Ferrari could ’burn’ Mick Schumacher - Villeneuve

Mick Schumacher is under great pressure to perform in 2019.

That is the view of Jacques Villeneuve, the 1997 world champion who won his title when Mick’s father, Michael, tried to take him out at Jerez.

Now, 20-year-old Schumacher is in Formula 2 and with the Ferrari academy, and Villeneuve said the pressure is on.

"Right now they (Ferrari) are using his image but if he is not super fast, they will burn him," Villeneuve told the Swedish newspaper Expressen.

"It has been fairly quiet until now but that time is over. Everyone will be looking at everything he does in an extreme way," he added.

Villeneuve says it was similar for him, as the son of the F1 legend Gilles Villeneuve.

"If he is not quick and he makes mistakes, he will be criticised hard," he said. "He has to cope with it or go home, there is no middle road."

Finally, Villeneuve was asked about F1’s efforts to improve overtaking with the rule changes in 2019 and 2021.

"Thinking that overtaking attracts more fans is the biggest lie in the world," he said. "With DRS it is not real racing and it doesn’t attract anyone."