Montoya to Button: Villeneuve can Blow your Mind

Briton's Jenson Button risks having his confidence shattered by Jacques Villeneuve when they team up next season, according to Formula One rival Juan Pablo Montoya.

British American Racing (BAR) announced on Monday that Button will join them next year with 1997 champion Villeneuve as his likely teammate.

"I think Jenson's good," the Colombian, who replaced Button at Williams at the end of the 2000 season, told reporters at the German Grand Prix.

"But I think that from my experience of Jacques...he gets somebody, nothing against Jenson, but somebody (as a teammate) who wouldn't be the strongest guy in the head so that he can have the upper hand. Probably in two years he'd be okay, but at the moment Jenson is a guy who is very, very, very fragile in the head.

"When everything goes their way, they are really quick and unbeatable," Montoya said of young drivers such as the 22-year-old Briton. "But when something goes wrong, it's..." he added, making a downward spiral with his fingers as he spoke. That's the way it happens."

Test Driver

Montoya, who was Williams test driver in 1998 when Villeneuve was still at the team, said the Canadian appeared laid-back but could suddenly bite.

"Jacques is a guy who is going to do that for sure at the beginning," he said. "Jenson will be quicker than Jacques in every single test and when they get to the first race, Jacques will probably outqualify him by a second or something.

"Typical Jacques. And then Jenson's going to start wondering what happened. Where did that come from? That's the way it happens and then if Jenson doesn't keep his cool then...

"Jacques can raise his game quite a lot I think, I don't think he's pushing as hard as he could," added Montoya. "I think there's a lot left in him."

Villeneuve, in a separate interview with the BBC on Thursday night, highlighted Button's inexperience.

"He doesn't have the experience yet, not much," he said. "Last year was a season lost. But this year he seems to have overshadowed (Italian Jarno) Trulli and done a good job.

"We get along so that's already a positive. It's very important because otherwise you just stress all day because you're around someone you don't like."

"I've never really taken much time to consider what is important other than just being fast," the Canadian added, before taking a dig at Button's current Renault team. "If you look at Formula One and a lot of the signings that have been going on for different teams, it's obvious that being fast is very secondary.

"I really don't know why teams sign certain drivers...I've seen what's happened at the Renault team for the last two seasons. The better driver of the season always gets the sack. I find that very impressive."

Button, replaced by Spaniard Fernando Alonso next season, has scored 11 points to Trulli's four. The team last year replaced Giancarlo Fisichella with Trulli even though the first Italian had outperformed Button.