Renault driver Jacques Villeneuve has admitted that he is not yet race fit, and actually felt tired during today's Japanese Grand Prix.

The Canadian, who finished tenth, posting a best lap time over a second slower than his teammate, admits that he has been caught out by how much the pace has increased in the last year.

"This year the cars are really fast," he told reporters. "The training just wasn't enough for this track.

"It would have been good to have got the miles on Friday and Saturday," he added, referring to the lack of track-time of Friday and the cancellation of all Saturday's sessions, which meant the loss of forty-five minutes of free practice running.

"The car was really, really, really, really hard to drive," he admitted, referring to the R24's chronic understeer today, "and that didn't help. "By the third pit-stop I had lost too much time and by then I got tired as well."

On various forums and message boards there has been widespread criticism not only of the former world champion's form in China and Japan, but also his general lack of track-time in the Renault, particularly at a time when the French outfit is challenging BAR for the runner-up spot in the constructors' championship - a cause that now appears to be lost.

The Canadian was unable to take part in last week's test at Jerez due to a visa problem, though it's anticipated that he will be in action at the Spanish track this week as the team prepares for Brazil.