Schuey says Frentzen has ‘made FIA a joke’

Ferrari's reigning world champion called on the Jordan driver to rethink after accusing Ferrari of using clever electronics to get around rules banning traction control.

The world champion said Frentzen's "stupid" comments made "a joke" of the sport's governing body and brought Grand Prix racing into disrepute.

Last week the Jordan ace claimed he had followed Ferrari or Ferrari-powered cars for the last 18 races and that they showed stunning acceleration out of corners combined with a misfiring engine.

While Frentzen said it was open to discussion whether the system was legal or illegal, he added: "For me, it is beyond doubt that somehow Ferrari managed to develop engine software which reduces the power by a certain margin to the extent that the driven wheels don't spin."

But as he prepared for the second round of the world championship in Malaysia on Sunday, Schumacher responded by saying: "I know he is not saying it is illegal. But then he has to say we are doing a very good job and then not say it is dubious what we are doing.

"If it is legal, it is legal. This is a fact - then we have done a better job than the rest."

Schumacher said it was the sport that would suffer for Frentzen's accusations.

"I think he puts F1 into quite a lot of dispute. He makes the FIA a joke honestly when he makes these kind of statements.

"The FIA are the top body to control the sport and if he feels there is something strange, then he has the right to make a protest to clarify it. In this situation he has to do this, because just to make the rumour as he has brings the sport a lot of disrepute and bad criticism.

"I feel it is very unnecessary and unfair when you have the big job and huge effort that everyone puts into this business," he added. "We invest millions of dollars into projects to get the best performance out of the car and engine and everything, and just to make this stupid comment is completely unfair. He should really rethink what he is saying."

Schumacher continued his blast at Frentzen by saying: "He should concentrate on his own car and look to his own performance and not say the others are doing something wrong.

"Everyone at Ferrari is very unhappy; the tifosi [Ferrari's fans] are very unhappy because I believe we have not only got a good engine and a good car and two very good drivers. On top of that we have got two other teams who are performing well, and if he is struggling to overtake he should work on his own interests and his own car."

Frentzen's comments followed the opening round of the world championship in Melbourne when he battled with the Ferrari-powered Saubers driven by Nick Heidfeld and Kimi Raikkonen.

Heidfeld and Raikkonen finished fourth and sixth in Australia, with Frentzen fifth for Jordan.

Frentzen insisted nothing illegal had been done by Ferrari. But in his race-by-race column on his own website he went on to say: "It cannot be ignored that something like that exists, there is simply no room for a discussion about that. On the other hand, however, you can discuss if the device that exists is legal or illegal."

Traction control has been outlawed since the end of the 1993 season, but will be reintroduced from next month's Spanish Grand Prix, effectively because the FIA, the sport's governing body, admits it cannot police it and feels some teams have an unfair advantage by finding a way around the rules.

Until Spain, teams cannot use a system which detects and then reacts to wheelspin, but can use engine maps which modify engine power under certain circumstances in order to prevent wheelspin before it starts.