Alonso warned of 'dirty tricks'

[Wizzo]

Two former F1 racers are worried that Michael Schumacher might revert to dirty tricks in order to win the 2006 title.

With MS basically needing Alonso to fail to finish the season ending Brazilian grand prix in two weeks, veteran of 113 grands prix Patrick Tambay told L'Equipe: "I hope the old devil in him will not return."

The 57-year-old Frenchman is undoubtedly referring to Schumacher's past indiscretions at similar moments in the title fights of 1994 and 1997.

In 1994, at the Adelaide decider, Schumacher's victim was Damon Hill, who in an interview with the BBC on Monday warned Alonso to keep his 'armour on'.

"(Schumacher is) going to go into that last race thinking, now, how can I win this and Alonso not score anything? That's the way he's going to approach it.

"Otherwise he's not Michael Schumacher."

Hill also described Schumacher's conceding of the championship at Suzuka as 'baloney'.

Schumacher himself, though, insists that he does not need more time to 'digest' his engine failure at the Japanese GP. "I am well aware that the championship for me is over," he said on Monday.