Villeneuve knows BAR damaged him

An honest and maybe little downbeat Jacques Villeneuve today admitted his reputation has suffered a lot at BAR, especially during the last year. Villeneuve is said to be in his most difficult year of F1, as team principal Richards is not fond of keeping Villeneuve for next season.Villeneuve admitted: "There has been a lot of negative undercurrents and I have been living with that for a while now. The damage has been done so there is no need for it any more."

Rumours in the Italian press had linked him to Ferrari, where world champion Michael Schumacher and Brazilian Rubens Barrichello are under contract until at least the end of next year.

But Villeneuve insisted he is not actively looking to move to another team and quickly scotched rumours that Ferrari, with whom his father Gilles drove in the 1980s, had come calling for him. "The only team where you would probably go without thinking would be Ferrari," admitted Villeneuve. "But I am not sure where that link came from because I have not had a chat with anyone from Ferrari."

Jacques thinks the criticism will stop if he manages to get a contract at BAR for next season, is that would mean there is no more reason for critics. "The damage has already been done".