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Villeneuve in care-free mood
Jacques Villeneuve dropped off the Grand Prix grid at the end of 2003.
Former world champion Jacques Villeneuve said on Thursday that he has nothing left to prove, despite suffering a difficult time on his return from a sabbatical.
Villeneuve, who won the world title with Williams in 1997, dropped off the Grand Prix grid at the end of 2003 when BAR-Honda replaced him with Takuma Sato but returned to the grid after missing the buzz of racing.
He suffered a disappointing time with Renault in the last three races of last season and has struggled to get to grips with his Sauber car after signing a two-year contract to race for the Swiss team last year.
But Villeneuve, who has been criticised in the press, is not worried by increasing pressure to perform and said: "In the past I would have been quite unhappy and life would have been difficult.
"But you need to take a step back, to take a breather and look at your surroundings. When you have been driving year in year out you don't take much notice. But driving is fun, the speeds are high so it's no Sunday drive.
"Anything that happens now will not change what I've achieved in the past and it will have a minimal effect on my life. Racing is very important but I know there will be life after racing."
Villeneuve has struggled to stay on the pace of team-mate Felipe Massa and was pulled out of a scheduled test in favour of the Brazilian after the last race in Bahrain.
The Canadian believes that all he needs is mileage to improve his performance but he admitted his challenge has been made harder this year by the new regulations that limit running at race weekends as well as testing.
He insists, however, that he is still committed to searching for another victory to add to his 11 previous wins and said: "I never do anything half way - if I get into something I do it fully.
"It doesn't mean I don't want to win again. Anything that happens can only make things better. It can't make my life negative, I won't let that happen, and when you wake up in the morning you decide if you are happy."
