Jacques Villeneuve creates history at Glen, surprise Formula 1 bid
In 1979, Gilles Villeneuve won at the Watkins Glen international. Now his 39-year-old son, Jacques Villeneuve made his debut on the track this past weekend. Jacques was an outstanding driver in the Formula 1 from 1996-2006. During this period, he won a championship title in 1997 and won 11 races with 23 podium positions and 13 pole positions. Jacques Villeneuve was in team Williams from 1996-1998. He won the championship in 1997 and won 11 races that were the total number of races that he won in his career with them. He then joined team BAR in 1999 and stayed with the team until 2003. In 2004, he joined Renault and the following year he signed with Sauber for a year. Sauber then became BMW Sauber in 2006 and this was Jacques final year. Spectators thought that this will be the last time they will ever see Jacques on the racing track but this was not the end.
Jacques Villeneuve qualified for the Spring Cup Series Brickyard 400 two weeks ago. He and Juan Pablo Montoya are now the only two drivers to have completed in all three noted races at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway that is the US Grand Prix in Formula 1, Brickyard event and the Indianapolis 500. Jacques Villeneuve won the CART championship in 1995; he became the Formula 1 Champion in 1997 and won the Indianapolis 500. This made him one of the three drivers to have won these three championships alongside Mario Andretti and Emerson Fittipaldi.
Jacques Villeneuve is focused on his NASCAR endeavours and Brickyard 400. He said that this track means a lot to him since he has a history with this track. He said that he has fun driving here because it is like a mountain road. Villeneuve and the nationwide series circuit will now travel to Montreal to race at the Gilles Villeneuve circuit that bears the name of Jacques father.
Jacques would like to do more oval-track racing. To date, he has three NASCAR Sprint Cup and seven Camping World Series races on ovals. Jacques said that he has been putting a lot of energy into NASCAR and it has been quite tough for him.
Other than that, the Canadian was not happy with the fact that the news about him making a team for Formula 1 for the year 2011 was leaked. Yes, it was shocking news for the fans that Villeneuve might be returning to Formula 1. He stated that they do not know what they are up against at the moment and added that they wanted to keep it quiet but someone decided to talk. They did not want to discuss this, as it is hard to tell what is going on since they do not have all the facts. According to Jacques, he wants to concentrate and put all his energy into NASCAR right now and that he is not even thinking about this situation.
Villeneuve cleared the fact that the sponsors are only interested in Formula 1 as they have grown around F1 and will not be interested in NASCAR if the FIA rejects them.
Comparing Formula 1 with NASCAR, Villeneuve said, "In F1, I had great fun in the car but once out of the car, the fun ended”. He commented that NASCAR is a lot better from that aspect. He enjoys the race weekend as it is like being on a holiday for him.
Villeneuve said that driving on oval-tracks is also racing. He promoted the sport by praising the drivers, saying that some of them are very good on racing circuits.
Until further news from the FIA, Villeneuve is focused on his NASCAR until his next race but the news is, that Villeneuve is not only keeping his eyes on NASCAR but wants to be a part of Formula 1 once again. He is keeping a keen eye on all the opportunities in front of him and he will be the person to keep an eye on in the near future.
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