JV confident he'll pilot a BMW Sauber in 2006

QuickSilver · 28 Jul 2005, 16:56 (Ref:1365741)

excerpt from JV interview:

Jacques Villeneuve is confident he will be lining up for the new BMW Formula One team in 2006.

While the German manufacturer has yet to announce its driver plans for next season, Villeneuve says he has a contract with his name on it to drive for the team in 2006.

"Why should (my driving status) change? The team was sold with all the contracts in place," said Villeneuve. "I am not even questioning it."

Earlier this year, BMW bought majority control of the Sauber-Petronas team with plans to field its first ever Formula One team. It's believed the team will employ at least one German-based driver meaning one of either Felipe Massa or Villeneuve would be out of a ride.

Massa's contract with the team is set to expire at the end of this year. Massa says he is already in talks with BMW about next season.

Villeneuve has one more year left on his deal.

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is this guy on drugs?

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IL LEONE · 28 Jul 2005, 17:05 (Ref:1365748)

Quote:

Originally Posted by QuickSilver

*******************************

is this guy on drugs?

-

Well something must have stunted his growth! Who ever he ends up with, they may need to fit some bumpers, a sat nav' and a few air bags to the car if his last drive was anything to go by.

It's possible they maybe after heidfeld for 06 and IMO would be better off sticking with Massa.

BootsOntheSide · 28 Jul 2005, 17:17 (Ref:1365756)

I wouldn't keep JV in the team, that's for sure. Paying off his contract would be a small expense for such a committed and well-funded entry, especially once you factor in the amount of damage he's done to Sauber cars this year, and the points he could be costing them. He's not the most PR-friendly driver either.

esorniloc · 28 Jul 2005, 18:00 (Ref:1365783)

Given how bad they (BMW) are doing at the moment, do you think anyone will want to drive for BMW in 06?

VilleneuveTracy · 28 Jul 2005, 18:00 (Ref:1365784)

Would Heidfeld leave Williams for an upstart team? Without Heidfeld there is no other proven German driver available. Since Monaco JV has been on par with Massa so why not retain a former WDC with experience to help build the team? I could understand them replacing JV with Heidfeld, based on JV's performance to date, but why get rid of JV during a building year for an unknown quantity? He hasn't set the world on fire this year. He should be doing what DC has done in the Red Bull but he hasn't performed poorly after he adjusted to Sauber and F1 after his yearlong absence.

With respect to JV and points he has 6 points to Massa' 8. He could very well wind up outscoring Massa this year. If he does so on merit why fire your superior points scorer?

maximus · 28 Jul 2005, 18:03 (Ref:1365789)

But why keep a former WDC who gasn't got any interest in testing and development? He wasn't particulary interested at BAR, which is why the engineers and mechanics liked Panis more even though JV scored more points.

VilleneuveTracy · 28 Jul 2005, 18:05 (Ref:1365791)

Quote:

Originally Posted by esorniloc

Given how bad they (BMW) are doing at the moment, do you think anyone will want to drive for BMW in 06?

BMW certainly will improve Sauber but you make a good point. At best BMW will be on par with RBR and Toyota next year. At worst it will be a slightly improved Sauber. Why would a driver leave a proven winner for a new team that will not truly contend for at least a few years? Look at how long it BAR and Toyota to even gain the capability to score a few podiums here and there. I am sure BMW would love having Heidfeld drive for them but he is 28 years old and he would be making a huge mistake leaving Williams for an upstart team. He would be sacrificing at least a couple of seasons and we don't know how good Heidfeld will be at 31 or 32. I recall a certain Williams driver with a far better record than NH leaving Williams for an upstart team and the result was nothing short of diastrous.

chillibowl · 28 Jul 2005, 18:10 (Ref:1365799)

im going to start of by saying im a JV fan, but the truth is hes suffering from a career going in reverse. i know hes a world champ but what is it that people think hes going to bring to the table other than lots of people pondering about what else can go wrong for him. maybe a well funded team can change that for him but the same complaint will always be there: does he really want to win anymore? he really needs to answer that before speculating to his future employment problems.

Boro · 28 Jul 2005, 18:51 (Ref:1365854)

No team was better funded when he went to BAR from the beginning.

LIke you, I'm a JV fan (guess it goes w/ that maple leaf); but his results on the track doesn't always seem to reflect his claim of a huge desire of winning.

BootsOntheSide · 28 Jul 2005, 19:36 (Ref:1365912)

I guess there is a difference between how much money you ahve to build a team from scratch (or from the remains of the fading Tyrrell team), and how mcuh you ahve to expand on a solid foundation with a good stafff and strong facilities. Given the percieved quality of their wind tunnel, Sauber should be a reasonably good place to build a team up, and I suspect BMW's 2006 engine will be more competitive than they are allowing this year's to be - efforts were probably diverted to the V8 as soon as the decision to go it alone was made.

BSchneiderFan · 28 Jul 2005, 23:10 (Ref:1366186)

I'd be astonished to see Villeneuve at Sauber/BMW Motorsport next year. That JV's grasp of reality is shaky is not a huge surprise to me. He was, after all, the driver who was going to 'destroy' Jenson. Oopsy.

Dixie Flatline · 29 Jul 2005, 01:34 (Ref:1366242)

Quote:

Originally Posted by maximus

But why keep a former WDC who gasn't got any interest in testing and development? He wasn't particulary interested at BAR, which is why the engineers and mechanics liked Panis more even though JV scored more points.

I've seen reports of engineers who respected his technical feedback.

Louis B. · 29 Jul 2005, 03:57 (Ref:1366281)

Quote:

Originally Posted by maximus

But why keep a former WDC who gasn't got any interest in testing and development? He wasn't particulary interested at BAR, which is why the engineers and mechanics liked Panis more even though JV scored more points.

This is the rubbish which was spread by DR et al. when they wanted his head. JV has rather complained for lack of testing this year.

Louis B. · 29 Jul 2005, 04:10 (Ref:1366284)

Quote:

Originally Posted by QuickSilver

is this guy on drugs?

-

The fact of the matter is that JV has in fact a contract for next year. BMW cannot buy him out without his consent (i.e Show him the money! And, by the way, he doesn't need it).

P.S. JV was right after Imola when asked if his solid performance at that race would stop the rumours about him. He said something like: "Don't worry. One bad testing and you will hear again my bashers"

DKGandBH · 29 Jul 2005, 04:54 (Ref:1366293)

I was frankly amased when he got the gig this year...
So next year, I would think, would still be a real possibility.

people with money do not always have the common sense that should accompany it

DKGandBH

Mr V · 29 Jul 2005, 06:15 (Ref:1366304)

Quote:

Originally Posted by VilleneuveTracy

Would Heidfeld leave Williams for an upstart team?

I was under the impression that Nick's current contract was with BMW, he may not have a choice.

Kicking-back · 29 Jul 2005, 06:55 (Ref:1366315)

Frank Williams has said - and I'll have to look this up - Nick is contracted to Williams, not BMW

ralf fan · 29 Jul 2005, 07:03 (Ref:1366319)

With Jenson staying at BAR....surely keeping Nick is in Williams's best interest. He has been a shining light so far for them...

The whole Jenson fiasco has played beautifully in Nick's hands.... he almost certainly gets to choose who he wants to drive for....

As for JV...to be fair apart from the disaster at Monaco and in Germany he hasnt done too much wrong since Imola....

VilleneuveTracy · 29 Jul 2005, 07:14 (Ref:1366331)

Quote:

No team was better funded when he went to BAR from the beginning.

How did he do at BAR? I didn't follow F1 closely back then but by looking at his record there versus his teammates he seemed to do a very good job in inferior equipment from 1999-2001, and was solid in 2002. BAR had $$$$ but its equipment was not anywhere near the quality of Ferrari's, McLaren's, or William's.

Quote:

BMW cannot buy him out without his consent

Really??? How much would BMW be willing to pay to buy out his contract anyway? Would ditching JV be worth $10-15 million to find a replacement who may score a couple more points than JV would??? I would rather take an experienced driver, a former WDC, who scores a few less points (BMW won't exactly be challenging for the WDC next year...) than another driver for the purpose of developing the car during the team's first season.

Let's compare JV to Massa this year. The consensus is that Massa is a lock to be at BMW next year, if he would like to drive for it. Let's throw out the first three races in light of JV A) being with a new team B) returning to F1 after a lengthy absence.

Points scored since Bahrain

Villeneuve-6
Massa-6

Average start

Villeneuve-11.2
Massa-12.1

Average finish (excludes DNF's)

Massa-9.4
Villeneuve-10.7*

*The German GP is included, despite the fact that JV was involved in 3 separate incidents during the event. Take that race, which was the functional equivalent of a DNF, away and his average finish would be 9.7.

Average race classification (farce not included)

Massa-10.6
Villeneuve-11

Head to head in qualifying

Massa-5
Villeneuve-4

Despite having a considerably lighter car than JV in virtually every race JV has been even with him in qualifying and once the weight disadvantage is factored in has done a better job in qualifying than Massa. In two races Massa qualified just one position ahead of Villeneuve (once by roughly 0.1 and by a whopping 0.003 in a far lighter car in the German GP) and in another he was 2 spots ahead but only 0.1 faster. In the one instance when Massa had a considerably heavier car Villeneuve outqualified him by over a second.

Too bad JV has been involved in lap one incidents in three of last five races. The numbers would be in his favor. If it was JV who finished 4th at Canada I wonder what the perception of him would be. He clearly was faster than Massa in Canada and would have finished 4th if it were not for bad luck. All that said, he has roughly been qualifying with Massa. Why has Massa managed to make it past lap 1 cleanlyin those races while JV hasn't? Maybe JV should consider abandoning his strategy of running a long first stint, which hurts him a lot in qualifying. If he gained approximately half a second in qualyfing his grid positions would be considerably better.

VilleneuveTracy · 29 Jul 2005, 07:23 (Ref:1366342)

Here is how much of a difference gaining just half a second in qualifying would have made for JV since Bahrain:

Imola: P12 (no change)
Spain: P12 (no change)
Monaco: P8 (+1, ahead of MS)
Europe: P12 (+3)
Canada: P5, with a gain of a few hundreths more placing his Sauber in P3 (+3)
USA: P3 (+9)
France: P9 (+2)
Britain: P6 (+5)
Germany: P8 (+6)

He would benefit greatly from running a normal or even a light fuel load in qualifying IMO. The only time his heavy fuel load strategy has worked this year was in France, and he was only 8th that race.

Skam85 · 29 Jul 2005, 09:53 (Ref:1366430)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kicking-back

Frank Williams has said - and I'll have to look this up - Nick is contracted to Williams, not BMW

Yes, but Heidfeld only has a one year contract with the team, which leaves him to choose who he wants to sign for in 2006.

Swiss · 29 Jul 2005, 12:47 (Ref:1366545)

Quote:

Originally Posted by BootsOntheSide

I wouldn't keep JV in the team, that's for sure. Paying off his contract would be a small expense for such a committed and well-funded entry, especially once you factor in the amount of damage he's done to Sauber cars this year, and the points he could be costing them. He's not the most PR-friendly driver either.

I quite agree, I do not see JV's image in keeping with that of BMW at all. Secondly why would BMW want him ? Trading off his WDC ? So what, lets face it pretty much anyone could have driven that car to success it was the final evolution of a success design. He is not well known for his team relationships and feeding back to the engineers for development as witnessed as BAR. You don't hear anything from Sauber in this area either, if he was any good at that then Sauber would have comeout after JV's mistakes this season and said that JV's drving will come good but in the meantime he remains a key part of the team helping to drive us forwards blah blah blah .. Well none of that as far as I can see, JV expects to just turn up and drive.

I think this comment has been made knowing his situation is tenuous and he wishes to provoke conversations with other teams for his services

BSchneiderFan · 29 Jul 2005, 14:11 (Ref:1366593)

Quote:

Originally Posted by ralf fan

With Jenson staying at BAR....

Do you know something we don't?

N I Tram · 29 Jul 2005, 14:47 (Ref:1366615)

Turn one incidents, poor choices of strategy - how can a former world champion make a succession of rookie mistakes?

Super Tourer · 29 Jul 2005, 15:28 (Ref:1366651)

To my mind JV's performances always seem to require such elaborate explanation, we've had plenty of threads on how he would have finished X if it hadn't been for Y, etc, etc.

Not one front running driver on the grid requires such an explanation, which kind of sums it up to me.

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