Villeneuve: Button Yet to Prove Himself

Outspoken BAR driver Jacques Villeneuve said today that his new teammate Jenson Button has yet to win his respect - and warned him the only way to get it is to prove his speed on the track.

Button, who has joined the British-based team for his fourth year of Formula One, is hoping the team's new BAR 005 car will give him the chance to shine. But Villeneuve knocked down Button's pre-season hopes of an amicable relationship by firing: "I will respect him when he goes fast on the racetrack because that is the only way you respect another race car driver at all.

"There is no relationship between us yet, so there is no positive and no negative and I don't think about it but I don't set out to psyche a teammate out - I just go out and drive as hard as I can.

"The key thing is do you respect your teammate or not? If you do then everything is fine and nobody gets destroyed in the process. If you don't then it just happens on its own. You can't help yourself."

When asked if Button is the right man to have alongside him to take BAR forward, Villeneuve replied: "If he steps things up from his first three years then yes. If not, no. He comes into the team talked up as a future World Champion.

"I have already won races and a Championship in the past. I know what I can do and people know what I can do."

Villeneuve, who has been with BAR for the past four seasons, has a dominant personality and is regarded as a mind-breaker after knocking down former Brazilian teammate Ricardo Zonta. He insists he has never lost motivation at BAR despite several embarrassing years fighting at the wrong end of the grid but insisted any driver that is too weak will not survive.

"It is general strength you need," said Villeneuve. "Some drivers will be fast but they are very weak, then you always break them up. Mentally. I believe it is a job where it is important to be strong and not to break into tears."