It’s time for Ferrari to make Lewis Hamilton its number-one driver within the 2026 Formulation 1 title battle, Jacques Villeneuve believes.
After struggling early on on the Scuderia, Hamilton has loved his finest outcomes by far within the final three rounds, taking second in Canada and Monaco earlier than profitable on benefit at Barcelona.
Earlier than this, the seven-time world champion lay solely fifth within the drivers’ standings, however he has now leapfrogged Lando Norris, Charles Leclerc and George Russell to second place and lowered his deficit to chief Kimi Antonelli from 49 to 41 factors.
Villeneuve has been amongst Hamilton’s most outspoken critics. Final December, he acknowledged that the Briton gained many world titles in overly dominant equipment and towards weaker team-mates, which allegedly defined his underwhelming efficiency at Ferrari.
“A variety of championships had been gained towards a team-mate, and there was no actual battle actually. The one combat he did have was towards Nico, and he misplaced,” Villeneuve then advised the Excessive Efficiency podcast.
Jacques Villeneuve
Picture by: Mark Sutton / Formulation 1 by way of Getty Photographs
“Now he goes to Ferrari and has to get again into combating methods, and it seems like he acquired used to the straightforward years. It’s laborious to get the diesel going once more in the event you again off a bit, take it simple, or begin pondering it’s simple. When you begin believing you’re untouchable, you decelerate.”
Six months later, Villeneuve’s outlook on Hamilton’s prospects is sort of completely different. The 1997 world champion believes the 40-point hole to team-mate Leclerc is sufficient for Ferrari to cease treating each drivers equally.
“Lewis is aware of find out how to win, and he is aware of what it takes. And if he will get a sniff of it, there will not be any quarters,” he advised Sky Sports activities’ The F1 Present podcast. “I feel that is the place he could make the distinction.
“Mercedes proper now will not be able to be even ready or allowed to decide on a driver over one other. Ferrari is, as a result of Ferrari has to deal with Lewis if they need a small probability of profitable. So the choice is straightforward to make, as a result of Leclerc is sort of far again.”
Villeneuve doubled down on his criticism of Leclerc, reckoning the Monegasque – at present in his eighth season at Maranello – was given “an excessive amount of too quickly” by Ferrari and wasn’t ready to deal with Hamilton’s revival.
Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari
Picture by: Guido De Bortoli / LAT Photographs by way of Getty Photographs
“Leclerc had time to construct the workforce round him and he did not,” Villeneuve added. “Keep in mind how he got here into Ferrari after a median season at Sauber, and instantly giving the massive mega contract, like a world champion contract… Perhaps an excessive amount of too quickly?
“He is by no means actually needed to construct something round him. It was given, it was there. He was fast and that was a lot as a result of the notion was, that is a automotive that can’t win a championship anyway. You win a couple of races, you beat your team-mate, which was [Sebastian] Vettel. Everyone was joyful.
“Then instantly in comes Lewis, final 12 months, who’s not having an amazing season. He is actually having a tough time with the automotive, the workforce – it takes time to construct this round your self – so Leclerc is sort of joyful. He is wanting good subsequent to Lewis.
“However the minute Lewis awoke, the minute Lewis made that automotive and that workforce his personal and he is going for it and would not go away any quarter, Leclerc will not be ready for that.”
Fred Vasseur doesn’t like that query
So, will Ferrari now focus its consideration on Hamilton? This can be a barely novel scenario for the Scuderia, which hasn’t been a real title contender since 2018 – and definitely is unprecedented for workforce principal Fred Vasseur, who took the reins of the squad forward of the 2023 marketing campaign.
Vasseur was requested about this state of affairs following Hamilton’s Barcelona triumph, albeit in barely extra ambiguous phrases: “If at any level he had been to be able to combat for that eighth title of his, is Ferrari able to offer him the whole lot on this season itself?”
With at the least 15 grands prix remaining within the 2026 season, the Frenchman was understandably coy. “I am undecided that I need to reply to this type of query,” he retorted. “I had most likely the identical feedback two weeks in the past, that the whole lot was a catastrophe, and now we’re talking concerning the world championship. That is the worst method that I may have.
Frederic Vasseur, Ferrari, Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari
Picture by: Bryn Lennon / Formulation 1 by way of Getty Photographs
“The method is to go to Austria precisely with the identical method that I had in Barcelona and never to consider the championship or to venture your self with 25 extra wins, what I may do… I’ll by no means do it.”
So far as Leclerc is worried, when requested about Hamilton’s victory, he merely pledged to return to kind swiftly. The longtime Ferrari driver crashed out of the Monaco GP – which he blamed on brakes – and out of Barcelona GP qualifying, earlier than struggling a suspected hydraulic difficulty within the Spanish race.
“I imply, it is nice for the workforce, it is nice for Lewis,” Leclerc stated. “The workforce has been pushing massively to carry upgrades and it appears to be working advantageous. So now I’ve acquired to be with him up there, which hasn’t been the case since Canada.”
Further reporting by Filip Cleeren and Livia Veiga
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