Villeneuve Admits Blame for Panis's Retirement

Jacques Villeneuve admitted he was to blame for teammate Olivier Panis' retirement from the British Grand Prix at the first corner of the race.

Canadian Villeneuve had started from twelfth position after a disappointing qualifying effort, while Panis was right in front of him in eleventh. At the start of the race, the BAR drivers clashed and the Frenchman was sent off the track, putting a premature end to his race.

Villeneuve, who finished in ninth position after what he admitted was a tough race, confessed he overshot the first corner and hit Panis.

"When we got to the first corner I hit the brakes hard, which locked the front wheels and I wasn't able to turn," said Villeneuve. "Olivier was on the outside of me and when he turned I couldn't avoid him so we touched, which put him off. That lost him his race.

"Things like that happen at the start but it's not good for the team or Olivier so I feel very sorry about that. After that it was just a question of fighting until the end because the car wasn't the same after the coming together. Had we been able to qualify where we raced we could have done better today."

"What can I say? It's a real pity," said Panis, who has retired four times in the last five races. "Our car is always very good in race conditions and today I wasn't able to achieve anything for the team because my race was so short.

"What happened was a racing incident and I think we will now try and forget about it and concentrate on the next race at Hockenheim."