SAUBER and JV - do Opposites Attract?

By Jamie Makin
September 18 2004

Jacques Villeneuve is a driver renowned for his outspoken personality and sometimes controversial manners. SAUBER PETRONAS is a team known for staying out of the limelight and politics of most F1 controversies. It seems like a strange pairing for sure. So how will they get along?

Former SAUBER driver Johnny Herbert does fear there "might be a clash" between Villeneuve and team boss Peter Sauber who is known to be "quite stubborn". But Herbert also feels that in the end things will work out between them. "It won't be a bad partnership. I think (Jacques') attitude will be fine," Herbert assured.

BAR-Honda test driver Anthony Davidson had at one point been the favourite to claim the open SAUBER seat. Now he also wonders how the opposite personalities will get along. "(Jacques is) used to a team with lots of funding," Ant remarked. SAUBER has one of the smaller budgets on the grid and the change for Villeneuve will be profound. "But if Peter (Sauber) likes a fighter, that's what he'll get," Ant went on to say.

Meanwhile, Villeneuve himself seems to have emerged from his year off a changed man. "It had been five years of political games (at BAR-Honda)," Jacques said. "No matter how hard you try to be positive, you inevitably take some of the negativity in, and it is bound to come out somehow. The break I've had was important."

The SAUBER team maintains a friendly, family-like atmosphere, much like the one that Ferrari themselves are known for. Perhaps this type of environment is the one that Jacques needs to flourish and finally shed his "trouble maker" image.

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