Formula One drivers rallied around Lewis Hamilton [Images] on Thursday in defending the McLaren rookie against a suggestion by former champion Jacques Villeneuve that his driving is dangerous.

"I think sometimes Jacques talks quite a lot with the press and...sometimes he talks too much," Renault's Italian driver Giancarlo Fisichella told a news conference at the Canadian Grand Prix.

"I think in a way Jacques might find it more and more difficult in the future to find comments he can give that we can be asked about," added Williams' Austrian Alexander Wurz.

"I see no problem with racing. You know it is hard, you just have to defend your line."

Villeneuve, the 1997 world champion who left Formula One last August after being replaced at BMW Sauber by Poland's Robert Kubica, told Britain's Autosport magazine that he is concerned by Hamilton's race starts.

"When will these chopping moves stop," asked the Canadian. "He makes progressive moves that would have got some of the drivers black-flagged."

Hamilton, 22, has finished all five of his races so far on the podium and is level on points with team mate Fernando Alonso [Images] at the top of the standings. He has made some sensational overtaking starts in the process.

"Jacques deserves to have his opinions about it and I can respect that, but this is racing," the Briton told reporters at the circuit named after Villeneuve's late father Gilles.

"If you are cutting across people, being dangerous and possibly taking them out, then I would totally agree," he added. "But that has not been the case in any of the races I have seen.

"It has not been dangerous up until now and I think you can see that it is for the FIA [International Automobile Federation] to make the choice."

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