Now Irvine puts the boot in on Montoya...

The jaguar Racing team-leader sided with Canadian Jacques Villeneuve and accused the Colombian Williams-BMW driver of getting in the way on the race track.

Michael Schumacher has already said Montoya should have moved over when his engine blew during Canadian Grand Prix qualifying and he was leaking oil as he slowly tried to make it back to the pits.

Villeneuve and Montoya had a furious confrontation in the driver's briefing on Friday after Villeneuve accused Montoya of blocking him.

"I think it's very valid," said Irvine. "Montoya is obstructive on the track and he gets in your way, he crashes into people... and everyone raves about him.

"He persistently qualifies massively behind Ralf [Schumacher, his team mate] and races a lot slower, so I think the press have pumped him up and he's got to keep up his image," he added.

"He is lacking in certain areas. Indycars, I think, is a bit more about bullying the car around; Formula 1 is about skill and finesse, and he hasn't quite mastered that one yet."

Montoya has been involved in several incidents with several drivers. But Irvine said Villeneuve was a tearaway too when he came from Indycars to join Williams, just as Montoya did this year.

"Jacques was also a bit wild when he came from Indycars, so there's two ways of looking at it," he said.