Jacques Villeneuve suffered the latest in a long line of trying seasons with British American Racing in 2002.

The team yet again failed to provide the Canadian with a car worthy of him – but he is getting used to that.

The novelty this time was that his boss was trying to get him out of the team.

That is something to which Villeneuve is unaccustomed, having driven for his manager Craig Pollock since he joined BAR in 1999.

But with Pollock gone from the helm in 2002, new boss David Richards decided that Villeneuve’s salary was too high, and he tried everything he knew to get his driver out for 2003.

In the end, he failed, which does not bode well for their relationship through what must surely be Villeneuve’s final year with the team.

It was a stupid argument, in which both sides had a point.

Richards was right – Villeneuve was being paid disproportionately high a salary, especially given that his (much cheaper) team-mate Olivier Panis was more or less a match for him throughout 2003.

But it was all in a contract that Villeneuve had agreed with the team’s owners BAT – so the Canadian could hardly be faulted for insisting that he be paid the money to which he was entitled.

The shame of it all was that it detracted from the fact that the career of a talented racing driver was being totally wasted.

It is now five years since Villeneuve won a Grand Prix – and that year, 1997, he won seven on his way to the world title.

The way things look at the moment, he will never win another. Come the end of next year, he may not even have a drive.