16/06/2005
NEWS STORY
Ahead of this weekend's United States Grand Prix, held at the Indianapolis Motor speedway, a track that has good memories for the 1995 Indy 500 winner, Jacques Villeneuve, the Canadian talks about the situation with Sauber and the price one pays for being out-spoken.
In recent weeks there has been a clear escalation in the apparent war of words between Jacques Villeneuve and his employer Peter Sauber, much of it media led, and indeed much of it due to both parties being misquoted.
Talking to the Indy Star, Villeneuve admitted that the slanging match isn't good for anyone.
"It's not fun to read stuff like that," admitted the Canadian, "and I'm sure Peter wouldn't like reading that the car was too slow. But it's like everything: You read the numbers you want to read to get the answer you want to have. If Peter decides one day that the team is better off without me, he'll read the numbers he wants to read to put me in a negative eye."
Asked if he thinks this weekend's race will be any different to the previous eight this season - Jacques has only scored points on one occasion - the Sauber driver replied: "There's no reason for the cars to be fast. If everything goes well for us and everybody else is in trouble, then it gives us a small chance. We're either at the back or less at the back."
Isn't being uncompetitive embarrassing for a former world champion?" he's asked. "It could be," he responds, but we know (the situation) and there's nothing we can do about it.
"If I hadn't won in the past it would be a horrible position," he admits. "As long as you can work on next year, there's always (optimism). Then it's less horrible."
Villeneuve is known for his outspokenness, but has this worked against him, and does he still feel the need to speak out?
"I paid a high price in the past," he admits, "yet I'm still here. I'd rather just remain myself, and if it annoys everybody, well, that's too bad. The thing I've found out is that you can't erase what has been achieved in the past; that will remain. So I can say what I want."