System 1 | Villeneuve calls Sauber’s Audi F1 project ‘very dangerous’

Jacques Villeneuve is skeptical about Audi’s next Formula 1 factory project.

The 1997 world champion is clearly a big fan of the German automaker owned by VW, having recently received an order for it: a customized pink RS6.

Less supportive is Audi’s choice of its Formula 1 partner, Swiss team Sauber.

“Well, they’re joining a team that hasn’t been good for years. And you can’t invent skills. It’s something that’s built over time. Over time.”

Villeneuve, who won his title for Williams, drove for Sauber towards the end of his F1 career – when the team went private in 2005, and again in 2006 with the support and ownership of BMW.

And now he wonders if Sauber’s new project with Audi will be more successful.

“You can see it with Williams. You know, they stay good for a while, but you pay the price to pay the drivers, all that, and you regret it later. And now Sauber is rebuilding, but it doesn’t happen immediately. . It also takes time. So a good team according to Sauber it won’t happen overnight.

“And then they (Audi) will join us in F1? Do they join us in the same way that Renault-Alpine joined just to be part of F1 and build an image or to actually lead and try to win using all the necessary and possible means, we don’t know.”

Villeneuve also claims that Sauber risks reliving the days of BMW, when the carmaker suddenly decided to pull out of Formula 1 altogether after a disappointing 2009 season.

Sauber then spent several seasons just fighting for survival.

“What’s dangerous for the manufacturers when they arrive is that they can easily decide within five minutes ‘ok, we’re leaving, goodbye’ – they leave and they don’t care. But here Audi has bought Sauber. So they can disappear. They’re great for the sport, but they’re also very dangerous in that regard.

“Where a team like Williams, which remains independent, cannot leave. It exists thanks to F1. What will Williams do if they stop F1? Nothing.”

“So you’re safe in the knowledge that they’re going to find a way to persevere to get better and because that’s their bread and butter.”