Wednesday March 8th, 2000

Jacques Villeneuve said on Wednesday he was confident about the 2000 season but warned his British American Racing team he would not tolerate another year of failure.

The 1997 world champion, who endured a pointless season of frustration last year with BAR, said he was very pleased with the backing of Honda, BAR's new technical partners, and predicted a turnaround in the team's fortunes.

"I've said before that I didn't come here to hang around at the back of the grid. I came here to win races and I hope I can achieve this with BAR Honda," Villeneuve said ahead of Sunday's Australian grand prix.

"Since the first shakedown at Silverstone, I've been feeling really encouraged. We have had some problems of course, but I've been pleased with the speed with which these have been addressed.

"I think we can be confident about the start of the season because we have shown a lot of reliability.

"That is crucial in the early races and I think we will be there at the end of the first event. Honda power is going to give us a successful package."