Villeneuve fears worst after USA 'mess-up'
Jacques Villeneuve believes Formula One may never recover from the damage inflicted by the Indianapolis farce two weeks ago.
Villeneuve, who made his name in the United States and won the Indianapolis 500 in 1995, fears Formula One’s image has been irreparably tainted by the six-car parade which followed the mass retirement of seven teams on the warm-up lap.
World governing body the FIA have promised to treat the seven teams leniently if Michelin act to repair the damage done by their failings.
The French company have already promised to refund the 120,000 fans at Indianapolis on race day and plan to give out 20,000 free tickets for the 2006 event.
But former world champion Villeneuve doubts that show of goodwill will be enough to appease American fans, whose interest in Formula One was lukewarm even before the Indianapolis fiasco.
Asked about the plan to give out some free tickets next season, the Sauber driver responded sarcastically: “There might be 20,000 fans next year then.”
He added: “If it was a free race then they would except a free race the year after, and the year after.
“Of course when something is free there will be more people but ultimately does it redeem Formula One? I don’t know.
“We are not talking about getting a lot of people in grandstands next year, we are talking about redeeming Formula One in North America.
“Saying we messed up and now we’re going to give you a freebie, I’m not sure that cleans the mess-up of the year before. It doesn’t mean that suddenly Formula One is great again.”
Villeneuve fears there is little the sport can do to right the wrongs of two weeks ago aside from waiting for the incident to fade from fans’ memories.
American fans have been slow to take to Formula One since it returned to the United States at the legendary Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2000 and Villeneuve suspects terminal damage may have been done to the series.
“It will take a long time to get it [interest] back to what it was,” the Canadian added. “This could be really hurtful, I don’t know if Formula One will recover from that.
“You can’t cure what has been done, the damage has been done and you cannot cure it. Time is the only thing that can cure it, and it will take a long time.
“All the groundwork that has been done has been destroyed, you have to start from scratch. Don’t expect it to be the back to the same in two years.”
World champion Michael Schumacher is more optimistic over the sport’s future, claiming fans will quickly forget the 2005 spectacle, which could even boost Indianapolis attendances.
The Ferrari driver believes he will return to the United States in the near future, with a non-championship race at the end of the season suggested, when the sport can show its true colours.
“It’s pretty obvious what has happened but despite that I think Formula One will return to the States at some stage and be very strong,” he said.
“There is no reason why we shouldn’t return and give a good show as we had been doing.
“There has been so much talk about Formula One in the States that we will probably get more spectators than before.
“There is a lot the media can do to stay to the facts, the fact is one tyre company had a problem and couldn’t race.
“You simply have to say it’s a sport. It’s like an injured athlete who suddenly cannot run because he has an injury – it’s just the way sport happens.”
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