Villeneuve warns Massa over Schumacher

The young Brazilian, who partnered Villeneuve at Sauber in 2005, will replace Rubens Barrichello as Schumacher's teammate next year.

Schumacher and his Ferrari team struggled this season after having a dominant 2004, the German scoring just one victory compared to last year's 11.

But former World Champion Villeneuve believes Schumacher is still very strong and has warned Massa to be on the lookout.

"Felipe must be careful," Villeneuve told Autosprint. "He's very fast and I think he'll get along well with Michael.

"I don't know the conditions of his contract and I think he'll get a warm welcome, but he'll have to be on the lookout: Michael is still strong, you need a lot more than a bad season to catch him off guard. Especially because this bad year has certainly not been his fault.

"Felipe is there to learn from Schumacher and to take his mantle when Michael retires. It's simple: one of them is at the beginning of a career while the other is at the end. I don't think Michael has set out to destroy Felipe: they are in two different phases."