There comes a point when enough is enough

Jacques Villenueve

Villeneuve with BAR's new car for 2002

"There was a risk coming to BAR," said Villeneuve, whose salary is thought to be the highest in Formula One after Ferrari's Schumacher.

"It didn't pay off and that's fine.

"I've learned a lot and I'm a better driver than I was. It wasn't Craig's fault that the car wasn't fast.

"Someone had to have their head chopped and he was team principal so it's normal that he got chopped.

"The decision that is more difficult to accept is to have stayed with the team when I re-signed the contract, because there had been two years of no result and there was obviously no reason for the team to get better."

Villeneuve told the Portuguese magazine Autosport this month that he would leave BAR at the end of the year if he did not think they could provide him with a competitive car.

And he added that if he could not find a competitive ride elsewhere then he would quit F1 altogether.

Richards, meanwhile, was quoted in Motorsport News magazine this week as suggesting that he would rather spend money on improving the car than on expensive drivers.

"It's foolish having Michael Schumacher driving a Minardi," he said.

"It's better to get the race car right and then go and employ Schumacher later."