Formula One news

JV didn't worry about 2006 seat

Jacques Villeneuve says he was able to take a post-season break without worrying about F1. The French Canadian, who many had written off as a no-hoper to keep the Sauber ride, holidayed in Paris and Canada last month before returning to test. "I did not think about racing, at all," he told Motorsport Aktuell. "I did not go to bed at night concerned about my future."

All along, 34-year-old JV - despite struggling in 2005 and despite BMW's overtures to potential replacements like Heikki Kovalainen, Dan Wheldon and Alex Wurz - insisted that his '06 deal was water tight. 


But he must have sat up on one or two nights, wondering how a 1997 world champion struggled to get to grips with his F1 mount. "Partly, it was due to my one year break," Villeneuve pondered, "but the biggest problem was a lack of testing. The car I started with was not at all adapted electrically to my needs. Usually, that's fixed in two weeks -- but here it took two months because the budget wasn't there."

Next year, however - with BMW on board - the budget mostly certainly will be there. But JV reports that the integration is not yet complete. He smiled: "I don't know if we are a new team with some old elements, or an old team with new elements."

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