Pollock: JV's F1 career over

[VilleneuveTracy]

Jacques Villeneuve has called time on his Formula One career, according to the Canadian's manager Craig Pollock.

And Pollock, Villeneuve's former high school teacher, who has managed him since the start of his racing career, admitted that a return to the sport is highly unlikely.

When asked if Villeneuve, 35, would return to Formula One in the future, Pollock said: "I seriously doubt it really.

"But I don't think he is unduly disappointed, I think he is just ready. The way F1 is going in 2006 is towards young rookies and the relatively low-cost solution."

link

[Rex Judicata]

[chillibowl]

i guess that makes Craig Pollock the new fat lady

but seriously, sad day indeed. whether you are a fan or not, seeing an ex champ leave in the middle of a season is never right, but i do have some very good memories of JV as he was one of the main reasons F1 really came under my radar so i am happy with that.

best of luck JV, and lets hope another Canadian can find his way onto the grid.

[luke]

It was a sad way to end a great career. He was a very great driver, after Williams he just was in the wrong place.
He was driving very well this year. Making up for '05.
Its just such a shame we have lost Montoya and Villeneuve mid season.
Both will greatly be missed in my opinion.
I have been however very disapointed with his desperate comments lately. He obviously knew his time in F1 was over so he wanted to let everything out but no one really cares what he says anymore I guess as his days are gone.
My guess is we'll see JV in NASCAR next year...

I don't know if this is the right thread to say this in, but, for all the great drivers that have left now, it can only open the doors for the new future of F1.

Hamilton, Rosberg, Piquet, kovalainen....

[Knowlesy]

There we go. The least surprising news of the week. Nee, the year.

JV will be missed of course, however he did twice get an extended stay in the sport which none of his fans could surely have expected. I know of Montoya fans who would kill for that.

Time to bring on the future generation I guess.

[VilleneuveTracy]

It was a sad way to end a great career. He was a very great driver

I think he isn't given enough credit for his achievements because it came during a two year span. He is 22nd on the all-time F1 win list with 11 wins (he would be tied for 19th if he didn't pull over at Jerez in 97'). Look at the names near him on the all-time win list. Mario Andretti. Alan Jones. Emerson Fittapaldi. Ronnie Peterson. Fernando Alonso. Kimi Raikkonen. On the all-time pole winner list he ranks 19th. He won a world championship, something only about two dozen drivers have done. He achieved all this despite only having a competitive car in two seasons--his first two seasons (imagine how he would have done if he had good cars when he had some experience...). Some other drivers have spent much more time in winning cars and don't have as good a record as JV. Some of these drivers retain solid drives in F1...

Speaking of JPM, what will losing both JV and JPM in such a short period do to F1 in North America? They were F1's biggest stars in North America. Scott Speed is from the region but he is still a virtual unknown in a car that can't even score points. Only hardcore F1 fans know of him. JV and JPM are known to many racing fans in NA, as well as a fair amount of casual observers.

One thing is for sure, if NASCAR gains both JV and JPM in the same year that will be a huge coup for NASCAR. In the future fans may look back on this summer as the time when NASCAR became an international series...there seems to be a small chance that NASCAR will become the premier international series for the Western hemisphere while F1 remains the top series in the East. Look at the grid right now. Only one North American and only two South American drivers (one isn't even allowed to race so how big of a draw can he be?) and they come from the same country.

[VilleneuveTracy]

Nice remarks from DC and JB:

Q: (Dan Knutson - National Speed Sport News) David and Jenson, you both know Jacques Villeneuve very well. Could you maybe reflect a little bit on his F1 career and also on his very abrupt departure?

DC: I think I’m right in saying that he stopped early at BAR as well, before the end of the season, so it’s kind of within character that Jacques would stop before the end of the season. He’s someone who, as anyone who has spent time with him knows, he’s got very strong opinions and that’s one of his strengths as an individual so I don’t think it’s as straightforward as maybe was presented to the media after Hockenheim, as to why it came to an end.
I think he had a great career, a great motorsports career full stop, in terms of what he did in America, what he’s done in Formula One, irrespective of what anyone thinks of him as a driver in the ranking list, results that I would be extremely proud of, so I think that in many ways it’s in keeping with his character - to get to the point - that his career ended in the way that it did and I’m sure he’ll pop up somewhere else, racing something else and acting in the same way and speaking from the heart and saying it as he sees it, which are qualities.

JB: I don’t know Jacques anywhere near as well as DC (David Coulthard) does but I just hope people remember him for what he achieved because he was World Champion, and nobody can take that away from him. I know the last few years for him haven’t been what he would have liked but he achieved something which so many drivers haven’t.

[Knowlesy]

Yes. Well DC would say that wouldn't he?

[JohnMiller]

Interesting. JB doesn't know him so well - but he was his teammate!

[VilleneuveTracy]

DC is well-qualified to assess the achievement that winning a WDC is.


From Speedtv:

Contrary to recent reports hinting that no major NASCAR teams had an interest in Villeneuve's services, Pollock insists that JV could easily follow into Juan Pablo Montoya's footsteps.

"He can go into NASCAR any time he wants, that's absolutely not a problem," he added. "Whether he wants to do it next year or the year after or the year after that is the question. He's definitely very interested in racing – he still hasn't got racing out of his blood."

I wouldn't be surprised to see JV at Roush, which is arguably the best team in NASCAR. Roush's current prospects (yes, hotshots from lower series don't always pan out in the higher leagues ) don't look too great. Why not take a gamble with a F1 champ, Indycar champ (when it mattered), and Indy 500 winner?

[Knowlesy]

I hope we see JV in NASCAR. It would be truly fantastic.

[Born Racer]

Definitely a nice remark from Button when you consider that Villeneuve once stated that he didn't respect Button (I think this was when they became team-mates for the first time.) Perhaps my interpretation of this was wrong, and JV meant respect in terms of ability rather than it being the harsh comment that it sounds, but either way, Button beat him, didn't he?

[Knowlesy]

JV and Button did become reasonably friendly towards each other in the end I seem to remember.

By no means lovers, but not haters as at the start of 2003.

[VilleneuveTracy]

Originally Posted by knowlesy

I hope we see JV in NASCAR. It would be truly fantastic.

I wonder if Brian France will pull a Bernie and be burning up the phones to top NASCAR teams?

Having JV and JPM come to NASCAR in the same year would be the biggest thing ever to happen to NASCAR IMO.

Interestingly, NASCAR has a shortage of available top-tier drivers. In F1 we seem to have the opposite situation, more good prospects than seats. Drivers who have never won a race became hot commodities this year in NASCAR, with Casey Mears going to what is also arguably the top team in the series and Toyota paying big money to Brian Vickers, who never won despite driving for Hendrick Motorsports. Even a driver with one fluke Busch Series win (in 10-11 starts he has only one finish higher than 26th) got a cup ride with a second-tier NASCAR team. As bad as JV's prospects were in F1, they are great in NASCAR. The only caveat is that JV will probably have to spend a year in the Busch Series learning the car. JPM is going straight to the cup series but that is because of his friendship, past working history with Chip Ganassi. Anyone else will want to evaluate JV in a stock car first, which is standard for open-wheelers who come to NASCAR. JPM is the only exception that I can think of from recent years. Robby Gordon came straight to the cup series from CART in 1997 and he was a disaster, costing his team owner an alleged $1 million. RG ruined it for the rest.

[VilleneuveTracy]

From an article on nascar.com about NASCAR's efforts in Canada (it is reportedly "95%" likely that NASCAR will run a Busch Series race at the Gilles Villeneuve track next year):

NASCAR's Canadian initiative is many years in the making. In June 2004, NASCAR opened a corporate office in Toronto in a joint partnership with Canadian media company TSN.

"This partnership, which goes far beyond televising NASCAR in Canada, will help grow the NASCAR brand in Canada, attract new fans to our sport, and bring new marketing opportunities to NASCAR sponsors and licensing partners," said then-NASCAR COO George Pyne, who has since departed the company to head-up IMG, the world's foremost athlete-representation firm.

"It will be an important vehicle for NASCAR's continuing support of stock car racing in the Canadian market."

Many consider NASCAR's want to construct a track in the Northwest a bid to satiate Canadian fans, as well. Canada is widely considered NASCAR's largest untapped market, which seems an accurate assessment judging by e-mail feedback to articles.

Perfect timing for JV to make the jump to NASCAR...

[Rex Judicata]

Originally Posted by VilleneuveTracy

Perfect timing for JV to make the jump to NASCAR.

I hope you are right!

Originally Posted by VilleneuveTracy

I wonder if Brian France will pull a Bernie and be burning up the phones to top NASCAR teams?

Can't you feel the electron surge, even now?

Originally Posted by VilleneuveTracy

Having JV and JPM come to NASCAR in the same year would be the biggest thing ever to happen to NASCAR IMO.

Here we disagree. NASCAR has had some big events and some incredible talent. Having said that, there is no question that the combined addition of Montoya and Villeneuve fils would be noteworthy!

[foreversideways]

Montoya and JV. last of the drivers with an opinion. Bring on the clones!!. What on earth would James Hunt make of it all

[Last2LiftOff]

Another race weekend with no JV...great! Whoa is me.

[F1Pete]

Shake and Bake JV!!

[karimbo]

It si interesting to see that JB had good words for JV. What a fine gentleman that Jenson. During the press conference presenting the new car for 2004, I remember when BAR hired Button in 2004, Villeneuve was asked in French what did he think of his new team mate. JV replied in French that JB was just a pretty boy with a pretty face that was hired just to attract the photographs while the "difficult and technical work" would have been made by him. The French Canadian press could not beleive his lack of correctness. Many said that if Patrick Roy, possibly the best hockey goaltender of all time would have said the same thing, he would have been crucified by the fans. Therefore, when less than six months after that press conference, many journalists where laughing at him... (So was I, btw)

[karimbo]

And Villeneuve will never race in NASCAR. Why ?

1) He has more than $100M in his bank account: he doesn't need the money.

2) He was born in Canada but raised in MONTECARLO and schooled in Switzerland. He had a very elitist upbringing. I don't see him mingle with a bunch of American rednecks in very "glamourous" places like Talladega, Pocono, Bristol, Kansas, New Hampshire or Kentucky.

3) If he races there and doesn't win after 15 races, people will have second thoughts about his talent and the hype will fade quickly. And his career will, for the 3rd time, end pretty sourly.

He will stay in Europe, raise his child, play his guitar and go skiing. (Hopefully he won't sing too much).

[mountainstar]

Originally Posted by karimbo

And Villeneuve will never race in NASCAR. Why ?

1) He has more than $100M in his bank account: he doesn't need the money.

2) He was born in Canada but raised in MONTECARLO and schooled in Switzerland. He had a very elitist upbringing. I don't see him mingle with a bunch of American rednecks in very "glamourous" places like Talladega, Pocono, Bristol, Kansas, New Hampshire or Kentucky.

3) If he races there and doesn't win after 15 races, people will have second thoughts about his talent and the hype will fade quickly. And his career will, for the 3rd time, end pretty sourly.

He will stay in Europe, raise his child, play his guitar and go skiing. (Hopefully he won't sing too much).

I think you hit it right on the head. JV/Nascar just doesn't fit.

[VilleneuveTracy]

You are going to miss JV (if this really is the end of his racing career), aren't you, Karimbo?

The other side of the coin is that JV is a racer. If he transitions to NASCAR he can race for 10-15 more years. What would he do if he weren't racing? As you have told us several times, he has been racing since he was very young. Moreover, if he successfully transitions to NASCAR he can carve a special place for himself in the racing annals. F1 champ, IndyCar champ, Indy 500 winner, Daytona 500 winner?, NASCAR champ? Clearly NASCAR is a great challenge for him. If it doesn't work out he could retire or go to Champcar or the IRL but I think he will at least give it a shot, although he may take a sabbatical in 2007 and watch how Montoya does.

[Armco Bender]

If he transitions to NASCAR he can race for 10-15 more years.

Please God no.............not another 15 years of JV threads.........

[Marbot]

Originally Posted by Armco Bender

Please God no.............not another 15 years of JV threads.........

We'll be safe enough in this forum..............i hope.