Pollock: "Villeneuve will leave BAR in 2003"

[GilesGuthrie]

Suddenly it looks like Takuma Sato has done a Fernando Alonso. There's a story in this week's Autosport magazine that Craig Pollock has confirmed that Villeneuve will be leaving BAR at the end of 2003.

He's talking about a Ferrari drive, but in my opinion that's just a pipe dream. JV going off to do a bit more skiing methinks? I don't blame him. When I was on a ski trip to Switzerland, I stayed at his school!

 

[vat_man]

Well, I must admit the moment I heard Sato was going to BAR I did think he'd be replacing Villenueve.

Got me intrigued what Jacques will do - didn't he mention he wanted to win Le Mans, so he had that and an Indy 500 win, an Indycar championship and an F1 championship.

It will be a shame to not see him in a competitive car again - a waste of an F1 career...

 

[freerider]

JV needed a ride for next year because he's burned all of his bridges in F1 he's dumped on or insalted everyone from teamates to former teamates to team principals to other drivers, so Pollock started a Cart team for him. JV can forget about F1 he has no sponsors and no friends! Let him go skiing, I think he'll have plenty of time for that next season.

 

[Bollocks#999]

isnt it called "gardening leave" when someone is given the flick?

 

[vat_man]

Originally posted by Bollocks#999
isnt it called "gardening leave" when someone is given the flick?

It's pretty rare for drivers to cop 'gardening leave' - tends to be designers.

 

[Bollocks#999]

Originally posted by vat_man
It's pretty rare for drivers to cop 'gardening leave' - tends to be designers.

fair enough
so whats it called for drivers then?

 

[GilesGuthrie]

Originally posted by Bollocks#999
fair enough
so whats it called for drivers then?

It's called "A mutual decision to terminate a contract ahead of schedule. An amicable split, in the best interests of both the driver and the team".

Vat is right though. The term "gardening leave", which is not exclusive to F1, refers to a period of enforced leave where the employee who is switching employers is prevented from doing any work in the field concerned. This is purportedly to stop the employee from carrying any useful information from one employer to another.

It's most commonly used in the City.