Feature: Time Running Out for Villeneuve

The Canadian Grand Prix has been wiped off the calendar and now Jacques Villeneuve, the country's only Formula One Champion, also fears the axe.

The 32-year-old BAR driver returns this weekend to Indianapolis, scene of one of his greatest triumphs, amid speculation that his Grand Prix career is reaching the end of the road.

Sunday's US race is the penultimate round of the World Championship and could be Villeneuve's North American F1 farewell at the circuit where, in 1995 at the age of 24, he won the Indy 500 race.

Whether he will be back in 2004 has yet to be confirmed - an announcement is expected in Japan next month - but he would be the first to admit that the odds do not look good.

Villeneuve wants to stay but may have no choice but to depart. "There is no inkling of an offer coming from anywhere and there hasn't been an offer from BAR either," the 1997 Champion said last week. "It is late and there is no good news so there is no reason to be optimistic."

Apart from Honda-powered BAR, Villeneuve appears to have few options. The top drives are taken and only Jaguar, Jordan, Minardi and Sauber have yet to confirm their lineups. But Sauber are expected to sign Ferrari's Brazilian test driver Felipe Massa; Jordan and Minardi will need their drivers to bring money with them; and Jaguar are looking for a team player who does not cost the earth.

Cheap Replacements

BAR have no shortage of replacements to step into the shoes of a man paid more than any driver apart from Ferrari's Michael Schumacher.

Japan's Takuma Sato, heavily backed by BAR's engine partners Honda, is a frontrunner while Briton Anthony Davidson and Sweden's F3000 champion Bjorn Wirdheim can also expect to be considered. The team could bring the young drivers together in a shoot-out for the drive if Villeneuve's contract is not renewed and Sato not given the job.

Villeneuve's position has been uncertain since the start of the season when BAR made clear that they saw Briton Jenson Button as the face of the future. The two drivers have come to respect each other after an early season spat but the rumour mill has been grinding away, with BAR denying this week that Sato could step in for the season-ending Japanese Grand Prix.

"Jacques is not out of the equation but we have all told him it will take significant changes of attitude to convince us that he is the driver we need in our team," newspapers quoted BAR boss David Richards as saying last week. "We are not trying to sanitise the guy completely but he has to face up to the responsibilities of being a lead driver in a top Formula One team."

Fashion Sense

Villeneuve, son of the late Ferrari favourite Gilles, has never paid much attention to convention. The Canadian has dared to be different from the day he arrived in Formula One with dyed hair and grunge clothing.

"Our relationship was once a little strained because he just didn't understand why I didn't want to dye my hair pink," recalled former Williams teammate Heinz-Harald Frentzen.

Formula One is obsessed by fashion, frequented by supermodels and sponsored by an array of designer brands. But Villeneuve's preferred image is still that of the non-conformist. He says what he thinks, even if it proves unpalatable.

"I don't follow fashion and I don't really ever shop for clothes," he said in a collection of character-defining quotes issued by team sponsor Lucky Strike ahead of Sunday's race. "I mean, I still wear the same 10-year-old jeans because they still feel good. I don't see the point in being uncomfortable just to try and look good. It doesn't make any sense to me."

Tough, single-minded and mentally resilient, Villeneuve also stands accused of squandering his undoubted talent. Since he joined BAR as their first driver in 1999, the Canadian has banked a fortune yet scored a meagre 39 points. Schumacher took a record 144 last year alone.

This season Villeneuve has scored just six points and failed to finish half his 14 races to date. Years of failure have dulled his record. Younger fans may not even recall the sensation the Canadian caused in 1996 when he took pole position on his Australian debut and finished second.

The days when he duelled with Schumacher are long gone, the German probably unable to remember when the Canadian last overtook him. Yet Villeneuve won his fourth race and was champion after 33 starts, assured of a place in the annals of the sport even if the fame game leaves him cold: "I'm not really into all that," he has said. "Once I'm gone, I'm gone."