Villeneuve considers his return to F1

Former world champion Jacques Villeneuve recently declared that he has fallen in love with Formula 1 once again. The Canadian was spotted in the paddock during the recent Grand Prix, discussing with teams about a possible recruitment as a full-time driver for the 2010 season.

Villeneuve has regularly announced that he was not ready to retire from professional competition and that with the recent technical developments in F1, he was really tempted to return to the starting grids.

« I am a racing driver and I always will be, which is why I am interested in a return to F1, » stated the 1997 champion to the magazine Autosprint.

From my point of view, today’s cars are more interesting to see and will be even more so next year. It will be more fun to drive them, especially with the ban on refueling. You can see them slide more, without electronic aids, and in that sense, the show is better, the 38-year-old driver confided.

« I repeated it for 10 years: remove refueling, return to slick tires, and get rid of electronic aids. I’m just disappointed that mandatory stops for tire changes remain in place because it takes away some of the action from the fuel factor, » continued Villeneuve.

Jacques Villeneuve also mentioned that, thanks to the elimination of private testing, he thinks teams are more interested in experienced drivers. « Driving is the only thing that interests me and all the things in place are helping me: With the elimination of private testing, we, experienced drivers, are in demand. I don’t know what will happen, but I’m giving it my all. »

The example of Rubens Barrichello’s extension with Brawn GP at the beginning of the year, much to Bruno Senna’s dismay, fully proves him right on this point… Are we going to see a reversal from previous years with an aging F1 grid?