Villeneuve Settles in at Sauber

By Jamie Makin
April 29 2005

Jacques Villeneuve's return to Formula One with the privateer team SAUBER PETRONAS has been different to his prior experiences with the bigger factory teams, Williams, BAR Honda and Renault.

Villeneuve shared his thoughts on his new environment. "The biggest difference is the budget which means that everything has to be much more controlled. We do considerably less testing than the factory teams, and as a result there is less freedom to try different ideas. This forces the people to be very efficient."

Villeneuve, who had been critical of team-mate Felipe Massa in his rookie year in 2002, now has kind words for him. "Our relationship is very friendly!," Villeneuve admitted. "I didn’t really know Felipe until the beginning of the season. However, we got on well right from the start, and there is a good amount of respect. Although he is still very young, he has already a considerable amount of experience."

Villeneuve's strong performance at Imola seems to have quieted speculation that he will soon depart from the team. He now finds himself looking towards the future. "The main goal is really to keep the momentum that we have now and to work in the same direction as we did in Imola," he said. "I am convinced that this will enable us to make further progress."