Sauber not worried about JV

"After Shanghai there is nothing to say," Sauber said. "I think it (Villeneuve's signing) was the right decision for him and for us too."

Sauber admitted for some time being in a dilemma about whether to opt for a young up-and-coming driver, such as BAR third driver Anthony Davidson or F3000 Champion Vitantonio Liuzzi, or to go for a more experienced man. Villeneuve's deire to get back into Formula 1, without the need for a huge retainer is what swung it, his profile guaranteeing better marketing penetration for Peter Sauber and his sponsors.

Some observers, however, argue that from a pure performance angle, Villeneuve may not have been the right move. They say that while he has won 11 grands prix, his reputation is based entirely on coming straight into F1 in the best car - the clearly superior Williams chassis of the mid nineties. Subsequently, he was nip-and-tuck with Olivier Panis at BAR, before being blown away by Jenson Button. The outcome of coming into a Renault after a year's absence, against a driver of Alonso's ability, they say, was entirely predictable. Why, they wonder, did Sauber test Liuzzi if he had already signed Villeneuve?

"We promised Liuzzi he could do a test after a successful F3000 season," Sauber explained in Suzuka, "and I think it was okay to do it. It was nice for him to drive an F1 car for a day but, on the other hand, it was hard for him to show his talent with just a single day's testing. Overall, the test was very good."

At Suzuka, support for Villeneuve came from an unlikely source in Jarno Trulli, the man whose Renault cockpit the French-Canadian has stepped into for the final three races of the year.

"I'm not going to speak about my own situation with Renault," Trulli said, "but people don't appreciate how difficult it is to jump into a Formula 1 car if you have not been racing. Jacques' race in China was exactly what I would have expected."

More was expected of Villeneuve at Suzuka, a circuit he knew well from his days in Japan before even coming into F1. Never renowned as a wet weather specialist, however, Villeneuve's task looks like being made harder still by the incessant rain which forced the abandonment of qualifying and continued non-stop throughout Saturday in Japan.