Jacques Villeneuve sees Formula E move as a return to his roots

The 11-time grand prix winner was revealed as one of the Venturi team's drivers last week, and he made his first public Formula E appearance in testing at Donington on Monday.

The deal marks a return to single-seater racing for Villeneuve, whose only open-wheel appearance since leaving F1 in the middle of the 2006 season came in last year's Indianapolis 500, where he finished 14th.

"This feels very much like I'm going back to my roots," said the 1997 world champion.

"I started my career in open-wheel racing and it feels good to be back in a single-seater.

"But mainly it feels good to be competing at an international level again and to be looking forward to a full season, and not just an odd race.

"I love racing on street courses - they're tough, bumpy, and it looks difficult to drive which makes it fun.

"It looks exciting, and watching the races I could see right away that it was professional."

Villeneuve said the little running he has had so far has made it tough to judge how competitive he and Venturi will be this season with the team's VM200 powertrain.

"Everyone has a new powertrain and we all believe we have a new invention," he said.

"At the moment no-one knows who is going to be competitive, but my goal is to compete at the front.

"It would be nice to return to winning ways again - that's why I'm racing.

"We focused on installation laps today [in testing] and then when we were about to get going it rained.

"I can't wait to get a proper dry and aggressive lap in to see what the car can do."