The World According to Jacques
February 17th 2007 02:12
Outspoken
Former World Chamapion, Jacques Villenueve has unleashed his venomous tounge upon some of F1’s current top drivers.
Ferrari new boy, Kimi Raikkonen and Renault’s Giancarlo Fisichella were first in line for the former BMW driver’s spray in a new edition of F! Racing magazine.
Raikkonen’s work ethic was criticised by the French-Canadian, who believes that he is no match for rival Fernando Alonso.
“Apart from jumping in a car and going fast, he really doesn't care about the rest," he said.
"A complete driver will spend time with the engineers, setting up the team and pushing the team. He doesn't give a s**t, so he isn't up there with Alonso."
Italian veteran, Giancarlo Fisichella received a similar dose of poison from Villeneuve, who believes the Renault man “just doesn’t cut it.”
"He’s done. Even if he beats Heikki [Kovalainen], I don't think he's got anywhere to go. He's there as a benchmark for Heikki, and then at the end of the season, or even halfway through, they'll put Nelson Piquet Jr in the car," said Villeneuve.
However, it wasn’t all criticism from Villenueve, who liberally praised Ferrari’s Felipe Massa as being “intelligent, talented and quick.”
“Massa will probably take over as team leader. He and Kimi will definitely challenge each other, but Felipe should finish ahead because of his work ethic," he said of the Brazilan.
Unsuprisingly though, there was little commendation for Polish sensation, Robert Kubica, who famously replaced Villeneuve at BMW-Sauber part-way through last season, and went on to set F1 alight, scoring a podium in only his third F1 race.
"Kubica is fast but made a mistake in every race last year. Any driver who makes a mistake in almost every race is driving too fast for themselves,” said Villenueve.
"And he's very hard on his machinery, and I don't think he'll be capable of changing his driving style enough to suit the harder Bridgestones. If he can be more gentle, then he could be up there. But it'll get really interesting from 2008 when he goes without traction control."
Jacques on others:
On Toyota’s Jarno Trulli: "I think he's overly tense and wears himself out when he doesn't need to."
On former BMW teammate Nick Heidfeld: "He's a team driver and a hard worker. Sometimes too hard. There comes a point where you just have to go to bed."
On former BAR teammate Jenson Button: “He's fast, strong and nothing disturbs him. But he'll have to be in a position to take a shot at the championship if we're to see if he is as good as Alonso. That's highly probable, because he's at least as good as Kimi."
On Honda’s Rubens Barrichello: "Rubens is better than he showed last year. He just couldn't adapt to the car, and every driver can have that."
On McLaren rookie Lewis Hamilton: "A very nice character...He's quick but green."
On Red Bull veteran David Coulthard: "The way he speaks is amazing...He should be running a country or something."
On STR’s Tonio Liuzzi: "Nothing special...I don't see how he can be perceived as a serious driver."
On American Scott Speed: "He hasn't shown anything to justify his place in F1."
On Spyker’s Christijan Albers: "A nasty, dirty driver."
On Super Aguri’s (and Villeneuve ouster at BAR) Takuma Sato: "At Aguri, he's stopped doing stupid things, but only by driving slower."
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