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Formula One car launches are usually
benign rituals; stage managed, all smiling productions designed to
convey unity and optimism. How refreshing, therefore, that BAR-Honda
should have torn up the script yesterday.
The unveiling of the new car was rendered almost an irrelevance
by the unveiling of the new team principal and the transparent
disquiet of their No 1 driver at BAR's factory in Brackley.
Twenty-four hours after announcing that they had parted company
with Craig Pollock, the driving force of the venture that brought
the team to Formula One three years ago, BAR confirmed that David
Richards, a man who has so far succeeded in most things except grand
prix motor racing, would take over.
Jacques Villeneuve, who joined Pollock, his former teacher and
manager, to pursue a dream as a driver at BAR, learned of his
mentor's fate at the weekend, and could not mask his displeasure
yesterday.
"I've had no time to be happy or angry,'' was the Canadian's
instant reaction. "It has been tough for the past three years
and this is the most difficult part for me. Only time will tell if
this decision is for the best.''
Villeneuve, the 1997 world champion, maintained that he would
honour his contract to race for BAR next season. However, Richards
acknowledged that no agreement was sacrosanct and that no one could
be forced to drive against his will. It was Richards' objective to
give Villeneuve a car he would wish to drive.
Villeneuve has never been one to toe the party line and made no
attempt to back up the claim of Kenneth Clarke, the chairman of
British American Tobacco and beaten contender for the leadership of
the Conservative Party, that Pollock had left to pursue other
interests.
Clarke side-stepped the question as to whether Pollock had been
pushed. Richards distanced himself from the decision, saying he took
no part in it, while Villeneuve smiled enigmatically. Villeneuve did
reveal that Pollock's "other interests'' would include resuming
the role as his manager.
It is Villeneuve's role as senior driver and standard bearer that
is now the subject of conjecture within Formula One. Already there
have been suggestions that he could be on his way to Renault (née
Benetton) in an arrangement that would take Jenson Button to BAR.
Villeneuve wants time to consider his position, assess whether he
can form a working relationship with Richards and, not least, find
out whether the new car has the potential to be competitive and lift
the team from its current position of sixth, which all recognise is
unsatisfactory. He said: "It would be stupid to make a decision
after two days of hearing about this shock decision. And anyway I
have a contract in place.''
Richard's Prodrive company, who run the Subaru team, have
achieved outstanding success in the World Rally Championship. They
provided the equipment for Colin McRae's title victory in 1995 and
Richard Burns's this year. Richards has spent the past two years
setting up the organisation responsible for the television coverage
of the World Rally Championship.
However, his first venture into Formula
One, with Benetton in 1998, proved ill-starred. A new three-year
deal with Honda encourages him to believe he can make BAR major
players and he wants Villeneuve on board, but only if the driver is
committed to the cause.
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