Villeneuve Slams 'Stupid' Ferrari Duo

Canadian Jacques Villeneuve has launched a stinging attack on both World Champion Michael Schumacher and teammate Rubens Barrichello, claiming the Ferrari German champion made a mockery of Formula One last season.

At last year's Austrian Grand Prix, Ferrari imposed team orders to force Barrichello to let Schumacher win the race, a move that caused a lot of controversy and that meant that Ferrari were fined.

Villeneuve, who revealed he has "never respected Schumacher as a person" following their tussle for the 1997 World Championship, branded Schumacher antics this year "embarrassing" and "stupid".

"What he and Ferrari combined to achieve together this year just made a mockery of everything in Formula One," outspoken Villeneuve said in an interview in Thursday's Autosport magazine.

"I've no problem with team orders, they've always been in the sport....but the antics in Austria and at Indianapolis this year involving Michael, Rubens (Barrichello) and everyone behind the scenes at Ferrari were embarrassing.

"Rubens was stupid to wait until the last 10 metres to gift Michael the win in Austria. Then his tantrum about having to follow team orders was a complete sham. He's the one who signed the Ferrari contract.

"Then Michael was really stupid when he pushed Rubens on to the top step of the podium because he was embarrassed and worried about the booing [from the fans]. That just turned the sport into a joke. It was an insult to all of us who work really hard. It turned into a real mess....single-handedly he hurt F1 a lot."

Villeneuve admitted Formula One will continue to suffer again in 2003 following the problems of this year but called for fans to give the sport another chance.

"It's naive to think we'll start with a clean sheet next season," he added. "But I certainly think the people should give it another chance. But if something like that happens again it may well destroy it for a long, long time."

But Villeneuve admitted: "As long as he doesn't break a leg or Ferrari doesn't make a huge botch of the 2003 car, then there's nothing to stop him."