Jacques Villeneuve will compete in the FIA Formula E Championship after agreeing a deal to join the Venturi outfit.

The 1997 F1 world champion will replace Nick Heidfeld alongside Frenchman Stephane Sarrazin for the second season of the all electric single seater series.

Villeneuve’s return to single seater racing comes following a successful test with the Venturi squad at the Paul Ricard Circuit in France last week.

The 44-year-old will bring a wealth of experience to the team having contested 163 F1 races following a successful spell in IndyCar, which saw him lift the title in 1995.

The Canadian driver returned to IndyCar last year when he contested the showpiece Indy 500 in a one-off drive for Schmidt Peterson Motorsports.

“It had been 10 years since I had driven on that kind of track with a single-seater, but it’s like riding a bike, you never forget,” said Villeneuve.

“There was a very good ambience with the Venturi team and one of the engineers with Venturi happens to be a guy I worked with early in my career.

“That was great. I was very excited and everything went well.

“Last season each time I met drivers from Formula-E they were saying it is really a very interesting championship.”

Since his F1 career ended in 2006, Villeneuve has driven in Sportscars, NASCAR, V8 Supercars and the FIA World Rallycross Championship.