BAR should forget about 2001, says JV

In a hard-hitting analysis just a day after he was announced as part of its line-up for next year, he said development work was being done in "desperation" rather than to extract the final drop of performance from an uncompetitive car.

The French Canadian wound up 17th after the first day's action in Germany.

"We are going backwards and that's a bit difficult to accept at this point," said the 1997 World Champion. "All the work we are doing now is more in desperation than to get the little extra tenths out of the car.

"This car wasn't born very well. It didn't feel right in winter testing. We've improved it a bit but less than the opposition, and engine-wise [it's] the same. So I think that at this point it is better to not even concentrate on this year and really put all the effort into next year," he added.

"We're getting used to looking to the future, so that's what we're going to do again."

He said his concern didn't centre solely on BAR's performance relative to fellow Honda-powered rivals Jordan.

"It's not just Jordan," said Villeneuve. "We are not doing too well compared to most of the field. We are not very competitive.

"I always try my best but we've never been competitive in qualifying," he added. "As it has turned out we are more competitive in races than qualifying but that doesn't even put us in the top six so we need a real lottery of a race to get in the points. I still want to win races so I will just keep on working hard and trying to do it."

Villeneuve said had had no option but to stay with BAR next season, despite rumours that he was going to join McLaren.

"I signed my contract last year but you always look at what's happening everywhere in case something happens and you have to look at something else," he said. "But there was never a question of going anywhere else. There was no decision to make."