BAR Performance Critical for Villeneuve to Stay

The performance of the new British American Racing 004 car will be influential in determining whether top driver Jacques Villeneuve will stay with the team, the Canadian has said.

Villeneuve admitted to being disillusioned after team principal and close friend Craig Pollock left BAR on Monday and although he has committed to the team for next season the Canadian driver indicated that his long-term future depends on the new car's performance.

"Craig was a big part of me being with the team, but if it is a winning car it will be a positive thing. It would be stupid for me to make any decision after such a shock announcement. There is a contract that is in place. I do not regret making a decision to stay.

"I have a contract and there are a lot of people in the team who I have worked hard with for a long period of time. I wouldn't drop them. Craig was a big part in me staying with the team when I re-signed. Now it will all be down to how fast the car is and how happy everyone is within the team."

Villeneuve had said in the past that if Pollock went he would follow, but after signing a deal, along with teammate Olivier Panis, during last season he is now committed to stay, for the short-term at least.

"When I said that (I could leave) I could actually physically go," he added. "Now I can't. It's as simple as that. This situation is not included in my contract. I have a contract.

"Since last year, we've worked hard...and changes have happened in the team. I think it will be nice to see what these changes can bring."

Winning Motivation

"My motivation to try and win is good," he said, while adding that "the human side is very important for me" and just being in a winning car was not enough.

Villeneuve said Pollock, who remains on the board of BAR as a shareholder, would be resuming his old job as the driver's manager and was likely to attend most races next year.

"I guess it will be a bit weird at first," he said, praising Pollock for what he had done but also describing how much his friend had suffered from the stresses of the job.

"This experience will turn out as a disappointment for him but, if the team starts winning, he'll remember that he was there at the beginning and that he built it up," he said. "It was much harder on him than he ever expected and he has aged quite a lot in the last three years."

The driver said he had still not had time to assess what had happened but the change of principal was an unsettling one and "definitely the most difficult for me to digest. Only time will tell if it's for the best or worse".

New team boss David Richards meanwhile made clear that he viewed Villeneuve, with whom he had breakfast on Tuesday, as "a key element" in the team that he hoped to win over.

"Jacques is a professional. Jacques wants to win, I want to win," said the former Benetton team boss.