F1 News
Has Ferrari made a mistake? 'Lewis Hamilton is really not in a good place'
Former Formula 1 world champion Jacques Villeneuve believes that Lewis Hamilton is seriously lacking confidence after his recent retirement from the United States Grand Prix. The Brit struggled at the Circuit of the Americas and spun out of the race early on after initially qualifying in 19th place. Villeneuve also highlighted the fact that the Brit must change his mindset before heading to Ferrari for the 2025 season.
Despite his recent DNF, Lewis Hamilton's season hasn't been his worst in the ground effect era. Hamilton has still won two Grand Prix this year. The first at his home circuit of Silverstone and the second at Spa after his teammate George Russell was disqualified after crossing the line in first place. The 105-time Grand Prix winner sits sixth in the driver's standings on 177 points with five races and two sprints still to go.
Speaking to CanadaCasino.Ca, the 1997 world champion slammed Hamilton for his recent performance, highlighting his mindset as something that needs to change. “I don’t think Lewis is thinking about Ferrari. He is thinking about himself and how awful it is going for him. That was the first time he has actually gone off in a race. He really is not in a good place. That is not helping his driving. He needs to get out of that mindset before he goes to Ferrari,” Villeneuve began.
'Hamilton's had weeks off and hasn't improved'
The seven-time world champion has indeed struggled with his form recently. Before his retirement at COTA, Hamilton finished in sixth place in Singapore, more than 80 seconds behind race winner Lando Norris. The week before in Azerbaijan, Hamilton finished in ninth place and spent the majority of his race battling with Williams and Haas rookies Franco Colapinto and Ollie Bearman. If it wasn't for Sergio Perez and Carlos Sainz's late crash, the Mercedes driver would've finished outside the points. “It is tough when you have so many races back to back. You don’t really have time to change, but he’s just had three weeks off, and he didn’t come back any better. I have no idea what is going on in his head, but he will be happy that Ferrari is a better car than Mercedes. He is going to a better car, and in that aspect, he has to be happy," the Canadian explained.
Villeneuve believes Hamilton 'doesn't have the body language of a winner'
"But generally, his demeanour indicates he doesn’t have the body language of a race winner. He is not the killer winner we have seen in the past. He needs to get back to his old form and attitude before he moves because Ferrari is not an easy team to be in,” Villeneuve concluded. Hamilton will be hoping to bounce back with a strong performance at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez this weekend in Mexico, a track where he has won twice previously.
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