Live to Run

I hope Jacques Villeneuve make point for the Championships F1??? Maybe 1 point...

simon2000

If not.. He will become the greatest "has been" in the sport if he doesn't leave that pathetic outfit.. I'm confident he will leave by year's end.. wait till the silly season.. personally I think he'll go to Renault. He won't go to McLaren and they are on a downward move..

simon2000

Tifosi Red

GIven that Dave Richards has been given a free reign to set things right in BAR I'd expect an upturn in the car's performance. From what I hear though DR wants to spend the $10M + that BAR pay Jacques on improving the car - even the greatest drivers cannot perform miracles... Renault may be an option for Jacques but they have Alonso, Trulli, Button and a raft of new talent on their books too...

simon2000

yes, but I think in the end, they would easily "bump" one of those drivers to allow a seat to open for Jacques.

I can tell you that Patrick Head had some talks with him earlier this off season and if either Ralf nor Montoya close the points in the overall championship standing, they may offer Jacques a drive come later on in the year. Ralf did not show he any aggression in finishing 2nd behind his brother. Montoya has a big mouth and has to prove he can put his comments to fruition. So actually it is early, but neither Ralf nor JP have really asserted themselves and that is always in the back of the minds of Head and Frank Williams. I've been following them for too many years now and kinda know how they do things. They did the same thing with Nelso Piquet back in the 80's.

So in fact don't count out Jacques returing to challenge for the championship in the car that originally won him one. More interestingly though is that Jacques is not ruling driving for Ferrari either. He said off record that only a "team mate" to Schumacher can challenge him. That would be great. I know he won't go to McLaren as he shys from the amount of publicity worked demanded by Ron Dennis.

I'll keep you posted..

simon2000

Tifosi Red

[QUOTE]Originally posted by simon2000
[B]More interestingly though is that Jacques is not ruling driving for Ferrari either.

simon2000

just wait for the silly season.. the key will be Felipe Massa..

-simon2000

Kobe

jacques is cash greedy - he shys away from the publicity work because he expects to be paid on top of his driving fee. That's why he does not do much for Honda or BAR because they refused the extra millions he demanded.

Mclaren pay structure is based on performance - heavily rewarded if you do well - pretty basic if you don't - hence no interest for Jacques. That's why another ex-Willams world champ turned down a drive for a potential championship winning car and instead decided to take $5,000,000 or so from an off the pace team - anybody know who that was?

apex-r

I'd have to agree with Kobe, Jacques is greedy. The team i expect Jacques to be with is Renault, i hope Briatore will get him. If Honda doesn't improve next season or else, it would be wasted time with BAR but on the other hand, Jacques wanted to help Honda/BAR get to the top and giving up would mean that all the work was useful. If no teams want him, he should lower his salary demands! He still wants to win and is still competitive. Latest rumors are that Ove Slate, from Toyota wants him, but he said that Jacques is too much to afford.

For now, BAR doesn't need a fast driver, they need the car before they get the drivers! And their current situation isn't good. Let's hope that Geoff Willis' work can get this team moving up.

Live To Run-
I didn't know you were from Montreal! Are you going to be attending the F1 and CART races? What color is your S2000? And which part of Montreal do you live in?

Live to Run

Yessssss... Montr

Bob Moss

Quote:

That's why another ex-Willams world champ turned down a drive for a potential championship winning car and instead decided to take $5,000,000 or so from an off the pace team - anybody know who that was?

Are you referring to Damon Hill?



I gotta take issue with Simon dismissing Juan Pablo as merely someone with "a big mouth". I strongly feel he has the right stuff to make good on any comments he makes, which I hardly feel are overly bombastic. True the form so far shows over-eagerness early in the season followed by out-and-out uncompetitiveness. Imola should have given Williams some chance but the last two races are disastrously depressing in their predictability. I have always been a Michael fan (along with many others...never had a "favorite" since Dan Gurney retired) but it is just more interesting when the outcome is less in doubt.

It may be unpopular to suggest this but Montoya showed a huge talent in CART and at Indy. Much of the world's F1 press praises his ability, as do Head and Williams at least for the moment. Results speak louder than words to be sure and the promise of late-2001 has yet to be realized in 2002.

But its still early. I saw in Ralf's post-race comments a decided sense of resignation to the current state of affairs. Maybe JPM is of the same mind but intelligently
maintaining the best possible result is at least a promising trait.

No doubt Silly Season will be very fascinating, Massa may be the key to a lot of moves as you say.