According to Jacques Villeneuve, winning an F1 world title with Ferrari would make Lewis Hamilton “unbeatable forever”.
The seven-time world champion will move from Mercedes F1 to Ferrari next season, hoping to win an eighth world title, a record still elusive for the Briton since 2021.
Such a feat would cement the 39-year-old's legacy as the greatest driver of all time, Villeneuve believes.
“This is the next step for him to become the greatest driver of all time. Winning again with Mercedes would be pointless, but winning with Ferrari? There is nothing greater in the world after all this which he accomplished.”
“When he signed, there was nothing very good to see yet at Ferrari. All he could see was where Mercedes had gone. So it was time to move. And sometimes we see each other. let it be guided by an intuition, we jump and hope that the other ship is better and it will be.
“So you look like a hero like he was when he went to Mercedes and people were like, 'What is he doing? Is he crazy?' It turned out to be a good thing to leave McLaren.”
“When he signed for Ferrari, nothing was in place like it is today. It wasn't the Ferrari we see today.”
“That's the thing to understand. It's a Ferrari. It's the biggest name in the car industry or motorsport and Lewis has been the biggest name in drivers. So, connect the dots between the two. Look how Ferrari's shares have risen.”
“If he can win with Ferrari, he will be unbeatable forever. That's it. And he will consolidate his name. It's very simple.”
“If he doesn't win with Ferrari, he still has all the records. It would just be the final step. So it's worth taking the risk.”
Hamilton is having a pretty poor end to his time at Mercedes, but Villeneuve thinks it's simply down to “his heart and his head” are already at Ferrari.
“With everything he has been able to do, he is still capable of winning a title. There is no doubt about that. It is not because things are not working with Mercedes that he has lost the talent.”
“His heart and head are probably already somewhere else! He knew he couldn't win the championship this year with Mercedes, maybe a race or two, but not the championship. So why put all this energy into building the car and the team for someone else?”
“Right now he’s just finishing his contract.”
