Villeneuve still has will to win

Jacques Villeneuve is enjoying a new lease of life at BMW-Sauber and claims he still has what it takes to win in Formula One.

This weekend Villeneuve, the 1997 world champion, revisited the scene of his explosive Formula One debut in Melbourne 10 years ago, with a spring in his step again.

“Definitely I can still win races,” he said. “I can still race hard from the first lap to the last lap and that’s what matters. I’m not ready to stop but it doesn’t just depend on me.”

A decade ago, the Canadian stunned Formula One by claiming pole position on his debut for Williams before mechanical trouble denied him victory at Albert Park.

But those two champagne-soaked years at Williams have been overshadowed by eight years of struggle that saw Villeneuve’s reputation and confidence hit rock bottom.

A newly-relaxed Villeneuve is enjoying life again but admits his time at BAR left him with few happy memories.

“I haven’t thought about it being 10 years,” he added. “There are some very good memories, mostly in the first couple of years, not as many afterwards.

“But there are always some good moments here and there, even in bad seasons, a race or two when something goes right.

“Racing-wise you get some good memories, at least one a year normally but my good memories are mostly out of the car.”

The 34-year-old’s dream move to BAR in 1999, when he was drafted in as the big-money rock on which a new team was to be built, quickly turned sour.

He was publicly criticised by then-boss David Richards, culminating in him walking away from Formula One in 2003.

After those years of struggle, and a campaign with a Sauber team last year who were merely treading water before BMW’s takeover, Villeneuve has been invigorated by 2006 so far.

BMW’s resources have given the team a new chance at Formula One glory and the Switzerland-based outfit have made progress so far this year.

“It’s encouraging and you can feel it in the team,” he said.

“Everybody is working with a very positive mind set. There is a lot of energy. As a driver you can feel the energy around you.

“If that is heavy it makes your life a lot more difficult. It makes driving tiring and it’s really hard to get anywhere. Now the energy is so positive you just take it in and you can do better things.”

BMW have grand designs on success in Formula One after a disappointing link up with Williams.

As well as bringing a smile back to Villeneuve’s face, they have also rekindled his hopes of returning to the podium after a five-year gap.

“So far the car is fun to drive,” he said. “It’s hard to get the wrong set-up. Normally the car is good and we can just make it go a bit better.

“It seems it will be difficult to have a really hard weekend.

“It’s an easy car to be aggressive with. You think you are on the limit but you can be more aggressive and go faster.

“Last year when you did that you just ended up going off or going slower.

“Ultimately we are just missing a little bit of everything. There is not one area that is really bad.

"Everything is good. We just need to make it a little bit better.

“I think our normal position is seventh and eighth, if no-one has any problems. It’s better than last year.”