Jaques Villeneuve's only mistake was getting tied up with BAR. He was an awesome driver with wasted talent, who could have gone a lot farther with a better car. I still think he would have some pretty quick laps left in him, and wouldn't be counting him out. He is the type of driver that prefers driving the car and not having to rely on drivers aids as much. This years ban on the re-fuelling would suit his seat of the pants driving style, as he is able to adapt well to the changing in handling as the fuel load decreases. I think every one is too eager to criticize, looking at results only. Look at the whole picture. The guy didn't have a fair shake from BAR, his cars sucked, Pollock screwed him, Bla, Bla, Bla... Sure he lost some motivation. Give him a break. He still won a world title fair and square, and deserves some respect! The only racing some guys do is probably to the fridge for another beer!
Here are two good reasons he may get a seat:
1- Villeneuve's experience would be good for one of the newer teams.
2- If he doesn't get good results, it would be easy to blame the old driver instead of the car or the team. But if he does get a seat, I will cheer for him.
I love underdogs.
On another note I always thought that they should have a race on Saturday afternoon for old stars. Each team could run a third car (which would be the spare car for Sunday) with a star driver from the past. Say a 1 hour race that starts at 2pm Saturday. Ferrari could have run Schumi, McLaren Mika, Williams Hill or Mansell, Renault JV etc. I bet it would have been a crowd pleaser and the teams could have used the data for testing. If Bernie wanted to expand the race they could use a second car with a young driver.
a) On JV - People change with age. I remember having used every factor in support of my argument with this author. And author had written me off in one line. Anybody could have won in that Williams Car. Glad to see author accounting all my factors on why JV's career went south.
ReplyDeleteb) On Sr Racing - Thats really a good idea and the FOTA/FOM should use it to make the circus interesting. Unlike ridiculous ideas of doctoring the tyre compounds, mandatory pitstops,reversing grid, and mother of all Bernie proposing "Shortcuts on tracks" and five per driver per race.
Only problem with Sr Racing is indeed if this idea is accepted, Schumacher will have to work overtime for another hour ( I am not sure if he can handle that in this age), not to mention undue advantage of testing the car in race condition and car data which his team will get :D. But undue advantage thats the third name of the German (Second being Unsportman)
Bernie has come up with the new idea of shortcuts in order to make the circuits interesting. He hasent even given the slightest of thought to driver safety when they rejoin the race.
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