Villeneuve: "Hamilton is going to make those kind of mistakes more often"

With the Red Bull Racing and Mercedes cars more evenly matched in 2021, it will largely come down to the drivers to make up the difference. Hamilton is under pressure from Verstappen and the seven-time world champion is making some unusual mistakes.

A problem for Hamilton, but not for Verstappen

Villeneuve, therefore, believes that Hamilton is being forced into these mistakes by Verstappen, who in turn is used to driving on the limit. "Max has learned over the last few years to always push and drive extremely on the limit to be able to get a win or a podium," says the 50-year-old Canadian in a virtual F1 Paddock Club meeting. "Lewis hasn't had to do that in every race because his main opponent was his teammate who wasn't on the same level in battles."

He continued: "So Lewis hasn't always had to go to the limit in the past, but that's different this year. You can see that from the mistake he made in Imola. He wanted to get through the field too quickly and then got very lucky with the red flag. We're going to see more mistakes like that."

"For Verstappen, this is not such a problem, because he is used to always pushing as hard as possible. What he needs now is a better pace from his teammate Sergio Perez, so that he can support him in his fight with the Mercedes drivers," ends the 1997 world champion.