Schuey Jr slams Villeneuve's attitude

Williams-BMW's Ralf Schumacher has spoken out over Jacques Villeneuve's gung-ho attitude to safety in Formula 1 and he believes the Canadian's approach puts all drivers at risk

Villenueve is renowned for his fearless attitude to racing and Schumacher Jr believes that other drivers have to put themselves at risk in order to be able to compete with the British American Racing ace.

"The trouble with Jacques is that the bigger the crash is the more he likes it," Schumacher told this week's AUTOSPORT magazine. "So that tends to be difficult. The most appropriate contribution for any driver is to drive more carefully and obviously to brake earlier and to use your brain."

Schumacher and Villeneuve clashed spectacularly at the beginning of the year during the Australian Grand Prix when Jacques' BAR-Honda took off over the back of Schuey Jr's Williams. The resulting accident killed a spectator marshal.

Schumacher also refers to this year's Italian Grand Prix when Villeneuve was one of the few drivers who refused to adhere to an agreement of no overtaking at the first corner due to concerns over safety at the first two chicanes.

"At the Italian Grand Prix, we all tried to do something to avoid a problem," he said. "But then Jacques wouldn't go along with it. I think drivers have to change their way of thinking and driving sometimes and then we would have less accidents."

For more from Schumacher and Villeneuve's reaction check out today's (Thursday's) AUTOSPORT magazine.