Villeneuve Turns Down $50m CART Offer

Canadian racing driver Jacques Villeneuve has turned down a three-year $50 million offer which would have seen the 1997 Formula One World Champion go back to the CART series in 2003 before returning to his current F1 team for the two remaining seasons.

Quoting Player's-Forsythe team co-owner Gerald Forsythe, who has been trying to lure the 1995 Indycar champion back to his old stomping ground, Le Journal de Montreal newspaper reported that Villeneuve's agent Craig Pollock refused the offer saying it was too small.

Villeneuve, whose last win in Formula One dates back to September 1997, started driving for British American Racing (BAR) in 1999, looking to shape the new team into a contender, but high hopes never materialized as the car has shown problems year after year.

"Unfortunately, Pollock wanted even more money. It's a shame, because we know the project interested Jacques, who didn't dislike the idea of coming back to North America where he could have won races," the paper quoted Forsythe, who is also a minority shareholder in BAR.

Villeneuve is one of the highest-paid men in Formula One and his contract will expire at the end of the 2003 season. Journal de Montreal said Pollock was asking $57 million over three years.

"I have a good contract for next year and I have no reason to change it. The only way I could start thinking of doing anything else is if there was something very special", Villeneuve said two weeks ago when asked about a possible switch from Formula One to CART.

"At the moment, apart from a golden contract, I don't see any reason to go racing in the States," Villeneuve said.

BAR have already announced that Briton Jenson Button will hold a seat with the team next year but have yet to specify whether Villeneuve or French driver Olivier Panis will be Button's partner. Villeneuve is currently ranked 12th in the Drivers' Championship standings with three points.