‘JV, Sauber, won’t split’

Speculation of 1997 world champion Jacques Villeneuve's imminent Sauber split is untrue. That's the claim of his manager Craig Pollock, who dismissed the Montreal spat with Peter Sauber and said the pair get on 'excellently.' ''We are totally unaware of anything like (a split),'' Pollock – former BAR principal – told Britain's ITV.

He said JV, 34, had somehow emerged from a tough time with his local Canadian press. ''I have to say this year,'' Pollock reckoned, ''(they have) probably been the hardest on him. ''But it happens every year.''