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Looks like Villneuve was offered a Lotus ride...
Villeneuve has rubbished speculation that he turned down an opportunity to rejoin the grand prix grid with the newly-renamed Lotus Renault GP outfit next season. A French-Canadian radio commentator has claimed that following a visit to Lotus’ Norfolk headquarters late last year for discussions with his friend Gino Rosato, the 39-year-old was offered a KV Racing Technology IndyCar Series drive in the legendary British sports car marque’s iconic green-and-yellow livery, with the carrot of an F1 seat in 2011.
“That was never discussed,†the 1995 IndyCar Champion told Quأ©bأ©cois publication Rue Frontenac. “There was never any discussion of F1. Everyone knows how hard I worked on my return to F1. If the only thing I needed to do was spend a year in IndyCar, I would have done it! The truth is that F1 only came into the plans of Lotus Cars in the last few months.
“It’s true that we talked about Indycar, but Takuma Sato had already been hired as their first driver and I was asked to bring some of the budget that my partners at the time wanted to invest for F1. It was not an option.
“IndyCar and the Indy 500 – I’ve already done that, and that was before the separation, when the series was more competitive. If I have to bring a budget, it will be for a new challenge like NASCAR, not to go back to something I have already ticked off and achieved.â€
“F1 was not in our plans when I spoke to Jacques about IndyCar,†concurred Rosato, who following a long career in the top flight with Ferrari, was instated as Lotus’ vice-president of corporate affairs. “I would have loved for him to race with us. In my head, Villeneuve and Lotus was a natural fit, but the planets were not aligned.â€
“That was never discussed,†the 1995 IndyCar Champion told Quأ©bأ©cois publication Rue Frontenac. “There was never any discussion of F1. Everyone knows how hard I worked on my return to F1. If the only thing I needed to do was spend a year in IndyCar, I would have done it! The truth is that F1 only came into the plans of Lotus Cars in the last few months.
“It’s true that we talked about Indycar, but Takuma Sato had already been hired as their first driver and I was asked to bring some of the budget that my partners at the time wanted to invest for F1. It was not an option.
“IndyCar and the Indy 500 – I’ve already done that, and that was before the separation, when the series was more competitive. If I have to bring a budget, it will be for a new challenge like NASCAR, not to go back to something I have already ticked off and achieved.â€
“F1 was not in our plans when I spoke to Jacques about IndyCar,†concurred Rosato, who following a long career in the top flight with Ferrari, was instated as Lotus’ vice-president of corporate affairs. “I would have loved for him to race with us. In my head, Villeneuve and Lotus was a natural fit, but the planets were not aligned.â€
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