Villeneuve critical of Ralf after Aussie GP shunt

The 1997 Formula 1 World Champion claimed the Williams driver hogged the centre of the track and gave his rival little chance to react when he hit the brakes early, triggering the 160mph collision. Williams, however, has stated its telemetry shows Schumacher braked at the same point as normal.

But while he slated his critics as a "bunch of babies trying to point the finger", Villeneuve said he was not holding his German rival responsible for the crash in which flag marshal Graham Beveridge was killed by a flying wheel from Villeneuve's BAR. And he insisted there were no safety solutions for the sport, without banning races, marshals and spectators.

"Accidents like that will happen. We are going fast, we are racing and we are fighting," said Villeneuve. "I made an effort to be neutral in my comments to make sure I did not put the blame on anybody.

"The other side reacted like a bunch of babies trying to point the finger and I thought that was highly unacceptable where there was just a racing incident with miscomprehension."

Villeneuve cannoned off the back of Schumacher's Williams-BMW approaching the Albert Park track's Turn 6 and was launched into a high-speed roll. One of the wheels torn off in the impact hurtled through a small access gap in the fence, killing spectator marshal Graham Beveridge standing behind it.

While Schumacher and his Williams team have denied he braked early, Villeneuve insists he did.

"Ralf had problems with his front tyres and he was extremely, extremely slow and he was braking earlier than everybody else on the race track," said the BAR driver. "If that happens, and you know that that is what's happening, then do not stay in the middle of the race track.

"You stay on the left or the right and give room for someone else to react, because if you are going to brake 30 metres earlier than everybody else because you have problems, there is no way anyone else can react.

"Safety wise you cannot do anything apart from not having a race or not having fans, spectators or marshals. Accidents like that will happen because we are not on the road saying 'okay, it's your turn now', we are both trying to fight for the same corner.

"Maybe the drivers are becoming slightly more aggressive now and maybe that is a good thing because that is part of racing," he added. "But I think that when you have a mistake now, there is much more blaming than there used to be."

The Canadian, who has been involved in a series of high-speed accidents during his career, admitted he was stunned by the ferocity of this collision.

"I was surprised how big a crash it was. It felt big from the inside, but it looked even worse from the outside. I was not frightened.

"Normally when you crash you are spinning and you know where you are going to hit so you can prepare yourself. But once I was in the air I could not see where I was going to hit and how I was going to hit and whether I was going to be upside down with the tyres.

"This one never felt good and afterwards when I heard the marshal had been killed, it felt worse."