Formula 1
Villeneuve couldn't be talked round
Jacques Villenevue could not be talked out of his decision to withdraw from Suzuka, despite the efforts of his race engineer Jock Clear. Very disappointed to have been dropped by BAR in favour of Takuma Sato for 2004, Villeneuve decided he did not ...
Published: Oct 10, 2003, 11:59 AM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Jacques Villenevue could not be talked out of his decision to withdraw from Suzuka, despite the efforts of his race engineer Jock Clear. Very disappointed to have been dropped by BAR in favour of Takuma Sato for 2004, Villeneuve decided he did not want to race in the last Grand Prix of the season and asked to be released from his contract.
"I was travelling down here on the bullet train this morning and I received a call from Craig Pollock informing me that Jacques wanted to be released from his contractual obligations," BAR boss David Richards told reporters at Suzuka. "I've agreed to this. If somebody doesn't want to drive, they don't want to drive and so Takuma will be driving on Sunday."
"I got Jock (Clear) to speak to him but when a driver really doesn't want to race you can't ask someone to get into a car that is going to do 200mph around a race circuit if he is not heart and soul committed to it."
"Jock has worked very hard to try to persuade him to race this weekend and Jock is as close to him as anybody. It is very sad, very sad. I certainly was not expecting this. He has been over here for a couple of days but I have not spoken to him. But you have to respect a driver's decision."
The team announced on Tuesday that Sato would partner Jenson Button in 2004 and the Japanese will now replace Villeneuve at Suzuka this weekend.
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Japanese GP: Thursday press conference
Next article Brundle to stand down from BRDC
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Takuma Sato
Ed Carpenter explains why he was so angry with Takuma Sato
IndyCar
IndyCar
110th Running of the Indianapolis 500
Ed Carpenter explains why he was so angry with Takuma Sato
Takuma Sato set for Indy 500 return with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
IndyCar
IndyCar
110th Running of the Indianapolis 500
Takuma Sato set for Indy 500 return with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
Honda shares sneak peek of Takuma Sato preparing for Williams FW11 Tokyo Auto Salon run
Formula 1
Formula 1
Barcelona-Catalunya Pre-Season Testing
Honda shares sneak peek of Takuma Sato preparing for Williams FW11 Tokyo Auto Salon run
Latest news
Carlos Ezpeleta: Qatar GP “noise” left MotoGP unnecessarily exposed
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Qatar GP
29 min
Carlos Ezpeleta: Qatar GP “noise” left MotoGP unnecessarily exposed
Oscar Piastri splits from Mark Webber management
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Sao Paulo GP
52 min
Oscar Piastri splits from Mark Webber management
WEC drivers question lack of full-course yellow after heavy Monza crash
WEC
WEC WEC
Monza
2 h
WEC drivers question lack of full-course yellow after heavy Monza crash
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe