Schumacher warned Ferrari will 'burn' him

Ferrari will "burn" Mick Schumacher if he is unable to live up to his growing reputation once he makes it to Formula 1, according to outspoken former champion Jacques Villeneuve. Schumacher's star has risen sharply in the past year thanks to his European F3 triumph and rise to the Ferrari Driver Academy.

Schumacher has made his bow in modern F1s machinery this year, driving both the Ferrari and Alfa Romeo in the test held after the Bahrain Grand Prix in Sakhir.

The son of seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher was briefly linked to a 2019 Toro Rosso race seat and has spent his Formula 2 media commitments this year batting away questions about future moves to F1.

However, Villeneuve – of course fully aware of the pressures involved in charting a career in F1 as the son of a legend in the sport – has issued a cautionary tale to Schumacher Jnr.

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

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

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

Schumacher has scored points in three of his four races in Formula 2 so far this year and sits ninth in the drivers' standings.

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