Villeneuve Doubts Schumacher's Motivation

Jacques Villeneuve believes his former F1 rival Michael Schumacher lacks motivation at his return to the series. Even though the Canadian praised the Mercedes GP driver for doing a considerable good job at readjusting to the new demands of F1 racing – bear in mind that the German has been out of F1 for 3 years before returning in 2010 – he still very very much questions the things that push Schu forward these days.

“What is his real motivation?” wondered Villeneuve recently, according to a report from the GMM news agency, citing L'Equipe in France. “Last year he was smiling even after a bad result.”

However, the 1997 F1 champion did argue that some of the reasons why Schumacher performed so poorly at his return in the championship were linked to the high expectations set by his fans. Viewed independently from his past success in F1, the way he managed his return was more than decent, he insisted.

“I followed his return with attention and he is still fit and fast,” added the French Canadian. “Everyone thought he was going to be a second faster than Nico Rosberg. But when he was at Ferrari he was only a tenth in front of Rubens Barrichello. And over time, in people's minds, a tenth became a second.”

“It took him (Schumacher) some time but he didn't do too badly.”

While avoiding to rate Schumacher in the current F1 field, Villeneuve did however pick his favorite for the 2011 campaign, and it's no surprise he went for Ferrari's Fernando Alonso.

“He (Alonso) is a Spanish bull, nothing can stop him,” he laughed. “He always gets the best out of each situation and has shown he can win with an average car and bring a team forward all by himself.”