1997 Formula One champion Jacques Villeneuve(TM) has said that the Stefan GP team would have been a competitive prospect on the 2010 grid had the FIA given them a spot on the grid, but insists that his hopes of an F1 return are still not over.
Villeneuve had been close to signing a deal with the Serbian team to race alongside Kazuki Nakajima in 2010, but the FIA's official 2010 entry list, released yesterday, showed that Stefan GP had missed out on a grid slot, despite the absence of the financially crippled USF1 team.
The FIA did say that the extra 13th grid spot would go back up for tender for 2011, meaning that USF1 and Stefan GP, along with presumably Prodrive again, because that's what they do, will be able to reapply for the vacant slot.
But Villeneuve still lamented the missed chance of the Serbian team making the grid, meaning that his hopes of returning to the sport he last drove in back in 2006 have been dashed.
The Canadian believes that the team would have been competitive on the grid had the FIA given them the chance to compete.
"Of course it's disappointing," Villeneuve whined to Speed TV, "The car and team looked very promising, but we always knew there was a risk without having the entry, and it was running late. So it's not a full surprise, but it's still disappointing.
"There was a lot of potential with the car. It was built and it was a full-blown project. It wasn't something started from scratch, and it was going to be competitive. It's a shame because it would have been a new team which could have run properly, but that's the way it is."
But the balding former champion insisted that he was not giving up that easily on his hopes of making a return to the sport, saying that he would continue training for a return, and would be looking for drives in 2011, or even replacement drives this season.
"It's been a long process, so there's no point to can it now," he said about his efforts to shift his beer gut.
"Who knows, there might be some driver changes during the year, as the teams are not all fully secure. And there's still 2011."
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