F1 News
Villeneuve takes a dig at Verstappen in Hamilton speech: 'Nobody cares'
- Sandy van Wijngaarden
Jacques Villeneuve has been in the limelight before due to controversial statements and this might just be a do-over for the Canadian. In an interview with The Action Network, the Canadian praised Lewis Hamilton's achievements and career, and in doing so, he made a rather unfortunate comparison to Max Verstappen.
Jacques Villeneuve had high praise for Lewis Hamilton's switch to Ferrari. The Canadian countered Flavio Briatore's questioning of the choice to replace Carlos Sainz with Hamilton.
Whereas Briatore based his opinion mainly on Hamilton's performance in the last few years at Mercedes, Villeneuve looks mainly at the value of the seven-time world champion. According to the Canadian, it is Ferrari's best move ever.
Villeneuve takes dig at Verstappen whilst praising Hamilton
"That's very short-sighted from Briatore suggesting he can’t see the logic of signing Lewis Hamilton at Ferrari. You just have to look at the value of Ferrari the minute they signed him," Villeneuve told The Action Network.
"You can't look at Ferrari just as a racing team. It's a whole industry. Yes, they are there to win, but winning helps them sell more cars and adds to the value of Ferrari. That's what the business is and signing Lewis was worth millions and millions, so it was the best move they've ever done," Villeneuve said.
The Canadian argued that signing Hamilton at Ferrari was the most high-profile deal in Formula 1 ever. "Lewis Hamilton moving to Ferrari is the most high-profile F1 move since Michael Schumacher left Bentton for Ferrari. Independent of race results, Lewis Hamilton is the biggest driver of all time because of all the following he has."
"He's very different," Villeneuve went on to say. "He’s unique. He’s broken the mould. There's a lot that hangs on him. He has the biggest image. His image goes beyond F1. And there's not many drivers like that."
The one-time world champion then took a dig at Verstappen. "Take Verstappen out of F1. Nobody cares. Take Hamilton out of F1, people care. So yes, it is the biggest signing. And Ferrari is also one of the biggest brands in the world, if not the biggest. So put the two together, yeah, of course, it's amazing."
Earlier, Villeneuve was put under the microscope for making controvertial statements about Daniel Ricciardo. For instance, the Canadian questioned why the Australian was still in Formula 1 and stated that Ricciardo would be better off staying at home. Meanwhile, Ricciardo has since said he 'was done' with F1.
This article was written in collaboration with Norberto Mujica.
Want more Formula 1? Then follow GPblog on our various social media channels too!