Villeneuve seeks end to frustration

Canada’s Jacques Villeneuve believes his home race on Sunday will be a vital indicator as to whether British American Racing can expect an upturn in their Formula One fortunes.

The 31-year-old’s Honda-powered outfit is the only team still searching for a point this season as they head into the eighth round of the 17-race campaign.

But BAR have brought a new mechanical and aerodynamic package to Montreal as part of the development programme instigated by technical director Geoff Willis who took over last March in a major shake-up of personnel.

‘‘We’ll know this weekend exactly how much development work has been done and how well Geoff is working with the rest of the team,’’ said Villeneuve, who admits it is getting harder to motivate himself after four difficult years with BAR.

‘‘That doesn’t mean we’ll be suddenly winning and fighting for points. But we’ll see if the car is progressing because for four years now the car hasn’t really been progressing.

‘‘What will be important is not how quick we are, but how the car has developed in the last two months with Geoff with the team.

‘‘Of course, every other team will have improved as well which means that you might not be quicker than you were before. But we’ll find out a lot this weekend.

‘‘It is getting more and more difficult every year to keep the motivation. It has been four years like this now and it is energy sapping.

‘‘But I am a professional and when I get to races I still try to do my best. If you don’t want to do that, you might as well stay at home.

‘‘What I would like to be remembered for is fighting and winning through adversity and for never giving up.’’

Villeneuve, who joined BAR when it was set up by friend and mentor Craig Pollock, added: ‘‘I do not regret joining the team.

‘‘I made the decision on what I knew at the time. What I knew was wrong, but I took the decision based on that.

‘‘It has not worked out, it’s been hard and frustrating but who knows if any other decision would have been better. I could have joined someone else and been hurt.’’

Willis, who worked with Villeneuve at Williams, is desperate to get on with the design of next year’s car knowing that if the Brackley-based outfit fail to improve they could lose their top driver.

But Willis also realises the team need to score points this season particularly with fellow Honda-powered rivals Jordan having scored four in the last two races.

‘‘We have no points at the moment and that is not an acceptable position to continue in,’’ said Willis.

"We have got to find a way of at least getting ourselves at least out of that dangerous area.

‘‘Now is the time of year when I’d be really starting to think about the following year’s design and that’s certainly top in my mind at the moment.

‘‘But for the next four or five races I have to think about way of improving our current form. We have to do better.

‘‘We are certainly not in a position where we would write the year off. We’ve got to make improvements to the car and I think we have already in terms of reliability and operations.’’