Jacques Villeneuve will not be racing with the BMW Sauber F1 Team for the remainder of the 2006 F1 season. Following discussions last week, Jacques Villeneuve and the BMW Sauber F1 Team agreed to terminate their current contract with immediate effect five races ahead of schedule.

BMW Motorsport Director - Mario Theissen:

“Jacques has performed well for us this year, scoring the Team’s first grand prix points in Malaysia, He has made a significant contribution to developing the newly formed BMW Sauber F1 Team and the performance of the car. However, after Jacques’ accident in the Hockenheim race the team decided to review its options for next year, including assessing Robert Kubica in a race environment. Our decision to look towards evaluating our driver line up has naturally impacted Jacques’ position for the remainder of this season. We fully understand that it is difficult for Jacques to maintain his natural level of commitment in circumstances of uncertainty. We respect his position and wish him well for the future.”

Jacques Villeneuve:

“Last week, the Team informed us of its decision to review its options for next year, including assessing Robert Kubica in a race environment at Hungary without offering me any assurance about my race seat beyond Hungary. Therefore, the Team and I agreed to part ways with immediate effect. This is really disapointing as I was looking forward to working with BMW on longer terms - going into next season capitalizing on our common experiences . I will now have more time to concentrate on future projects. Finally, I would like to thank the Team, especially my engineers and the Team’s sponsors with whom I have had real pleasure working with in the last year.”

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