Ferrari told to prioritise Lewis Hamilton for chance at 2026 F1 title

1997 Formulation 1 champion Jacques Villeneuve has argued that Ferrari should throw its full weight behind Lewis Hamilton if the Maranello outfit is to have any likelihood of profitable the 2026 championship, following the British driver’s breakthrough victory on the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix.

The seven-time champion secured his maiden grand prix victory as a Ferrari driver in Barcelona, which not solely ended his win drought but in addition gave him a 40-point benefit over his team-mate Charles Leclerc within the drivers‘ standings.

Talking on the Sky Sports activities F1 Present, Villeneuve defined that Ferrari is able to again Hamilton’s title bid, evaluating it to the intra-team battle at Mercedes between Kimi Antonelli and George Russell.

„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 quarter. And I feel that is the place he could make the distinction,“ the Canadian mentioned. „And Mercedes proper now just isn’t ready to find a way or allowed to decide on a driver over one other. Properly, Ferrari is as a result of Ferrari has to deal with Lewis if they need a small likelihood of profitable. 

„So the choice is simple to make as a result of Charles Leclerc is sort of far again. And also you had been saying earlier than, Leclerc had time to construct the staff round him, and he did not. Keep in mind how he got here into Ferrari was after a median season at Sauber, and all of a sudden given the massive mega contract, like a world champion contract, perhaps too large too quickly, an excessive amount of too quickly.

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari

Photograph by: Andy Hone/ LAT Photos by way of Getty Photos

„So he is by no means actually needed to construct something round him. It was given. He was fast and that was a lot as a result of the notion was, ‚Properly, that is a automotive that can’t win a championship anyway‘. You win just a few races, you beat your team-mate, who was Vettel, everyone was completely satisfied.

„Then all of a sudden is available in Lewis. Final 12 months was not having an amazing season, he is actually having a tough time with the automotive and the staff. It takes time to construct this round your self. So Leclerc’s fairly completely satisfied; he is wanting good subsequent to Lewis, however the minute Lewis wakened, the minute Lewis made that automotive and that staff his personal and he is going for it and would not give any quarter, Leclerc just isn’t ready for that.“

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– The Motorsport.com Staff