Richards Disappointed with Villeneuve's Performance

David Richards, the BAR-Honda team chief, said Jacques Villeneuve's performance in the British Grand Prix was not as good as expected after the Canadian finished behind teammate Jenson Button.

Villeneuve fought with World Champion Michael Schumacher during the race but eventually dropped behind Button, who had started from the back of the grid and claimed a point for eighth place.

"Jacques did a competent job, you know, but he wasn't quite as good as one hoped," said a pointed Richards. "Jenson's was a stunning performance considering where he came from and where he came in at the end of the day."

Richards believes his team had looked "very, very strong" and suggested Villeneuve, who lost control of his BAR-Honda in the closing stages of the race, had thrown away his chance of scoring some points.

He came close to clashing with Button after he was overtaken by Schumacher during the race but Richards insisted he was not at fault and claimed: "I don't think Jacques knew Jenson was there actually.

"The Ferrari came through and he didn't realise he was so close behind. Jenson hasn't mentioned it to me, and he probably would have done if he was unhappy about it."

Richards believes Button's pace proved the developments on the BAR-Honda - which included a new aerodynamic package and an engine upgrade rumoured to be worth 0.5 seconds-per-lap - had worked.

"We were looking very, very strong," he added. "Our whole performance, if you look at what was going on we'd have been pretty close to competing with the people in the first four places."