so.

Sounds harsh - but its true...

[Nicholas]

As for Honda, I expect JV's losing faith in them looking at how well they've done this year.

[enemy-ace]

I don't undertand all this "JV treated Zonta poorly tripe", what is he supposed to do? Hold his hand as he makes his way into the sport. JV's first year in F1 he worked like a dog and he gave Damon Hill a real run for his money. Zonta couldn't do that, poor and simple. Did you ever think that maybe Panis's good performance might be down to the fact that he is a good race driver. McLaren didn't covet his services for nothing. The fact that Prost let Panis go was down to Alain's poor driver judgement, which I think is becoming legendary in it's ineptitude.
As for Honda, they are underperforming, but i'm sure they know that, time for them to pick one team and focus their efforts.