By Phil Huff
January 23 2003

Jacques Villeneuve, Lucky Strike BAR Honda's star driver, hasn't spared anybody from his razor sharp tongue in recent weeks, and he's now turned on to his team mate, engine supplier and boss. "I'm not starting the season thinking 'I have to beat Jenson'" Jacques told Montreal newspaper La Presse. "I don't care about Jenson! It wasn't the case with some of my other teammates: Damon had already won races, Frentzen was considered an extremely quick driver when he came along, same for Olivier Panis. Jenson hasn't done anything yet. I don't see him as the new guy to beat; if I don't beat him, I'd better stay home because that would mean that I don't belong in F1."

"I'm willing to admit that Jenson can compete, but as of now, he hasn't shown anything" Villeneuve went on to say. "Everyone talks about him like he's the next world champion. They say it'll be tough for me, that I need to step up my game, that it'll be a dog fight. I find this insulting, people are putting us on equal footing! I don't see why I should go down to his level."

Moving onto the car, Villeneuve commented "The chassis is really quite good, but the engine lacks punch, it's down on power. The chassis is good enough for us to get to the podium. Now, it all depends on Honda. For now, our engine lasts for half a race, no more."

And then JV shifts his focus to BAR boss David Richards. "David Richards came in the middle of the BAR project and had a complete disregard for what had been done before. Instead of respecting the contract that I had signed, he provoked uncomfortable situations."

It looks increasingly likely that Villeneuve's contract with BAR will not be renewed, so where will the 1997 champion go? "With a better team than BAR, because I don't want to go any lower."

That's team motivation at its best...