FE: Villeneuve out, Conway in at Venturi

The Venturi Formula E team has replaced 1997 Formula 1 champion Jacques Villeneuve with Mike Conway ahead of next month's Buenos Aires round.

Venturi confirmed the Canadian's exit on Twitter, citing a "disagreement over the future direction of the team."

Conway, a podium finisher with Toyota's LMP1 team in the World Endurance Championship last season after becoming a multiple race winner in IndyCar, will compete in the remaining eight rounds of the current Formula E campaign. The British driver, 32, has prior experience of a Formula E car, having tested for Dragon Racing in 2014.

Villeneuve joined Venturi ahead of the second Formula E season but leaves having failed to score a point in the first three rounds. He was taken out of the opening Beijing ePrix, suffered a pitstop problem in Putrajaya and did not start the last race in Punta del Este after a qualifying crash.

In Uruguay, Villeneuve said had hoped the event's post-race test would offer the opportunity to turn his season around.

"I'm not worried, I just hope we can get a good weekend where we can show where we can be," he said. "When we were testing at Donington I had no idea what I was working on and it's not the best track anyway to prepare for FE. The test will be very useful because I know exactly what to look for and what to work on.

"On paper it looks crap, which I'm aware of and it's frustrating, but we know how competitive we were."

Originally on Autosport.com