By Jamie Makin
April 22 2005

Yesterday Peter Sauber claimed that "there is no problem on the human side" of his relationship with Jacques Villeneuve. Today, Villeneuve backed his boss' claim with one of his own. "There has never been a bad moment, we have always got along," Villeneuve assured the media. A few weeks ago Peter Sauber went on record as saying his relationship with the Canadian driver was 'strained'. Villeneuve seemed shocked at Sauber's claim. "I am not sure where that came from and I think he was quite surprised himself," said Villeneuve.

But Villeneuve has refused to let all the media fuss over his future get him down. "In the past I would have been quite unhappy and life would have been difficult. But you need to take a step back, to take a breather and look at your surroundings. When you have been driving year in year out you don't take much notice. But driving is fun, the speeds are high so it's no Sunday drive."

While Villeneuve still enjoys the high speed thrills, should he and Sauber part ways he seems at peace with it. "Anything that happens now will not change what I've achieved in the past and it will have a minimal effect on my life," mused Villeneuve. "Racing is very important but I know there will be life after racing."

But he is not throwing in the towel just yet and feels he knows what he needs to improve. "We are not getting much testing so it is just taking longer than expected to get used to it because of the lack of driving," he explained. "The mileage will come a little bit from testing, but mainly racing, on the Sunday, because with the new rules we don't do a lot of laps. It just takes time."

And clearly Villeneuve still has the will power to push forward. "I never do anything half way - if I get into something I do it fully. It doesn't mean I don't want to win again. Anything that happens can only make things better. It can't make my life negative, I won't let that happen, and when you wake up in the morning you decide if you are happy."

This weekend's race in Imola will give Villeneuve a new chance to set things right and show what he can do.