Truly the brunt of Jacques 2003 season difficulties must be laid on the BAR team's shoulders, as the white and red car has been plagued with reliability problems, with a great deal of the blame needing to be placed on Honda, not having been able to deliver a competitively quick or reliable power plant all season, or since the BAR team opted the Japanese engine supplier for that matter.
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| The 2003 season has been difficult for Villeneuve. His car has been plagued with reliability problems and his younger teammate Jenson Button has often beaten him in qualifying and on the track. (Photo: jv-world.com) |
To be fair though, after an embarrassing pre-season intimidation war, Villeneuve hasn't delivered the goods when his car was reliable, his younger teammate Jenson Button beating him more often than not in qualifying and on race day. Jacque's willingness to say it as it is, while endearing him to the media and fans alike didn't always go over too well with his team boss. For this reason alone few teams on the F1 paddock will even consider him for a 2004 ride, despite his wealth of experience and capabilities as a driver.
To Villeneuve's defense, Sir Frank Williams, Williams BMW F1 team boss stated that Jacque's doesn't deserve the "scorn some heap on him," in an interview earlier this week.
His comments were addressed at those that believe Villeneuve joined BAR out of greed. According to Sir Frank it was not this at all. Williams, having had Jacques drive for his team when he won his 1997 Championship, believes JV wanted to turn BAR into a race winning team.
"You can't fault his loyalty. He can't be blamed for what he did," stated Sir Frank in an interview with Formula 1 Magazine.