The Scream says it all for Jacques

Villeneuve is as close as ever to his old mentor although he is impressed with Pollock's replacement, the respected Dave Richards.

Yet it could have been so different for Villeneuve, now 32. He left Williams because their fortunes were in decline. Now they are surging forward again, with Juan Pablo Montoya hailed as the most exciting driver for years.

But Villeneuve was every bit as exciting at Williams, without needing to crash the car as often as Montoya. Instead he is still trudging on at BAR - although for how much longer is anyone's guess.

He clearly regrets not leaving when he had the chance at the end of the 2000 season.

"You live with your decisions,'' he said. "Williams like young drivers who are not world champions and don't cost a lot of money.

"As for Montoya, the racing has become so boring that a little bit of excitement is viewed as a lot of excitement.

"There was a risk coming to BAR. It didn't pay off and that's fine. I could have made different decisions which would have allowed me to fight for the championship, but I've no regrets.

"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. So that's the decision which is more difficult to cope with.''

Formula One drivers can find themselves appearing at some curious events in the name of sponsorship. Villeneuve was speaking at the launch of a new art initiative called Tribe In A Box, a touring exhibition generated by photographers, film makers and BAR itself.

Among the exhibits is a mechanical shark made out of Formula One car parts by BAR's chief mechanic Alastair Gibson, and four 25-foot portraits of BAR drivers Villeneuve and Olivier Panis by Julian Opie, best known for creating the celebrated cover to Blur's Best Of . . . album, the original artwork for which now hangs in the National Portrait Gallery.

Villeneuve said: "It's probably the first exhibition I've ever seen as it's not something I normally do, so I can't compare it to anything else."

"But there's some interesting stuff here. I certainly know the Blur album cover well. That's clever art, and it was fun to have my portrait done by the same guy. But I don't think I would want the original in my own house.

"I like that kind of art, and I'd like to have something similar, but not a 25-foot canvas of me on the wall in my house."

It should be said the exhibition is financially supported by BAR's title sponsors Lucky Strike.

No money from the team budget is going into the venture, which is just as well when BAR have yet to build a competitive car and have just shed 52 of their team staff - 15 per cent of the workforce.

Yet the sharp improvement required of the team still seems a long way off - Panis has failed to finish all four races this season, while Villeneuve's seventh place in San Marino on Sunday was his best of the year.

"Yes, I hate being uncompetitive,'' agreed Villeneuve. "Nobody likes it. It is frustrating and it's very tiring. You have to push people to work harder, to make sure it gets better in the long term.

"But the long term is getting shorter and shorter. I'll see what happens in the next couple of months. I won't stick with it forever. There comes a point when enough is enough.''

The Tribe In A Box exhibition continues today and tomorrow at The Boiler House, Truman Brewery, 91 Brick Lane, London E1

F1 2002 - guide