Sauber Signs Jacques Villeneuve for 2005 and 2006 Formula 1 Seasons

For the remainder of the 2004 season, JV has also been given the opportunity to get up to speed in third-place Renault's second

For the remainder of the 2004 season, JV has also been given the opportunity to get up to speed in third-place Renault's second car. (Photo: Renault)

car as a test pilot now that the French team has dropped Jarno Trulli, who had previously announced he would be leaving Renault for Toyota and has since been complaining of a poorer car than his teammate. As per the Italian driver's official website, "Jarno is content with the decision to leave the Renault F1 Team and happy that his place will be taken by a former World Drivers Champion, Jacques Villeneuve. Jarno thanks the Renault team for the opportunity to begin with his new team 3 months early."

"Villeneuve will test at Silverstone on Wednesday and Thursday," a press release stated. It also mentioned that JV had "conducted a seat-fitting at the team's Enstone base on Tuesday evening, and will begin acclimatizing himself to the Renault R24 tomorrow at the Northamptonshire circuit."

The two-day test could also lead to JV replacing Trulli in the race seat for the remainder of the season, Renault team boss Flavio Briatore confirmed. "We have reached an agreement for Jacques to test for the team at Silverstone on Wednesday and Thursday. This test

JV could replace Jarno Trulli, who was recently dumped by Renault, for the last three races of the season. (Photo: Renault)

might lead to Jacques joining the team for the final three races of the season beginning next week at the Chinese GP."

On the subject Villeneuve admitted to exacting some friendly revenge on his former team. "Renault's goal is just to beat BAR basically, to be second in the Constructors'" he stated, adding that it "would be great (to help Renault beat BAR), just because of the way it ended with them."

And how well is he doing so far? For JV's sake, let's hope Briatore isn't expecting much from day one as the ex-champ placed at the bottom of the Silverstone timesheets. It wasn't all JV's fault, however, as the car encountered a gearbox problem forcing him to end testing. Altogether, JV completed 70 laps of the Northamptonshire track, setting a fastest time of 1:18.776, which was 2.625 seconds behind Kimi Räikkönen's P1 pace. To add insult to injury, BAR Honda driver Takuma Sato placed third with a 1:17.144 lap time.

Still, according to JV's website commentary, after a year on the sidelines "Jacques was just happy to be back in the sport he loves."