Villeneuve expects disappointment

Jacques Villeneuve and teammate Olivier Panis had a positive first day of practice in Montreal for the 2002 Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal. Villeneuve was in the top 6 for most of the final session, and eventually finished 9th, while Panis finished 7th, just over a tenth of a second faster than Villeneuve. On the face of it, it would look very positive for the rest of the weekend for the BAR-Honda team, but Villeneuve disagreed. "Expect disappointment," he warned.

Villeneuve talked first about how everyone in F1 likes coming to Canada. "The crowd is very positive," he said about both their support of him and also the rest of the F1 world. "They cheer every overtaking manoevre - even in practice, and every time someone does a good lap." He also said that the support the fans in Canada give him was, "great - even after 4 bad years." He joked that maybe the fans were so positive because "it's finally the end of winter."

However he warned these fans that despite the positiveness of Friday to expect disappointment Saturday in qualifying. Asked how they were quick today he stated bluntly, "We took out all the fuel. It will be very, very difficult for us to be in the top 10 tomorrow, because we are still not that competitive" he claimed.

BAR have some modifications for Montreal, but although Villeneuve said, "For the first time in 4 years the modifications feel good," he said that everyone else has made little improvements too. "If we make a eight-tenths improvement, and everyone else makes a half second improvement, it only becomes three-tenths. So if you improve from 14th or 15th, you might be 12th. The modifications bring us a bunch. If we didn't have them we'd be even slower."

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