Mclaren Look To Jacques For 2001?

Jacques Villeneuve is the latest Formula One driver to have his name linked with another team for the 2001 season, before the 2000 campaign has even started.


The Sunday Mirrorhave revealed that McLaren has offered the Canadian a lucrative ?12M contract for next year and have quoted the 1997 World Champion as saying, "I won't stay (with current team BAR) if we have another season like the last one."


This news comes just days after Jordan driver Heinz-Harald Frentzen was linked to the Jaguar outfit for 2001 and reigning C.A.R.T champion Juan Pablo Montoya likewise so at Williams.


There may or may not be any substance to the rumour but most F1 insiders know that this year is a make or break one for both Jacques and the BAR squad. Villeneuve cannot squander another year in uncompetitive machinery if he wants to regain his crown while Craig Pollock and his men have to re-pay some of the enormous investment made in their F1 operation which failed to score a single point in their debut season. If the team cannot give their star driver a car capable of at least challenging for the podium then it is almost inevitable that he will move on.


If the team can satisfy Jacques that they are making sufficient progress this year then it is likely that he will stay with the team that has essentially been built around him, but if not......


An offer from McLaren would be highly tempting to any Formula One driver as they already have a proven competitive package with good engines and the best designer in F1, Adrian Newey. However many observers see Villeneuve, not in the corporate atmosphere of McLaren, but in the spiritual home of Formula One....Ferrari, where his father Gilles is a legend.