Jacques Villeneuve Q&A: The ex-World Champion on the big talking points for 2014

Starting with Sebastian Vettel, if his Red Bull car proves to be significantly less competitive in 2014 how do you think he is going to do in the new season?

Jacques Villeneuve: "We don't know how competitive it is, they just can't do laps. So that's worse than not being competitive. They really need to fix it because if not they won't even be able to finish qualifying, for example. 

"So they need to work on that car and once they get driving we will really know how competitive they are or not."

What about Ferrari? Can Kimi Raikkonen outscore Fernando Alonso?

JV: "It is possible because last year Alonso wasn't the golden boy of Ferrari anymore, the energy wasn't good anymore. They were all fighting internally and that's why they put Kimi in there.

"But if we remember a few years ago it ended in tears with Kimi as well, so who knows what will happen. It's a very difficult team to be part of. It's very political, there are a lot of demands and when things don't go right they become very difficult to bear.

"But with the new rules, where basically the drivers won't have to drive on the edge the whole time, it won't be too physical, it could suit Kimi."

Do you think the drivers will radically have to adapt their styles with the new powertrains and fuel limitations?

JV: "They will probably have to adapt their style but the issue with fuel limitation is the fuel economy won't be done by the driver, it will all be done by software, and at some point of the straight the engine will start cutting and giving less power. So the driver has very little to do with it."

A lot of the headlines building up to the season having been about the double points in Abu Dhabi. Do you think this is a good idea?

JV: "I think it's a terrible idea. It's showing that Formula 1 right now there's no way to invent anymore to try and create some interest. It's overly artificial, just the way the rules are in general with the DRS and everything.

"But at least that one with the points is the same for everyone. Everyone knows before the start of the season that at the end of the season there will be a double-point race. I'm not sure what the purpose is apart from keeping the Abu Dhabi organisers, who spend millions to have a race, trying to keep the interest until their own race."

What do you think of the sound of the new turbo engines?

JV: "They don't sound as beefy or aggressive. Ultimately all the fans want to see is good racing. Good, exciting, fun racing."

Why have you been attracted to the World Rallycross Championship?

JV: "First of all it's exciting - and challenging. I've seen a few images and it's rough and tough, it's fast and a lot of horsepower. It's become a World Championship with the FIA tag, there's a race in Canada and so there's a lot of things going for it. I was keen to get back in a full championship as well."

Michael Schumacher was your great rival when you won your world title in 1997, how has his accident and situation affected you?

JV: "I was really shocked. The effect is more on his family, that's where it is really, really hard because they are waiting and they have no idea what will happen. That's a terrible position to be in.
"It can happen to any of us, in any situation. We all live on the edge and Michael certainly did. That's how he won his championships. He went motorbike racing. He needed that adrenaline to kick in and he needed to always overcome himself basically."

The Sky Sports F1 Online team will be providing live commentary of all three winter tests with live updates from trackside also on Sky Sports News. The next test, in Bahrain, begins on Wednesday February 19.

Jacques Villeneuve Canadian race-car driver

Jacques Villeneuve, (born April 9, 1971, Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec, Can.) Canadian race-car driver who in 1995 became the first Canadian to win the Indianapolis 500 and the youngest winner of the IndyCar championship.

Villeneuve was the son of Gilles Villeneuve and the nephew of Jacques Villeneuve, both Canadian race-car drivers. He spent much of his early childhood traveling on the racing circuit with his parents, first in North America and then in Europe. His father became successful in Formula One (F1) Grand Prix racing and moved the family from Quebec to Monaco in 1978; four years later, however, Gilles was killed in a racing accident. Villeneuve attended boarding school in Switzerland for six years and then decided to become a race-car driver.

He began his racing career at the age of 17. From 1989 to 1991 he drove on the Italian Formula Three (F3) racing circuit, and then in the 1992 season he raced F3 cars in Japan. There he won three races and finished second in the overall points standing. He spent the 1993 season driving on the Formula Atlantic racing circuit in North America, winning 5 of his 15 races there and gaining Rookie of the Year honours. In 1994 he joined the IndyCar racing circuit, placing second in the Indianapolis 500 race and finishing the season in sixth place in the overall points standing. He was also named Rookie of the Year. In 1995, after winning the Indianapolis 500, he went on to win the IndyCar championship.

Villeneuve’s success resulted in his moving to F1 racing in 1996, when he joined the Williams team. He was the fastest qualifier in his first F1 race, and his first victory came four races into the season. He finished the season second in the series championship. In 1997 he won 7 of the season’s 17 races and secured the championship only after avoiding an attempt by Michael Schumacher, with whom Villeneuve was competing for the title, to wreck Villeneuve out of the final race of the season.

In 1998 Villeneuve had a lacklustre season with Williams, finishing fifth in the championship with no wins. From 1999 through 2003, he drove for the noncompetitive British American Racing team. In 2005, after a year as a substitute driver, he drove a full season for the Swiss-based Sauber team, and in 2006 he completed a half-season before being replaced. He retired from F1 racing that year.

Villeneuve subsequently turned to stock-car racing in the United States and sports-car racing in Europe. In 2008 he won an endurance event in Belgium—his first major race win in more than 10 years—and finished second overall in the Le Mans 24-Hour Race.