Formula One news

Villeneuve and BMW split

Today the BMW team has announced that Jacques Villeneuve will not race for them again this season. According to the team's statement, following discussions with Villeneuve last week both parties agreed to terminate their current contract with immediate effect, five races ahead of schedule.

In Hungary Villeneuve was replaced by Robert Kubica, apparently because he was still recovering from his crash at Hockenheim, but as so often is the case, there was more to it.

BMW Motorsport Director Mario Theissen said about the situation: "Jacques has performed well for us this year, scoring the team's first grand prix points in Malaysia, he has made a significant contribution to developing the newly formed BMW Sauber F1 Team and the performance of the car."

"However, after Jacques' accident in the Hockenheim race the team decided to review its options for next year, including assessing Robert Kubica in a race environment. Our decision to look towards evaluating our driver line up has naturally impacted Jacques' position for the remainder of this season. We fully understand that it is difficult for Jacques to maintain his natural level of commitment in circumstances of uncertainty. We respect his position and wish him well for the future."

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