By Phil Huff
June 10 2005

Sauber Petronas' star driver Jacques Villeneuve sat down for the pre-race press conference yesterday evening, talking about the disappointments at Sauber, the constant media rumours and how things will improve. Jacques, here we are, back at home with you. One thing I noticed at a press conference yesterday is that it was mentioned you have a contract for next year, so you still have a year and a half's worth of contract. Can you just clarify that?

It has always been the case. It is not a surprise. That's what was said last year, that's what was said in winter, and that's what was said for the last few months, yes.

So the rumours about you perhaps being replaced, they have got to overcome that first?

Well, rumours are part of everyday racing. There have always been a lot of rumours. I have no idea where it comes from, but I guess it is easy to make rumours because there have been rumours about people getting more involved in the team and, who knows, with money people think they can start buying anything out, so I guess that is where the rumours started. What is needed for you to get back into the top ten?

We just need to go faster to get into the top ten. There is nothing else we can do. We had a good step in Imola and it looks like we got it right and most other people got it wrong and that suited us. The other track where we were competitive was Monaco and that was it. At the beginning of the season we hadn't been very competitive and the car is not difficult to drive, it is quite neutral, but it is just not fast enough on the lap time.

You had a big test at Monza last week, has that provided some encouragement?

Not really, no. The car was working fine, but once again not fast enough.

So, what are your thoughts about these two races?

I have no idea what to expect. There is new asphalt here, which will be a surprise for everyone, and it is just a matter of getting it right. When there is new asphalt like that you need to luck-in a little bit and that could work out for us. Also, if the tyres are on the limit, like Monaco, that suits us because we are quite easy on our tyres so that is what I am hoping for.

That's the only thing you can hope for is it?

Yeah, when you are not fast what can help you is rain, because that balances everything.

Do you feel there is anything missing in yourself?

No, not at all.

That part of it is perfect?

You always improve. There is always room for improvement and to learn and that happens with work. But right now there is not much we can do with the car. We are where we are and that's about it.

After the races the press releases and the comments that we read from your team and Peter Sauber are by and large negative. Does he ever take you aside and give you any positive and constructive criticism?

I have never thought about it. I have been racing long enough that you take criticism for what it is. If it is fair then you accept it, if it is not fair then it goes in one ear and out the other.

You suggested that there is nothing wrong on your side of the equation between yourself and Sauber. Peter Sauber seems to be saying something different, quite regularly. When you joined Sauber everything looked good, Ferrari engine, great wind tunnel, you seemed happy with the team. Do you now regret having joined Sauber this year?

Well, it is too easy to have regrets. We are all disappointed with how uncompetitive we are because as soon as we bolted the Michelin tyres on the car at the end of last year the car was extremely fast and the new car was never fast and nobody seems to know why. The car is balanced to drive, it is not difficult to drive, it is just slow. There is very little we can do, we don't have the budget to just try different suspensions and re-design stuff, so we are stuck with what we have and that is how it will be until the end of the season. As long as there is an active work being done on next year then that will be alright.

So, no regrets?

No, not at all. I am much happier to be racing than to be at home watching it on television.

After Kimi's crash [at the Nurburgring], Team McLaren has been accused of risking Kimi's life by keeping him out on the track so long with the damaged tyre. Do you think the tyre rules are leading you into a risky position?

In the past there were races with one stop, where in Kimi's position you would have tried to reach the end of the race, so the rule doesn't have any effect on that. You would have done at least as many laps.

Do you find it harder than you thought to nurse the tyres during an entire race distance? Aside from regular wear there is always a thought of a flat spot or something similar happening?

I have always enjoyed when you actually have to save your tyres because you can work on your set-up and the way you drive, and this year any time when the tyres are too soft it seems to suit us because we are very light on our tyres, so there's something we can get out of that. You were team-mate with Fernando [Alonso] for three races last year. What is your opinion of him as a person and as a driver? Do you think he's going to make it this year and if he does, will you be happy about that?

He is very strong, he is a very strong racer. He is actually better in the race than in qualifying so that's good to work on the championship. He is a very reserved person as well, so you need to spend time with him to actually get to know him a little bit and he was very nice, he was very positive and helpful last year which was good. Right now he is on a cloud, the whole team is behind him: Flavio is behind him and nothing can go wrong. As long as they keep it like that then it will be very difficult for Kimi to fight, but I'm sure that if he gets under pressure we might see some cracks. That happens to everyone and that would make F1 interesting during the season.

The TV audience has gone deeply down everywhere in Europe since two years and even here the press is not so full as in the past. Who is at fault?

No idea, it just depends how you promote it, what you put out and a lot of that is what the journalists write. I am not blaming anyone. Everybody works on this together and I guess people want to see good races, they also want to see heroes, but somehow, I don't know whether it's the team owners or the media or something, there was a while when heroes were not wanted, they just wanted robots to drive the cars and anyone who opened his mouth and said one word, then suddenly it was hushed up and that person was bad. In the long run people lose interest because OK, they want to see nice cars but they can go to a museum to see nice cars.