Before reading further, just consider this.
If someone told you that there was a driver who finished second on his Indy 500 debut and within 4 years had not only won the Indy 500 but the Indy Championship title and the Formula One world championship. You would think to yourself that sounds like one hell of a driver......
As soon as people mention the name Jacques Villeneuve however, the above paragraph gets completely forgotten and the view that forms in most peoples minds is one of a driver only motivated by money and who paddled around in an uncompetative car and struggled to beat the likes of Ricardo Zonta. He finally left F1 with his tail between his legs after being dumped mid season by Sauber.
The question is, does he deserve the latter reputation based on the former statement?
Villeneuve arrived at Williams at a time when they were without doubt the best team on the grid. His debut in Australia was outstanding and almost resulted but for an oil leek, in a superb win. The title could also, almost have been his that season and perhaps with a bit more luck and experience it would have been. After Hill's exit from Williams closely followed by an angry Adrian Newey, it was left to Villeneuve to capitlise on the last great Newey designed Williams to bring home the title which he eventually managed to do but not before breaking the hearts of Arrows fans everywhere by sneeking past a failing Damon Hill's Arrows on the last lap of the Hungarian GP. We all know how the title race ended that season as Schumacher proved that 1994 was not a one off.
Villeneuves final season at Williams saw the team fall way off the pace, now without Newey and with year old rebadged Renault engines he still managed to see the podium twice and outscore his team mate.
On leaving Williams, he was given the opportunity to join BAR which was part funded and co-owned by his manager. Let's be honest, when you look at the team that Schumacher built around himself at Ferrari and the success that this brought, if you were a driver and your manager offered you the opportunity to join a team that was to be built around yourself with you as number one in almost every area, I'm sure you would jump at the chance.
The problem with BAR is that it was the ex Tyrell squad using the same rebadged Renault engines (this time called Supertec) that had been so un-successful in the Williams the previous year, with a chassis designed by Raynard whose most recent F1 expereince were a failed attempt at entering on their own and several design components from that car being used by Pacific GP. What with Pollock claiming the team would win a race in its first season and a budget the size of a midfield team with results of back of the grid team and it was always going to be a farce.
What really did for Villeneuve at BAR was the arrival of Jenson Button who outpaced his more experienced team mate at almost every race leading to the ultimate humiliation of Villeneuve being replaced by Takuma Sato for the final race of the season.
So, is it time to re-think the Jacques Villeneuve story and consider him one of the best multi-skilled drivers in Motorsport (with wins in Indy Car, F1, NASCAR and almost completeing the Graham Hill by finishing 2nd at Le Mans) or will his time at BAR forever hang around his neck?
If someone told you that there was a driver who finished second on his Indy 500 debut and within 4 years had not only won the Indy 500 but the Indy Championship title and the Formula One world championship. You would think to yourself that sounds like one hell of a driver......
As soon as people mention the name Jacques Villeneuve however, the above paragraph gets completely forgotten and the view that forms in most peoples minds is one of a driver only motivated by money and who paddled around in an uncompetative car and struggled to beat the likes of Ricardo Zonta. He finally left F1 with his tail between his legs after being dumped mid season by Sauber.
The question is, does he deserve the latter reputation based on the former statement?
Villeneuve arrived at Williams at a time when they were without doubt the best team on the grid. His debut in Australia was outstanding and almost resulted but for an oil leek, in a superb win. The title could also, almost have been his that season and perhaps with a bit more luck and experience it would have been. After Hill's exit from Williams closely followed by an angry Adrian Newey, it was left to Villeneuve to capitlise on the last great Newey designed Williams to bring home the title which he eventually managed to do but not before breaking the hearts of Arrows fans everywhere by sneeking past a failing Damon Hill's Arrows on the last lap of the Hungarian GP. We all know how the title race ended that season as Schumacher proved that 1994 was not a one off.
Villeneuves final season at Williams saw the team fall way off the pace, now without Newey and with year old rebadged Renault engines he still managed to see the podium twice and outscore his team mate.
On leaving Williams, he was given the opportunity to join BAR which was part funded and co-owned by his manager. Let's be honest, when you look at the team that Schumacher built around himself at Ferrari and the success that this brought, if you were a driver and your manager offered you the opportunity to join a team that was to be built around yourself with you as number one in almost every area, I'm sure you would jump at the chance.
The problem with BAR is that it was the ex Tyrell squad using the same rebadged Renault engines (this time called Supertec) that had been so un-successful in the Williams the previous year, with a chassis designed by Raynard whose most recent F1 expereince were a failed attempt at entering on their own and several design components from that car being used by Pacific GP. What with Pollock claiming the team would win a race in its first season and a budget the size of a midfield team with results of back of the grid team and it was always going to be a farce.
What really did for Villeneuve at BAR was the arrival of Jenson Button who outpaced his more experienced team mate at almost every race leading to the ultimate humiliation of Villeneuve being replaced by Takuma Sato for the final race of the season.
So, is it time to re-think the Jacques Villeneuve story and consider him one of the best multi-skilled drivers in Motorsport (with wins in Indy Car, F1, NASCAR and almost completeing the Graham Hill by finishing 2nd at Le Mans) or will his time at BAR forever hang around his neck?
As possibly one of very few Villeneuve fans on this forum, I'm very excited about this, though sad to see unlucky Heidfeld go, as I quite liked him too. If Villeneuve can do well in Formula E, it'll be another piece of evidence that he's a multi-skilled driver who deserves better than the reputation he had following his disastrous F1 career post-Williams.
