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Villeneuve's advice to aspiring F1 stars: Do something else!

Photo: © LAT Images

Villeneuve's advice to aspiring F1 stars: Do something else!

Not what we were expecting!

Jacques Villeneuve says the exorbitant costs of taking part in the junior categories of motorsport would put him off advising anyone to pursue a career in racing, while he believes the sport has been permeated by drivers with less talent as a result.

Villeneuve rose through the ranks to win titles in both IndyCar and Formula 1 and races to this day in the NASCAR Euro Series.

The path to the upper echelons has become increasingly difficult to navigate in recent years and making it all the way to F1 without some form of backing from one of the bigger teams on the grid is near to impossible.

And Villeneuve believes that is to the detriment of both aspiring racers and the product as a whole.

Villeneuve told Motorsport-Magazin: "In the old days, parents came to me and asked: 'My child wants to get into racing, what should I do?'"

Villeneuve's answer: "Tell him to do something else."

"And now the children do not even dream anymore," Villeneuve explained further.

"For many, their future is in the Porsche Cup at best, because they cannot get anywhere financially, so they were not even allowed to dream of the potential.

"In the past you needed talent, and money was a nice addition. Now you need money – and talent, if you have it, it's a nice bonus, but you do not necessarily need it to do it [racing]."

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