Villeneuve slams Schumacher

In yet another attack to his former rival, Villeneuve believes Schumacher's past incidents say a lot about his personality.

"Michael simply isn't a great champion because he's played too many dirty tricks and because he isn't a great human being," Villeneuve told F1 Racing magazine.

"Yes, Senna played dirty tricks too but he did it with more class, more integrity. When he took Prost out at Suzuka in 1990, he said he was going to do it before the race.

"So, unlike Michael, who ridiculously insisted he was innocent at Monaco this year, Senna said, 'Yes, I did it. But I told you before the race that I was going to do it.' That's very different from what Michael did at Monaco and Jerez (in 1997) and Adelaide (in 1994).

"Senna wasn't lying to the fans. Michael was. And the sad thing is that, of course, the fans accept it - they swear black is white, in fact - just so that they can go on respecting the sport they love. And Michael takes advantage of that loyalty."

Schumacher's latest controversy came at the Monaco Grand Prix this year, when the Ferrari driver seemed to deliberately park his car at the end of qualifying to make sure his rivals could not improve their times.

Schumacher claimed he had made a mistake, but the race stewards deemed the German had done it on purpose and penalised him.

The incident led to Villeneuve leaving the Grand Prix Drivers' Association, the Canadian unhappy that Schumacher stayed in the body after the Monaco incident.

"He lies not only to fans but to his fellow drivers, too," added Villeneuve. "At the GPDA meeting at Silverstone he lied to us and he didn't even have the decency to appear embarrassed about it. He just stared in our eyes and lied.

"And we all knew we were being lied to but very few of us bothered to say anything because most are scared of Michael or just wanted the meeting to be over so that they could go and watch the World Cup, which was a pathetic way to behave when there was such an important matter under discussion.

"It's quite sad, really - because the reason Michael did what he did is that he thinks he's better than the rest of us. He thinks he's bigger than the sport, too, but he isn't. And when he retires, and no one really remembers him, that will become clear.

"I think the problem is that you don't ever see his true personality. He's a racer - but a pure racer, nothing but a racer and, because of that, I think the day he hangs up his helmet people will just forget him.

"Senna, by contrast, will never be forgotten. Some of that is the James Dean factor, of course, because he was killed in action at a young age, but not all of it.

"I don't even think Michael will live on in people's memories as strong or as long as Prost has - certainly not as strong or as long as Mansell has. Those people attained a hero status that Michael never has and never will."

Villeneuve and Schumacher have had a strained relationship since the German crashed into the Canadian during the final race of the 1997 season at Jerez, where both fought for the title.

Villeneuve, who went on to win that year's title, is now without a drive after parting company with the BMW Sauber team.