The BMW Sauber Formula One team on Monday announced they had released former world champion Canadian Jacques Villeneuve from his contract.
The 1997 champion will not race for the team again this year.
Villeneuve did not take part in Sunday’s Hungarian Grand Prix after informing the team that he had not fully recovered from an accident in Germany the previous weekend.
He was replaced by third driver Robert Kubica, who finished in seventh place in Hungary before being disqualified when his car was found to be underweight.
The team said BMW and Villeneuve had agreed to terminate their current contract with immediate effect.
”Jacques has performed well for us this year, scoring the team’s first grand prix points in Malaysia,” said BMW motorsport boss Mario Theissen.
”He made a significant contribution to developing the newly formed BMW Sauber F1 team and the performance of the car.
”However, after Jacques’s 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’s 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.”
Villeneuve said he was disappointed. ”I will now have more time to concentrate on future projects,” he said.
Villeneuve had scored just a third of the team’s points.
Teammate Nick Heidfeld gave BMW Sauber a boost with their first podium finish of the season by finishing third on Sunday.
Since winning the title nine years ago, Villeneuve has failed to shine in successive teams.
The German carmaker took over the Swiss Sauber team and their driver line-up at the end of 2005. – Sapa-AFP