Villeneuve weighs future with BAR

Stephen Wade

Thursday, May 11, 2000 | 8:38 a.m.

BARCELONA, Spain - Jacques Villeneuve is facing one of the toughest decisions of his life.

Should the Canadian driver stay with British American Racing? After all, team director Craig Pollock is a friend and mentor who encouraged him to switch four years ago from CART to Formula One.

Or should Villeneuve move to a more competitive team?

In Villeneuve's second season with BAR, it has yet to provide the 1997 F1 champion with a car that will win races. BAR was abysmal last season in its debut, failing to score a point in 16 races.

But a new 10-cylinder, 800-horsepower Honda engine looks promising this season. Villeneuve has points-yielding finishes of fourth in Australia and fifth in Italy. He was headed for another, running sixth late in the race last weekend in the Spanish Grand Prix, but his car caught fire from a hydraulic leak.

"It was a shame because the car is a definite improvement on previous races," Villeneuve said. "I don't feel I was holding anybody up behind me."

So BAR is improving, but will it be able to keep the driver from Quebec, whose contract expires after this season?

Villeneuve probably will announce his plans by the Monaco Grand Prix on June 4. But he has talked openly about the process, and knows that at 29 he's not young by F1 standards.

"I want to win races," Villeneuve said. "I did not come to BAR to run at the back of the field. After the hard work and the pain, I would like to win races with BAR. But if that is not possible, I guess I have to look at my options."

Pollock, who says he no longer works as Villeneuve's manager, is caught in the middle. He wants the best for his friend, but also the best for a struggling operation that was the butt of jokes last season in the F1 paddock when team officials naively promised they'd win the first race.

"It is quite understandable if he talks to other teams," Pollock said. "Jacques is burningly competitive and still wants to win more races, more championships as much as he ever did. It is up to us to prove why he should stay at BAR."

Pollock says there is no question about Villeneuve's value. Every top team is interested in him, and Pollock says the driver would be remiss if he didn't explore the possibilities.

There are at least four teams that would like to sign Villeneuve after this season: McLaren, Jaguar, Benetton and even Williams, for whom he won the world title in 1997.

Regarded by many as one of the top three drivers in F1 - along with Ferrari's Michael Schumacher and McLaren's Mika Hakkinen - Villeneuve makes $11 million a season. That's second only to the $30 million Schumacher earns.

McLaren team director Ron Dennis confirmed he's talked with Villeneuve about next season, but denies a deal has been made. It seems more plausible that Villeneuve will replace McLaren No. 2 David Coulthard, although there have been suggestions that Hakkinen - McLaren's two-time defending series champion - will retire after the season.

"We look at all drivers options after eight or 10 races," Dennis said.

He has told Villeneuve, who also won the 1995 CART championship, that BAR would be more competitive with the new engine and might challenge for a victory.

"I told him the time to discuss (changing teams) was later in the season, and that was the beginning and the end of the discussion," Dennis said.

The next race, the European Grand Prix on May 21, will be nostalgic for Villeneuve. The Nurburgring in Germany is the site of his last victory - almost three years ago.

BAR's engine is much improved, but reliability, aerodynamics and the chassis are problems. Last month, at the British Grand Prix, Villeneuve was furious when a bad gearbox forced him out of the race with three laps to go, allowing Jordan's Jarno Trulli to pass for sixth place.

"We have to improve," Villeneuve said.

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On The Net:

Jacques Villeneuve: http://www.britishamericanracing.com/