More Words from Jacques Villeneuve

With Jacques Villeneuve finally meeting the press yesterday after two months of silence, more information from the Canadian's side becomes available and his side of the story appears more clear.

Villeneuve met several reporters yesterday, at his manager Craig Pollock's winter chalet, located in the Villars ski resort, Switzerland. The outspoken Canadian did not hold back, and told reporters about his relationship with BAR team chief David Richards, his disappointment with the Formula One media, why other teams turn him down, and what he plans to do now and in the future. This is what he had to say:

On David Richards and BAR

"When Richards arrived at BAR, I unfortunately had a contract - otherwise I would have left straight away. It's hard when you have to deal with a man like Richards who every day tries to destroy you. Keeping up is exhausting.

"He took the piss of me. Richards kept telling me that he wanted to work with me, that we would have found an agreement. He even repeated that during the weekend in Indianapolis, and two days later he announced [Takuma] Sato.

"Money-wise, he made an insulting offer. Maybe he hoped that I would just walk away, but instead I made a counter-offer. He never replied to that. That's why, after hiring Sato, I decided against racing in Japan: I was upset for such a lack of respect.

"The most disconcerting thing is that, when I told BAR I wouldn't be racing in Japan, they didn't even try to convince me to do it... And Richards carried on with his demolition work even after Suzuka. But that doesn't surprise me: I know he adopts the same strategy when he has to get rid of some rally drivers."

On the Paddock

"It's not surprising [that no team wants me]: the team has always talked bad about me, and at the end they managed to convince the entire paddock. Even Bernie Ecclestone. When I turned to him, he explained to me that I had an awful approach with the press and I struggled to work with the team!

"A big part of the press turned their back on me too: they used to run to me to obtain sensational quotes, and I would oblige, and that's why I also had problems with the FIA. But when it was time to defend me, they left me on my own. Maybe they thought that I was some kind of institution, and that F1 couldn't live without me..."

On Williams

"I spoke to Frank Williams and Patrick Head and if they put me in the list of candidates [to replace Montoya in 2005] it is only to do me a favour. The truth is that they have no intention of having me.

"I know [that Head hasn't had kind words about me]. The strange thing is that he started doing that just lately. Maybe he too has been influenced by the bad atmosphere that has grown against me. For sure I wasn't easy to deal with, I wouldn't do exactly what he would ask me to do. But I'm convinced I did well there. One can see what [Heinz Harald] Frentzen - who unlike me did everything he was told - managed to do."

On McLaren

"I've always kept in touch with [McLaren's technical director] Adrian Newey and I know that he would have liked to work with me again. I would happily have tested for McLaren in order to feel again what being with a top team is like."

On Ferrari

"[Michael] Schumacher doesn't want me [in Ferrari], that's all. The problem is that when Michael will leave, Ferrari risk getting lost. But Schumacher carries on winning and making bucketloads of money, so why should he retire? For sure, stopping now would be harder for him than for me."

On the future

"I don't miss F1: the last two years have been so stressful that I need a long resting break. So for now I will rest. For sure I still enjoy racing and I would like to keep doing it.

I'm interested in NASCAR racing in the USA and also in Le Mans. But only with a team of friends, maybe with Tom Kristensen and Patrick Lemarie. But there's nothing concrete in this at the moment."