Former world champion Jacques Villeneuve has launched a scathing attack on Michael Schumacher and Ferrari, accusing them of making a mockery of Formula One.

Villeneuve described Schumacher's behaviour during the Ferrari team orders controversy as "really stupid" and said he "turned the sport into a joke".

The Canadian's attack referred to the way Schumacher, his team-mate Rubens Barrichello and their Ferrari team orchestrated results last season.

Incidents at the Austrian Grand Prix and the US Grand Prix caused the most controversy.

I'm confident we'll be racing wheel-to-wheel with the McLarens and Williams next year Jacques Villeneuve

In Austria, Barrichello was ordered to let Schumacher pass him metres from the line to win the race, while in Indianapolis the German tried to engineer a dead heat with Barrichello.

Villeneuve said: "The antics in Austria and at Indianapolis this year involving Michael, Rubens 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," he said in an interview with Autosport magazine.

"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.

"You would think someone would have the guts to tell Michael: 'Don't do that kind of stuff anymore'.

Villeneuve is expecting better things from BAR in 2003

"But he goes to Indianapolis and he thinks he's capable of doing something he thinks is very clever and tries to engineer a dead heat.

"It turned into a real mess. F1 needs America, so Indianapolis was really bad and the whole of Europe was really mad anyway, so single-handedly he hurt F1 a lot."

Villeneuve and Schumacher have had a poor relationship since the German tried to barge his rival off the track while they were disputing the 1997 world title.

Nevertheless, Villeneuve believes Schumacher will be able to cruise to a record sixth world championship in 2003.

"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."

But Villeneuve, who has not won a race since 1997, believes his BAR team may end years of underachievement in 2003 and "surprise a few people".

"I'm confident we'll be racing wheel-to-wheel with the McLarens and Williams next year," he said.

He said the reason for his optimism is an expected major step forward from engine supplier Honda on weight, power and acceleration.