Manor 'not worthy of F1' - Villeneuve

Jacques Villeneuve has joined Bernie Ecclestone in admitting his opposition to the Manor team.

In Bahrain last week, when asked if he is happy the former Marussia team resurrected itself over the winter, F1 supremo Ecclestone admitted: "Not particularly."

Now Villeneuve, the world champion of 1997, has admitted he also doubts Manor belongs at the pinnacle of motor sport.

"No, of course not," he told the Spanish sports daily AS, "when their car is five seconds off the pace.

"This team is not worthy of F1. It is better for them to be in GP2 or the (Formula Renault 3.5) world series and maybe they could even do well.

"This is an expensive sport and you have to be competitive."

Villeneuve admitted F1 is facing issues with regards to spiralling costs, but he warned that the sport should not go too far to accomodate the stragglers.

"Formula one is an aspirational sport that everyone would like to be in," he explained. "The teams should go testing again,let them spend as they did before -- the engines should be really powerful and fast.

"That's the appeal. It's like if Rolex watches were suddenly cheaper, they wouldn't have the same value either." (GMM)

Replies (3)

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  • scf1fan

    Posts: 58

    Lets talk about Jacques Villeneuve being worthy of the music industry. No, off course not! Manor manages to fulfill the rules, let them be!

    If a Rolex were half the price, I wouldn't own two of them. (For some of us, image isn't anything, useful performance is everything.)

    • + 0
    • Apr 25 2015 - 20:10
  • mota17

    Posts: 1

    OK, a few years back, they said: "We need smaller teams in F1", "we need a 20 car lineup"... Now, they are saying: "Smaller teams suck and should have never entered the grid"... During the winter, Ecclestone said he wanted Manor to be there, and now he says they should go to another category, like Villenueve says!!!! MAKE UP YOUR MINDS!!! That kind of crap is what if truly killing the sport!!!

    • + 0
    • Apr 26 2015 - 01:56
  • denis1304

    Posts: 284

    If Ferrari let's them use this year power units, they would be much better. I think...
    plus it's time German person take charge over F1, Ecclestone is killing it

    • + 0
    • Apr 26 2015 - 15:24

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