Jacques Villeneuve has told AUTOSPORT.com that he will consider retiring from F1 at the end of his British American Racing contract if he cannot secure a truly competitive drive.
The Canadian, who has suffered four frustrating years at BAR, claimed he would not be interested in F1 if his offers only come from the back of the grid. Villeneuve is looking to sign for a vastly improved BAR or for one of the established top teams. the only other alternative that the 1997 World Champion is prepared to consider would be driving for a team making good progress towards the front of the grid.
Villeneuve's comments are likely to fuel speculation (revealed by MOTORSPORTFORUM 19th November '02) that BAR are preparing to replace their Canadian star. With a large number of up and coming stars and established racers set to test for BAR in 2003, the race for Villeneuve's seat is set to be a hard fought one.
In November MOTORSPORTFORUM suggested that Formula Nippon champion Ralph Firman, Jordan refugee Takuma Sato, Briton Anthony Davidson and IRL-bound Dario Franchitti will all vie for the chance to take Villeneuve's BAR seat in 2004.
Clearly the expectation is that if Villeneuve does not see a radical improvement in BAR's form next season, his racing future will almost certainly lie elsewhere.
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