2011 to be Villeneuve’s last push for F1 return

Jacques Villeneuve

(GMM) Jacques Villeneuve says he will make one final effort and then give up trying to return to formula one.

The 1997 world champion was reportedly high on the list for a Stefan GP seat this season, but the Serbian outfit was not granted an official entry to race the 2010-specification Toyota car.

French Canadian Villeneuve, who last raced in F1 with BMW in 2006, turns 40 early next season, and he told reporters on Thursday that 2011 will be his last-ditch effort to come back.

"I'm quite happy right now being busy raising kids," he said at a road safety event near Montreal alongside his former title nemesis Michael Schumacher.

"I would obviously be happier behind a wheel. Once you've been a racer, I think you're a racer all your life.

"I worked hard on (trying to return to F1 for) 2010. I'm giving myself until 2011. There's still a few months," added Villeneuve.

The assembled reporters laughed after asking Schumacher, who retired in 2006 but returned to F1 full-time with Mercedes this year, if he thinks it is a good idea if Villeneuve also comes back.

"I don't know what is funny about that," said the German.

"The point is, as Jacques was saying, we are racers, and we have that in our blood. So, what you have there, you always keep."

Villeneuve admits it is a difficult task trying to convince F1 bosses to give him another chance.

"The teams don't want to take a risk. There comes a point where you've been out for too long and the teams just won't give you a chance," he said.