By role
October 5 2004

Renault F1 driver Jacques Villeneuve is looking forward to the Japanese Grand Prix to be held at Suzuka this weekend. The Canadian regards the track as one of his favourites and agrees with most of the grid in the fact that is quite a technical circuit for the drivers. Villeneuve also has to push hard to come to terms with the Renault R24, a car that he is still in the process to learn:

"I know the circuit well and whereas I was still learning about the car in China, we will be able to work on the set-ups right from the beginning of practice in Japan. I got a much better feel for the car during the last race and it gave me some directions for how we can work on the handling. Plus of course, I won't get caught out on the first lap of the race this time." He said.

Jacques believes that Suzuka is a track that suits quite well the smooth drivers:

"It is one of the most difficult circuits, especially in how the turns link together. The track is very nice to drive, and you need a car that lets you flow through the corners yet also be precise. The surface can be very slippery which makes the car quite delicate to drive, and that means a smooth driver is rewarded in lap-time. You need to be mentally aggressive to put in a good lap, but not with the steering wheel." He added.

Villeneuve knows quite well what are his duties at the Japanese Grand Prix:

"In terms of performance, the first thing I need to do is score the points that I missed out on in China. At Suzuka though, you have a lot of delicate moments around the lap when the car has lots of downforce at high speed, and you are turning and braking at the same time. That means the car needs to be very stable to really feel confident. If we can get the handling right, then I am sure we can score points: the team and myself are still very motivated to get second place." He concluded.