Jacques Villeneuve  Born: 09.04.71  Birthplace:St-Jean-sur-Richelieu  Team: Sauber  2006 Car Number: 17  Last Season: equal 14th  GP Pedigree (After Turkish GP)  Starts: 165  Victories: 11  Poles: 13  Fastest Laps: 9  Points: 235  GP Debut: 1996, Australian GP, Williams (second)   Five-year Stats

One of the most colourful and controversial figures in the sport, Jacques Villeneuve will drive for the new BMW-Sauber F1 team in 2006.

The son of the legendary Gilles Villeneuve, Jacques arrived on the F1 scene in 1996 to drive for Williams alongside another famous son, Damon Hill.

Villeneuve had honed his driving skills with two seasons in CART in the USA, winning the Championship in 1995.

His impact in F1 was almost instant, taking pole in his first race (Melbourne) before an oil leak relegated him to second behind Damon Hill.

He went on to finish second to Hill in that year's world championship, running the Englishman extremely close.

His challenge disappeared along with his rear wheel in the final race at Suzuka.

His second season was more productive as he fought it out, almost literally, with Michael Schumacher in a tight campaign.

A rash overtaking move from the German at Jerez, which could have taken the pair of them off, resulted in Schumacher's exit and Jacques becoming Canada's first World Champion.

In 1998 he remained at Williams, but an uncompetitive engine meant that the Canadian was fighting a losing battle.

That said, many believe that in 1998 he gave some of the finest performances of his F1 career, despite the shortcomings of the equipment at his disposal.

For 1999 Jacques moved to the fledgling British American Racing team.

For 2000 he remained with BAR, and the team's partnership with Honda saw them take a great leap forward.

Jacques finished seventh in the drivers' title race with 17 points, and committed himself to the team for a further three years.

Villeneuve's relationship with 2000 team-mate Zonta deteriorated during the year, and the French/Canadian welcomed the challenge of Olivier Panis in 2001.

Though it wasn't exactly a 'record breaker' it did set new levels for the team with their first two podiums, third places at Barcelona and Hockenheim.

Jacques finished the year in eighth place with 12 points, but his two podiums owed more to the retirement of other cars than wheel-to-wheel battles with Ferrari, Williams or McLaren.

2002 was definitely a turn for the worse as the woeful reliability of the Honda engine coupled with a poor design inherited by incoming technical director Geoff Willis made for an under-performing car.

The BAR 004's traction and launch control suffered too, and the fast-starting Villeneuve was regularly swamped on the grid.

JV managed just four points, his best result coming with a fourth place at Silverstone.

But if anything 2003 was a step backwards for Jacques and almost resulted in him leaving F1 for good.

While new team-mate Jenson Button’s reputation flourished, Jacques dwindled as he was undermined by poor reliability and a whispering campaign against him in the paddock.

With his relationship with BAR boss Dave Richards 'sour' at best, it was clear that his time with the team was drawing to a close and the split occurred on the eve of the Japanese GP.

Villeneuve, informed by phone on his way to the circuit that his contract would not be renewed, immediately withdrew from the race.

Unable to find another race seat, the French/Canadian spent nearly a year out of F1 before competing in the final three races of the 2004 as Jarno Trulli's stand-in at Renault.

Yet even before he returned to the grid with Renault, Villeneuve had signed a two-year deal with Sauber which would see the former world champion partnering Felipe Massa as he bid to restore his reputation to former glories.

That though proved difficult because from the onset he was hounded by rumours and speculation that he was about to be dropped. It didn’t happen.

Although the season began slowly for JV, he claimed a fourth-placed finish at the Sam Marino GP, which restored some of his confidence.

A steady improvement ensured, and two more top-eight results followed and had it not been for Massa’s P6 at the season-ending Chinese GP Jacques would have finished the year as Sauber’s highest points scorer.

But while JV’s improvements were clear, his future was not as BMW, who'd bought Sauber in July 2005, were undecided about whether or not to honour his two-year contract.

After much talk and even more speculation though they decided to do just that and he’ll partner Nick Heidfeld in 2006.

Formula One Career:

2006:	GP with BMW Sauber.
2005:	GP with Sauber (9pts - tied 14th in championship).
2004:	GP with Renault - (0pts from three races).
2003:	Did not drive.
2002:	GP with BAR - (4 points - tied 12th in championship).
2001:	GP with BAR - (12 points - 8th in championship).
2000:	GP with BAR - (17 points - 7th in championship).
1999:	GP with BAR – no points scored
1998:	GP with Williams – (21 points – 5th in championship).
1997:	GP with Williams Renault - victory in Brazil, Argentina, Spain, Britain, Hungary, Austria and Luxembourg (81 points - WORLD CHAMPION).
1996:	GP with Williams Renault - victory in Europe, Britain, Hungary and Portugal (78 points - 2nd in championship).
1995:	Villeneuve's first drive in a Formula One car - the Williams Renault FW17 was at Silverstone on August 16. It was then announced that he would join Damon Hill for the 1996 challenge.

Background:

1994:	Indycar `Rookie of the Year' - second in the Indy 500 - sixth overall in the championship with 94 points
1993:	Competed in Toyota Atlantic Championship - third in championship Named Rookie of the Year
1992:	Japanese Formula Three championship - 2nd in championship Competed North America in the Toyota Atlantic Series.
1991:	Italian Formula Three Championship - sixth in the championship with 20 points.
1990:	Competed in Italian Formula Three - 14th in the Championship with ten points.
1989:	Competed in Italian Formula Three championship
1988:	Competed in Italian Group N Saloon.