Jacques Villeneuve thinks the controversial season finale in Abu Dhabi helped Formula One more than it hurt – He believes in a Lewis Hamilton return
The controversial 2021 Formula One finale in Abu Dhabi caused a lot of criticism, especially from Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton’s fans. Toto Wolff, for example, saw the integrity of the sport and the regulations undermined. Former world champion Jacques Villeneuve, however, sees the situation quite differently and much more relaxed.
“It’s definitely good for the sport,” the 1997 champion thinks and explains: “Because Lewis has to fight back now and try to win his eighth title.” Reflecting on the Abu Dhabi race, the Canadian explains, “It was a bit controversial, but that’s always the case when everything is decided in the last race.”
The now 50-year-old speaks from experience. In 1997, he himself became world champion after a collision in the last race of the season with Michael Schumacher. The German was subsequently excluded from the World Championship. Today, Villeneuve works as a TV pundit, among other things, and explains that the 2021 final definitely made headlines.
And it still does more than a month later. Currently, it’s all about whether Hamilton will even return in 2022. “Who knows?” shrugs Villeneuve, reminding, “Nobody expected Rosberg not to come back [after his 2016 world title]. “
He does believe that Hamilton will not retire. But you can’t know what’s going on in other people’s heads. He could imagine Hamilton’s mood being “pretty negative” after the season finale, he said. “But you just have to get going again,” Villeneuve said, again speaking from experience.
In 1996, he battled his then Williams teammate Damon Hill for the title until the final race of the season, eventually missing out on the world championship after retiring at the Suzuka finale due to a defect. Just one year later, he won his first and only World Championship title in Formula 1.
When asked if Max Verstappen was a deserving world champion, he replied diplomatically: “I think that depends on whether you’re a fan of Verstappen or of Lewis.” In his personal opinion, however, Verstappen definitely deserved the title. They agree with him at Mercedes, by the way.
When he says that the final was good for the sport, that’s probably not the case.
