Jacques Villeneuve, former Formula 1 driver and 1997 world champion, doubts whether the alliance between Audi and Swiss team Sauber will be successful. From his point of view, the German automaker has bet on the wrong partner.
“They’re joining forces with a team that hasn’t achieved anything for so many years,” the Canadian told Sports Illustrated. – And what is called “know-how” cannot be invented immediately. It’s something that just builds up over time.
At the end of his Formula 1 career, Villeneuve drove for Sauber, but later, working in the paddock as a pundit and television commentator, he followed several twists in the fate of this team. He is not convinced she has enough potential to succeed in modern Formula 1 and compared her situation to that of Williams.
“You can see this in the example of Williams,” Villeneuve emphasizes. “You see, at times they look good, but they have to pay for the fact that they are forced to invite riders who compete for money, and all this has been dragging on for a long time.
What can you say about the Audi project in the World Championship? They come in the same way as Renault-Alpine, i.e. for the sake of image? Just to be in Formula 1? Or are they really serious about racing to try to succeed and claim victories? We don’t know this.
With factory teams there is always the risk that they reach the championship first, and then can just as easily, literally within five minutes, decide to leave: “Okay, we’re leaving, goodbye.” They leave Formula 1 and can no longer worry about anything. On the one hand, car manufacturers bring great benefits to our sport, but they can also be very dangerous partners.”
By the way, Villeneuve himself recently drove an Audi – a unique pink sports station wagon model RS6, which, according to his special order, was built over the course of two years by the Audi Zentrum company in Italy. The car has a leather interior in blue and white, the Canadian’s initials are embroidered on the seats and there are many more details that distinguish it from series production. As Jacques explained, the choice of colors is explained by the fact that they are all included in the design of his helmet.
These all-wheel drive station wagons are equipped with 4-liter V8 engines that produce more than 600 hp, giving them impressive acceleration dynamics: the RS6 reaches 100 km/h in 3.4 seconds.
Source: F1 News
I am Christopher Clyde, an experienced journalist and content writer with a passion for sports. I have been writing about Formula 1 news for the past five years and am currently employed as an author at athletistic.com, one of the top sports websites in the US.
