Wednesday June 14th, 2000

Jacques Villeneuve would find it hard to leave his current team British American Racing, although he would not let sentiment make his decision about where he drives.

In an interview with Gerald Donaldson at Monza to be broadcast this weekend during TSN's coverage of the Canadian Grand Prix, Villeneuve discusses team spirit, his own driving future and how he handles him home race, the Canadian Grand Prix.

Team spirit at British American Racing is high, despite its relative lack of success. "The spirit is good, we just need to go quicker, and if the spirit goes down we are not going to make progress," explained a realistic Villeneuve.

On the subject of whether the last one and a half seasons had been a waste, Villeneuve was clear on his feelings. "Well, result wise yes, driving wise no. I've learned a lot, it has been hard mentally also and it's been hard physically," explained Villeneuve. And his motivation to keep trying is explained simply: "Because I love my job, I love driving and I do it seriously, professionally."

This led to discussion on his driving future, on which Villeneuve said the following: "It is very difficult, because it would be difficult to leave this team. Honda just got in and it's a great company to be involved with, and a big part of the team has been built around me so it would of course be very difficult. But at the end of the day, I will have to make the decision that will be the best for me as a driver…and there won't be any room for just thinking sentiments.

Talking about whether he catches up with family and relatives at this time, Villeneuve explained: "I prefer to go back to Canada when there is no racing, then I can have some quality time with them."

A full transcript of the interview is available at the TSN.ca website at the following link.