What makes this race different for you to the others?
Jacques Villeneuve: This is home. This is where I come from so it's very special.
At this point in the season are you where you thought you would be, in terms of expectation?
JV: Definitely not. I could see how competitive Sauber was last year and how much progress they made throughout the season. I had a fair idea on the tyre difference and where they would have been had they been on the tyre last year. Then when we got the tyres on last year's car the car was extremely fast, it was a big improvement, compared to anything that had happened to them before. So we were all surprised and disappointed when the new car came out and it actually wasn't as competitive. It's doesn't feel bad to drive, it's just slow on the lap times, and it's very hard to pinpoint.
Regarding tyre changes, are your new rules in f1, from a strategic and safety point of view, wasn't it better last year?
JV: No, definitely not. I think you've seen some better races this year. Safety wise why should it be dangerous? I've said before, the only reason there was a problem at the last race was because of flatspotting a tyre and braking vibrations, and that could have happened even with last year's rules. Last year you wouldn't have come into the pits to change your tyre, you would have tried to survive until the end of the race if you are in the lead, that's just the way racing is so the new rules had no effect on that and you could damage your front wing or suspension by banging wheels with someone and you would still try to stay on the race track until it broke so the new rules have a very tiny effect on that.
In terms of qualification are you happy that it's back to one day?
JV: I wasn't happy qualifying on Sunday, but I was happy with the fact that at least one of the qualifying was with low fuel. Now it's back to being with high fuel and you never know who is quick. You determine your qualifying lap by deciding how much fuel you put in, so it's not a pure qualifying lap anymore. It's part of the race and it's purely strategy. I'm not a big fan of that.
How much difference is there in how you feel today than this point two years ago before your last race here?
JV: I feel a lot better than I did two years ago. The last two years at BAR were hell, so anything is better than that. It wasn't because of the car or the people; it wasn't the engineers or the mechanics. It was only down to one person who was on a mission at the time to discredit me. That made life very difficult. The year off has allowed me to take a breather, to see what was going on and relax, to come back and not be affected by stuff like that anymore.
Peter Sauber has made some comments that you've been a little slower than he expected. How do you react to that?
JV: I don't want to react. It's the kind of comment that can get you really angry and really have a negative effect on the way you drive, so I'd rather not pay any attention to it and just take it as humour. As little as possible that gets in public the better it is. Anything of that kind that gets into the public shows a weakness in the team, and makes the rest of the team weaker. It's not constructive to performance.
What was going through your mind when this event (Canada) was held last year?
JV: That I wasn't here for the party after the race! It was good to be away from racing for a while but of course I was missing not being here. It's always a special weekend because of the atmosphere, the people and the fans. It wasn't nice to not be at this one.
When you started with the new team it got off on a bad foot, today are you comfortable or is there still pressure?
JV: Of course I'm not satisfied. There was Imola which was good and Monaco we were competitive but other than that we're the slowest Michelin car right now so that's definitely not a good position to be in. Apart from changing springs and antiroll bars there's very little we are doing on the car so from that aspect from the way I enjoy working that's not very satisfying, but that's just the way it is so I have to make the best of it.
You are getting older, how many more years do you see yourself doing this?
JV: Well one more year means more experience, so it's only a positive. You should carry on as long as you're hungry, you enjoy working and fighting, pushing the limits and you enjoy figuring out problems. Working on a race car is not only driving it, it's figuring out what you can change on it to allow yourself to drive faster. That's fun, but you need the budget and the team to try different aspects and right now we don't have a big budget so we can't do that.
You obviously would love to win a race, but what would be satisfactory this weekend?
JV: I'll know on Friday what I want to shoot for. Of course going home without points would be a disappointment definitely. 7th and 8th are points but what feels like real points are from 6th onwards, because that's how the rules used to be. 7th and 8th are good to bring home but they aren't that satisfying.
