Villeneuve: Coulthard Will Never be Champion

Former World Champion Jacques Villeneuve believes Scot David Coulthard is past his best and insisted the McLaren-Mercedes star will never win the world title.

Canadian Villeneuve, who won his crown in 1997 with the Williams team, believes five-time World Champion Michael Schumacher's dominance will continue long enough to keep Coulthard from his ultimate goal.

He believes the Scot will never have a better chance than he did when McLaren dominated in the late 1990s and said: "David's a good guy but seriously I think he's missed the boat when it comes to winning the World Championship."

Schumacher's dominance has obliterated the opposition this season and Villeneuve, who drives for British American Racing, warned there is now little left to inspire fans to turn on their televisions.

"The sport is desperately short of characters at the moment and we really need to change that," Villeneuve told the Glasgow Herald before backing the calls of Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone for teams to draft in more entertainers.

Italian Valentino Rossi, the MotoGP world champion, is set to test a Grand Prix car next year while Scottish rally star Colin McRae, who tested for Jordan six years ago, is one man who Villeneuve believes could liven up the grid.

"Colin would be great for F1," said Villeneuve. "There's no doubt he has the speed to make an impact in any level of motorsport. I know he's already tested an F1 car and, let's be honest, he couldn't really do much worse than some of the drivers on the grid."