Villeneuve's decision to be independent as much as possible from media relations to avoid over promotion was endorsed by Pollock. He refused to conduct substantial public relations duties for teams even after BAT attempted to purchase more public relations appearances for him and he limited his commitments communicating to the press. Journalist Matt Bishop observed that Villeneuve was frequently criticised for refusing to do sponsorship functions and for his self-imposed limiting interactions with the press at but noted others desired Villeneuve's approach focused on racing and not on "extraneous commitments". He resisted becoming a member of the Grand Prix Drivers' Association (GPDA) which he believed would serve only the interests of drivers and not F1's until late 2000 when he felt his views were being ignored. Villeneuve decided to resign from the GPDA in mid-2006 after being unhappy with its president Schumacher being deemed to have stopped on purpose during qualifying for the 2006 Monaco Grand Prix.