Jacques Villeneuve has made the startling revelation that he still hankers after a return to
Formula 1, despite having been ejected from the uppermost echelon when he was prematurely ‘released' by BMW-Sauber two years ago.
The French-Canadian – who finished runner-up at his second outing in the legendary Le Mans 24 Hours with Peugeot at the weekend – clinched the world drivers' laurels with
Williams back in 1997, what was similarly only his second season in the top flight.
Following that, however, his career hit something of a downward slope, as he saw out the remainder of his nine years in F1 in significantly less competitive cars, only ascending the rostrum on four more occasions in 131 further races and scoring fewer points from 1998 to 2006 than he had done in 1997 alone.
With many suggesting he had lost his touch, Villeneuve was replaced at BMW-Sauber by
Robert Kubica in August, 2006, on the pretext that he had sustained an injury when he had crashed in the preceding German Grand Prix at Hockenheim.
Having since gone on to race in both sportscars and NASCAR in the States, the Québécois – now 37 – insisted should the right opportunity come knocking to retake his place in the grand prix paddock, he would jump at the chance.
“I'm open to the idea, certainly with the new technical situation,” he confessed to Italian magazine
Autosprint. “To be honest, I have no idea if it would be possible.
“I have never given up hope of re-entering
F1. I have driven in some other series, but that was only because there were no vacant seats in F1.
“If the opportunity would occur, certainly with the new regulations, I would love to get back to work.”
