Villeneuve confident of better luck at Imola

Former world champion Jacques Villeneuve claims he is positive of a better result this weekend at Imola despite a disastrous return to Formula One.

The 34-year-old Canadian has yet to score a point in six races for Renault and Sauber since ending his exile last year, drawing fierce criticism for a series of mediocre displays.

He was withdrawn early from testing after the Bahrain Grand Prix following a slow session and responded angrily by claiming this weekend’s race “will be a continuation of the first three races instead of getting the step-up we were expecting”.

However, Villeneuve today sounded a more positive note, insisting Sauber are making “positive progress”.

His team quoted him as saying: “In Bahrain the car was stronger and I could drive more aggressively so that’s encouraging for Imola.

“I am looking forward to going there after a good race where I almost got points so hopefully I will get them this time.

“Imola is a very different track. It’s got numerous chicanes and the curves are particular so the driving style is different. There are a lot of difficult corners as well and it’s a very demanding track for the engine and brakes so it will be a little bit difficult for everyone I think.

“In addition to this, there is still room for improvement on the set-up side so I will be working even harder with my engineers to help the car go faster in this first European race of the season.

“However, it seems that we are going in the right direction, so that’s positive.”