Adam - please bear with me, but let battle commence

[swatty]

No further comments from myself but it looks like JV is coming back

http://jv-world.com/EN/Formula_1_200..._21_6677.shtml

[garcon]

From a more ... er ... less subjective source , the BBC has this:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/moto...ne/3673029.stm

Nothing new as such. I would hope Pollock is in discussions with teams - that's what Jacques pays him to do.

And, although the nay-sayers will mock, I can understand that Jacques would only want a top drive. Why bother coming back to a midfield or worse team with no hope of proving anything?

I honestly believe he's had his time, but I'll be happy if he does get the seat he wants - it'll certainly spice things up 'round 'ere!!

P.S. I'm sure we can talk about this like adults can't we?...

[Peter Mallett]

Not only the BBC but........................................ THE SUN too!

With Webber coming up for grabs (I believe) and the availability of newer talent like Ant I still can't see why anybody would want to take on a driver who (and I'll give you that circumstances weren't that good) was so lacklustre in his last season that the team dropped him for the final race.

That's being sensible. What I really want to say is *hmph, hmph, aaaargh!*. Garc take your hand off my face!

[Adam43]

:confusion: (the range of emotions that this thread caused)

Originally posted byswatty
Adam - please bear with me, but let battle commence

What battle? Surely you mean discussion.

Normal rules apply: FAQ. As always.

[climb]

Originally posted by garcon
...

P.S. I'm sure we can talk about this like adults can't we?...

Like adults? Why should we, why giving up one of our best amusements round here?

[Adam43]

Originally posted by Peter Mallett
THE SUN

FACT!

[Inigo Montoya]

I'd be curious to know what teams. He needs a car to match his ability...

Has Minardi got an open seat next year?

[KOOLTRACY]

I will be upfrontfirst of all..I am Jacques Villeneuve fan.
To the naysayers who say JV is done, he is a money hording troll, put yourself in his position.
He was on top of his game, presented an opportunity whereby a team would be focused around him. Promises were made & never delivered on, yet he soldiered on with the team. Oppportunities did come his way to change teams but his loyalty to the BAR team was strong & he believed in what he felt he could see down a very long road.

The BAR F1 race car though was never quite up to the standard it should have been & a once powerhouse engine builder, Honda, couldn't get enough grunt out of their overweighted engine.
Enter Dave Richards, cleaned house & began to air dirty laundry about the team, in particular, JV to the press. (how many of you while at work have your boss pass memo's around to everyone complaining about you?). DR requests JV take a pay-cut...(has your boss requested you take a pay-cut?)...the reliability of the car was pathetic (how many times have you had your engine expire, brake lines fail, oil fires, suspension failures, exploding tires, gearbox failures, etc.).
DR had informed JV very early in 2003, not to worry, he was still part of the equation for 2004. JV, again similiar to his father Gilles, believed him...again. loyalty & faith to the team (even if DR & JV did not get along, JV still believed in what DR had told him). All the big teams slowly began to secure their seats for 2004 & with but one race to go in the season, DR drops the bombshell by informing JV his services will not be required from the 2004 season & on. He had even suggested early in his tenure, JV take a sabitical for one year & race in CART. (Yeah right DR, like the seat would still be there when JV returned the following year!)
Why did DR wait until the end of the season bar one race? Was DR afraid of the embarassment he would face should JV have been able to get a ride with McLaren, Williams, Renault or even Toyota?
JV has definitely said his peace, but then again, if you had to face the **** he has endured for 5 years, what would you be saying?
JV is sitting out this season but Williams, pending what Ralf Schumacher does, has announced JV is on their very short list of drivers they are interested in.
Ralf Schumacher, he hasn't won anything near as many races as JV, he certainly hasn't won a F1 World Driving Championship, a CART Championship or for that matter, an Indy 500, yet he is requesting even MORE of a salary than JV ever had at BAR! Who's the money grabber here?
Personally, JV I feel still has the fire burning within to succeed as well as having "unfinished business" to take care of.
JV would be grinning ear to ear, beating on a regular basis BAR & in particular, DR.
Should JV get one of the Williams/BMW seats for 2005, I hope there is a big enough plate to hold the "crow" DR very well may have to eat as well as those other JV naysayers!

[ralf fan]

He is talking to the "right teams".... that says a lot doesnt it!!

again id like to bring up 2 pts which i have said in previous 'JV is returning threads'

1. point number one "NO!"

2. point no.2, we have drivers like Webber and even to some extent Da Matta who are hungry for success and are very fast on their day.... why would the top teams look a JV who had a terrible 2003. also guys like Anthony Davidson have impressed in testing would be sensible to give them a chance first as they are all young..

[climb]

As you said youy are a JV's fan and it shows!
Just a note: for 20 million USD I would have been keen to figure out as a poor victim.

[jetsetter]

If i was a team boss i'd much prefer to pay good money for a hungry young driver than a driver that hasn't been at his best for some years.

[ASCII Man]

Now that's a perfectly sensible comment as opposed to the other piles of rubbish some posted here earlier.

[steve_r]

Originally posted by KOOLTRACY
JV would be grinning ear to ear, beating on a regular basis BAR & in particular, DR.

Is he going to sign for Ferrari?

[climb]

Originally posted by ASCII Man
Now that's a perfectly sensible comment as opposed to the other piles of rubbish some posted here earlier.

The "perfectly sensible comment" you refer to, is the most irrevocable conviction for JV, cos it's based on an undisputable reasoning: JV's too old for a comeback.

[hamsmith]

As exciting as the whole story is I have to say does anyone remember the Craig Boll*x stuff he said to the press at surfers paridise? I think it went something like JV would be in a testing role at McLaren for this season. I think this was followed up with a press release from McLaren saying that the team had talked to Craig but were not going to offering JV the test role.

[BSchneiderFan]

I'd be surprised if Williams wanted JV back, in all honesty. Mansell's return in 1991 after two years at Ferrari demonstrates that Frank and Patrick can change their minds, but I suspect that there are a lot of people ahead of JV on the shortlist. Dixon is looking more and more likely to join for 2005, and, even if Ralf leaves (and I'm increasingly thinking he might), I suspect Williams will look towards Jenson Button or Mark Webber. IF both of them are tied into contracts with other teams or don't want to go to Williams - Button would be better off staying at BAR on the current evidence - then Villeneuve's name might come forward, but Webber has already hinted pretty strongly that he'll be at Williams next year (he says that Wirdheim, Jag's test driver, will have a race seat, and in a different team from Webber) and I think it will be an all-Antipodean line-up at Williams for 2005.

[TeddyG]

Nah sorry folks JV will be back. Webber, Button, and Alonso are all tied into contracts until 2006 and Frank isn't going to want to pay out the boatloads that it will require to buy out those contracts. I'm sure Frank is sick of money squabbles aka Montoya and Ralf. JV will come easy and cheap, is the last driver to beat Shumi head to head, was the last man to win the title for Williams, and his name (second only to Shumacher in the racing world) still brings in huge amounts of sponsorship dollars.

It just makes perfect sense to give JV one last shot to prove himself in 2005. If he fails fire his ass and pick up one of the young guns in 2006 when they become available. Nothing to lose really...in my opinion if either Williams, Toyota, or Renault sign JV they are certainly going to be glad they did...remember JV hasn't been in a decent car since 97! It would be great for F1 to see Shumi vs JV again.

And whoever said JV is too old for a comeback? That comment is truely laughable...the guy is 33 for Christsakes! How old is Shumi 36? 37? and he's still going strong...why is JV all of a sudden geriatric at 33? If he wants he could have at least another 5 years in F1.
And who says drivers have to be 20 year olds to provide decent driving to a team?..F1 is supposed to be the pinnacle of the sport, personally I don't think any drivers should be allowed in UNTIL they are 30! I think drivers should be proven to have a long winning history before they can even think about setting foot in an F1 car...but that's just me.

Point is JV brings (as does Shumi, Fisi, etc.) what these 20 years olds don't have, vast race experience and knowledge, which only comes with age guys!

JV WILL BE BACK...GET USED TO THAT FACT JV-BASHERS!

[Irv the Swerve]

This is meaningless press posturing from a man of negligable credibility. If JV is making a comeback, lets see him at a circuit in a racesuit with a team name on it.
Any other scenario is literally meaningless.

[Knowlesy]

JV WILL BE BACK...GET USED TO THAT FACT JV-BASHERS!

Because Teddy G says so!

[Adam43]

Is there actually anything new here, either in news or content/arguements? Or shall we just copy and paste the last eighteen threads. Whatever lets keep the baiting out of it. No one is stupid/has half a brain/is an idiot because they disagree with you. That's the dull bit over with (although no promises about the rest of this ).

Originally posted by TeddyG
F1 is supposed to be the pinnacle of the sport, personally I don't think any drivers should be allowed in UNTIL they are 30!

Firstly, if F1 is the pinnicle then surely the twenty somethings should be allowed in it. After all Kimi, Motoya, Webber, Alonso are all better than most of the thirty year olds. As was Michael when he won his first two championships.

Secondly, Jacques Villeneuve was 26 when he won his championship.

[Knowlesy]

Originally posted by Peter Mallett
THE SUN

The same paper that stated Fernando Alonso was 'driver of the race' at Imola.

The reason given? Because he spun Ralf Schumacher off!

Ahh....the tabloids.

[TeddyG]

HAHAH good point Adam...the point I meant to make is that drivers should have a strong winning record in other formulas before being allowed an F1 superlicense, it would just make the sport more about the best of the best I think. True JV was 26 but he was also a CART champion and Indy 500 winner.
I was pretty upset about Kimi being allowed in at 19 after only compeateing in something like 4 professional races?! I just thought it was a slap in the face to all the other drivers who spent years and years in the lower formulas building up a resume to get in F1...but that is the F1 of today as teams are going younger and younger to save the dollars...However Kimi has worked out well so who am I to talk...but that's what I was trying to say anyways.

JV brings experience and he is certainly not too old.

[TeddyG]

Originally posted by knowlesy
The same paper that stated Fernando Alonso was 'driver of the race' at Imola.

The reason given? Because he spun Ralf Schumacher off!

Ahh....the tabloids.

Oh come on knowlesy...nearly every F1 site is carrying the story. Even you can't hide from it.

[Adam43]

Nearly every F1 website carried the "Ralf has signed for Renault fact" story.

Have you heard about the boy who cried 'Wolf'. Even if this JV story turns out to be true you can hardly blame people for being sceptical.

Also if we beleived everyone of these William's drivers stories then illiams would need a seven car team next year! One of them has to be wrong and there is nothing in this one about JV to hint that it is more likely than the Button/Webber/Dixon/Pizzonia/Gene/Rosberg/Kimi/Piquet/Mansell ones.

Originally posted by TeddyG
JV brings experience and he is certainly not too old.

I do agree with this FWIW.

[Knowlesy]

He can't be too old to come back.....I mean, Mansell came back repeatedly when he was older than Jacques is now.

But this story doesn't carry any weight until it actually happens really. People have you believe that Ralf has signed for Renault and Flavio briatore is Michael Schumachers replacement next year. Could be true....but unlikely.