LONDON, 1 May 2004 — Canadian Jacques Villeneuve is plotting a Formula One comeback in 2005 and would be interested in a return to Williams, according to the former world champion’s manager Craig Pollock.
“I would put a lot of money on Jacques being back in 2005,” he told the Sun newspaper yesterday. “I have already had discussions with the right teams. Jacques had offers to drive this season but he is only prepared to race for someone who will give him a chance of fighting Michael Schumacher for the title.”
Villeneuve, 33, won the 1997 title with Williams. The team has at least one vacancy for next season and probably two with Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya leaving for McLaren and Ralf Schumacher’s contract about to expire.
“Jacques certainly doesn’t feel he is finished with Formula One,” said Pollock. “He is hungry to race again and fitter than ever thanks to a new training program. Money will not be an issue when negotiating a return but what he will not do is chug around at the back of the field. He wants a car that can win races and fight for the championship. Williams is certainly an interesting prospect.”
The success of BAR this season with Jenson Button third in the driver’s championship after two thirds and a second place in the last three races has left Villeneuve frustrated, according to one of the team’s engineers. “He’s just very disappointed not to be around when it all came good,” Jock Clear told Autosport.
Williams and Renault, second in the championship after four races, would fit the bill as top teams capable of winning races this year.
Toyota, with one of the biggest budgets in the sport, have been talking to various drivers but have failed to score a point so far this year and are unlikely to be challenging for the championship for some time.
Villeneuve has been keeping a low profile after being dropped by Honda-powered BAR in favor of Japan’s Takuma Sato. The Canadian had been at BAR since the team’s first season in Formula One in 1999 and was one of the highest paid drivers in the sport.
BAR Can Be Winners This Season, Says Willis
BAR can win races this season and are aiming to finish the Formula One championship as runners-up to Ferrari, according to technical director Geoff Willis.
“We can’t win the championship this year, we’re certainly not racing Ferrari head to head everywhere,” he told BBC radio on Thursday. “We’re just doing a very good job and we’re going to try and get up the championship as far as we can.
Last weekend Briton Jenson Button gave BAR their first pole position and best race result since they entered the sport in 1999 with his own career-best second place in the San Marino Grand Prix.
Button has been the revelation of the early part of the season, racking up three podium finishes in a row and challenging strongly for second place in the drivers’ championship behind Michael Schumacher. The 24-year-old is third, just a point behind Schumacher’s Ferrari teammate Rubens Barrichello.
