Jacques Villeneuve: Mercedes changes leadership

The 1997 champion, Jacques Villeneuve, summarized the last Miami Grand Prix in the author’s column for the Dutch Formula1.nl …

Max has been impressing since the start of the season. He drives the same as last year. Normally fatigue can set in after a championship season, but in his case nothing has changed. Winning the title relieved him of the pressure and made him even stronger.

The car may break down, but if it is reliable, Max will always fight for the win. He controls almost flawlessly, and if he makes a mistake, he corrects the mistake himself. He rides at the peak of his ability, on the edge. He makes the best of what he can control. There wasn’t a single race where he wouldn’t give all his best – and in Miami we saw it again.

This result is good to compete in the championship. Two strong teams compete for the title. Each of them has a leader, who is not determined by the team, but by the results on the track. Verstappen and Leclerc became the first numbers of their teams themselves. Carlos Sainz and Sergio Perez are winning races, but so far have not reached the level of their first numbers.

There is a change of leadership at Mercedes. George Russell on the wave of success, Lewis Hamilton tries not to drown. After years of winning with no real competition, it’s hard to wake up and realize things aren’t that simple. Now he has to attack as he attacked in his first two years in F1, which is what Russell is doing now. In the race George made the decision himself: let me on track, because the safety car can leave – and it happened.

It seems that luck has left Hamilton. It won’t be easy for him, but Lewis is a driver and a champion. He knows what needs to be done, let’s see if he has the strength. I think the championship title lost last year was a big blow to him, which he endured all winter. He felt he had been robbed. But by the way, Max is now riding, it’s clear that he didn’t steal the title at all, but deserved to win.