But what matters most is what happens on race day, and in Bahrain JV had moved up to 10th place by the 26th lap, directly behind
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| Despite having little testing time and hardly any personal set up done to his C24, JV hasn't been far off the pace. (Photo: Sauber Petronas) |
9th place Massa, a position the French Canadian held until a mishap ahead allowed both Massa and Jacques to move forward to 8th and 9th places respectively. Towards the finish a great scrap ensued between David Coulthard and JV over the final points position, Massa had moved up to 7th due to attrition and JV was now in a points paying 8th, but the flying Scot admitted to running into JV during their melee. Putting him out of commission in his enthusiasm to keep his Red Bull team's points streak alive, Coulthard was reportedly apologetic after the race. In other words, if it wasn't for Coulthard, JV would have scored points for Sauber and finished one place behind his teammate, despite having little testing time and hardly any personal set up done to his C24. The sign of a loser not capable of performing in top-tier motorsport, as his critics claim? Or the sign of a champion who just needs more time in a shoddy car to work out some of its bugs, and admittedly some of his bugs?
Sauber sees the improvement in Villeneuve as well, admitting so during last week's interview when he said, "In Bahrain we saw
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| "In Bahrain we saw an upwards trend, and as long as we are not in the position to let him test more often and to adapt better to the car, it would not be the right time to blame him," confirmed Peter Sauber. (Photo: Sauber Petronas) |
an upwards trend, and as long as we are not in the position to let him test more often and to adapt better to the car, it would not be the right time to blame him."
Speaking about the problems JV faces in the C24, Sauber added, "He needs a car with more downforce, our car is lacking in that area. A part of the problem might be that he likes to go his own way with the set-up, but the new rules demand a much tighter window in which you can operate. There are many more restrictions regarding aerodynamics and tires. It did also not help that you have to be easy on your engine during free practice because it must last two events."
