Former Formula 1 World Champion Jacques Villeneuve -- who competes this weekend in the NASCAR Nationwide race at Watkins Glen -- talked about his love for NASCAR and about his Formula 1 project.
“There’s a lot going on at the same time with NASCAR and Formula 1,” said Villeneuve to Auto123.com
“Although I am working hard on the Formula 1 project, I must say that I am 100% focused on racing in NASCAR. It’s a fantastic racing series, extremely competitive. The Braun Team is extremely efficient and the sponsor, Dollar General, is deeply involved and fully dedicated. I would be stupid not to fully invest myself in NASCAR”.
Villeneuve accepted to talk (a little bit) about his F1 project, Villeneuve Racing.
“I am not in a position to give away a lot of information because we know nothing about the other projects that have been presented to the FIA,” Villeneuve said.
“We know nothing. We’re not even sure of the rules of the game. We presented a solid and serious project to the FIA but we don’t know a thing about the other projects. Everybody’s saying that there are three projects, but no one’s really sure. One thing is certain however – the FIA wants to select a serious and fully founded organisation. The FIA does not want to repeat last year’s fiasco.”
Villeneuve added: “I have been working on this (F1) project since the summer of last year. I’ve been pretty secretive about it! There was a leak about it in the medias a few weeks ago, but now we know it’s not from someone of our group. We’ve been annoyed to see the news leaked into the medias…”
We asked if his age would cause a problem if he would return in F1 as a driver. Especially since the results of Michael Schumacher have not been as good as expected.
“Michael returned to F1 this year but he is stuck with a car that does not suit him,” Villeneuve explained.
“What he’s expriencing this season is totally different from the kind of life he had at Ferrari. This year’s car does not suit his driving style. When you face that problem, you start making bad decisions in terms of set-up. It’s a vicious circle. The car does not handle well and you simply make it worse. And what he did to Rubens (Barrichello) during the last race was quite extreme.”
Villeneuve concluded by talking about his performance aboard the No. 32 Braun Racing Toyota Camry Dollar General at Watkins Glen.
“We lost 45 minutes on Friday because of the problem with the carburetor,” Villeneuve explained.
“I am not driving ther car I had at Elkhart Lake. We’re saving that car for the Montreal race! This one does not have the same adjustements in regards to suspension geometry and weight distribution. This cost us about 4 or 5 tenths of a second.
“We made some changes for the qualifying session. Now the front end sticks very well. I just need to control the back-end of the car but I like that. The car should be pretty good in the race,” Villeneuve concluded.
“There’s a lot going on at the same time with NASCAR and Formula 1,” said Villeneuve to Auto123.com
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| Photo: Philippe Champoux Auto123.com |
“Although I am working hard on the Formula 1 project, I must say that I am 100% focused on racing in NASCAR. It’s a fantastic racing series, extremely competitive. The Braun Team is extremely efficient and the sponsor, Dollar General, is deeply involved and fully dedicated. I would be stupid not to fully invest myself in NASCAR”.
Villeneuve accepted to talk (a little bit) about his F1 project, Villeneuve Racing.
“I am not in a position to give away a lot of information because we know nothing about the other projects that have been presented to the FIA,” Villeneuve said.
 |
| Photo: René Fagnan Auto123.com |
“We know nothing. We’re not even sure of the rules of the game. We presented a solid and serious project to the FIA but we don’t know a thing about the other projects. Everybody’s saying that there are three projects, but no one’s really sure. One thing is certain however – the FIA wants to select a serious and fully founded organisation. The FIA does not want to repeat last year’s fiasco.”
Villeneuve added: “I have been working on this (F1) project since the summer of last year. I’ve been pretty secretive about it! There was a leak about it in the medias a few weeks ago, but now we know it’s not from someone of our group. We’ve been annoyed to see the news leaked into the medias…”
We asked if his age would cause a problem if he would return in F1 as a driver. Especially since the results of Michael Schumacher have not been as good as expected.
“Michael returned to F1 this year but he is stuck with a car that does not suit him,” Villeneuve explained.
“What he’s expriencing this season is totally different from the kind of life he had at Ferrari. This year’s car does not suit his driving style. When you face that problem, you start making bad decisions in terms of set-up. It’s a vicious circle. The car does not handle well and you simply make it worse. And what he did to Rubens (Barrichello) during the last race was quite extreme.”
Villeneuve concluded by talking about his performance aboard the No. 32 Braun Racing Toyota Camry Dollar General at Watkins Glen.
“We lost 45 minutes on Friday because of the problem with the carburetor,” Villeneuve explained.
“I am not driving ther car I had at Elkhart Lake. We’re saving that car for the Montreal race! This one does not have the same adjustements in regards to suspension geometry and weight distribution. This cost us about 4 or 5 tenths of a second.
“We made some changes for the qualifying session. Now the front end sticks very well. I just need to control the back-end of the car but I like that. The car should be pretty good in the race,” Villeneuve concluded.