Villeneuve to leave BAR for 2004

Looking for an exit?
By Phil Huff (15/05/2003)
May 16 2003

There are rumours coming through to BAR-Talk that Craig Pollock, Jacques Villeneuve's manager, is looking at moving his star driver to another team, and one with full manufacturer backing.

That leaves Pollock targeting just four teams, Ferrari, Renault, Toyota and Jaguar. It's a sure bet that he won't find a place for Villeneuve at Ferrari, and I would imagine that the 1997 World Champion wouldn't want to go further down the grid to Jaguar, so that leaves Renault and Toyota.

Both teams are going places, but Renault are known fans of Jacques, particularly as he speaks fluent French. With Alonso locked into a watertight contract with Renault team boss Flavio Briatore, it would seem likely that Jarno Trulli would be for the push.

When asked if he was optimistic that Villeneuve would be in a top team next year, Pollock replied "I'm very optimistic, extremely optimistic."

There's no doubt that BAR are keen to keep Jacques, albeit on a much reduced salary, but they have the luxury of also having fast, but erratic, ex-Jordan racer Takuma Sato under contract.

It looks like silly season has finally started!