Game over for Villeneuve
Although the French Canadian last year signed a 2005 and 2006 contract to drive for Sauber, the Swiss team has been bought and taken over by BMW.
While that does not affect the status of Peter Sauber's legal agreement, the Munich based carmaker did not choose the 34-year-old, and therefore might not want him at Hinwil.
To sidestep its contractual obligation, then, BMW could simply pay Jacques his modest $3m retainer to do little more than gardening next year.
It is believed that Alex Wurz (McLaren tester) and Heikki Kovalainen (Renault RDD driver) are further up BMW's wish list to be Nick Heidfeld's BMW teammate in 2006.
Villeneuve told 'f1total.com' that there has been no dialogue between himself and likely 2006 BMW principal Mario Theissen. ''I find that surprising,'' he told the German language internet website.
Jacques added: ''I always adhere to my contracts, so I would be surprised if (BMW) did not see it the same way.''
Villeneuve added that he had not been advised when he might be required for pre-2006 winter testing, which is set to kick off in late November.
09/24/05 While Jacques Villeneuve remains confident that he will hold on to one of the two BMW drives next year, there are rumors in F1 circles that Alexander Wurz may be pushing hard for the job. The McLaren test driver has tried several times to restart his racing career on a fulltime basis, including earlier this year when he stood in for the injured Juan Pablo Montoya. The Austrian is hugely experienced as a tester and would be a big asset to the BMW team as it tries to get Sauber up to speed. This might create some legal questions. There is also speculation, incidentally, that Anthony Davidson is on the short list for a job at BMW. Grandprix.com 09/24/05 Despite the Canadian insisting that he has a contract with the new BMW 'works' team for next season, likely team boss Mario Theissen claims that no decision has been taken regarding the identity of Nick Heidfeld's teammate.
Villeneuve maintains that, as he signed a two-year deal with the Sauber team recently acquired by BMW, he has a right to remain on board next year. Theissen, however, clearly does not see the situation as binding.
"We have been fully focused on getting Nick under contract for next year and now we are looking into the other issue," the German told Reuters at the Brazilian Grand Prix, "We all saw that even a world champion could not return after a period out of the sport and be competitive right from the start.
"Now he is catching up and we just decided we wanted to see him in the second half of the season. We don't see ourselves under any time pressure, but that's on our table now. You will see the definite line-up at the first race."
09/16/05 A reader asks, It looks as though Jacques Villeneuve won't be back with Sauber racing in 2006 if the reports are true that Christian Klien will replace him because of Red Bull's influence. BMW has already hired Nick Heidfeld too. What are the chances that the 1995 Champ Car Champion will be racing in Champ Car if he doesn't have a ride in Formula One? Alistair Fannell, Springfield MO. Dear Alistair, We doubt Jacques will come back to Champ Car. He does not need the money and his ego makes him think he is too good for Champ Car when in fact he's not the same Jacques Villeneuve we saw in 1995. If he loses his F1 seat we assume he will simply retire. Mark C.