Jacques Villeneuve: Verstappen deserved to win the title

1997 World Champion Jacques Villeneuve summed up the Japanese Grand Prix…

Jacques Villeneuve: “We have to draw conclusions from the second restart, when heavy rain forced the riders to start on tires – they were given no choice. This may become the rule.

If there is a choice, everyone chooses intermediate tires, as at the first start. They are harder to heat up to the right temperature, using them is more risky, but they are much faster. Heavy rain tires have deeper grooves, overheat quickly, but offer better traction. If everyone started on the first start, there would be fewer problems and downtime.

A few words about Carlos Sainz’ crash: I’ve always found that corner dangerous since I raced there in F3. In dry weather, it looks like a straight line and is easily passed at full throttle. But in the rain, this small curve with a barrier of tires and advertising banners becomes difficult and in an accident the car is thrown back onto the track. Sainz wasn’t driving that fast, but the car slid like it was on ice.

I fully understand the outrage at the appearance of a tractor on the track before Pierre Gasly passed this section. Strictly speaking, this is allowed according to the rules, because the race was neutralized. It doesn’t bother anyone in dry weather, but in rain that’s another matter. A collision with a tractor, even at low speed, is very dangerous. Therefore, the level of emotions among the riders went off the scale – this is understandable, given the accident of Jules Bianchi.

Max Verstappen deservedly won the title. With the exception of the first three Grands Prix, Red Bull Racing had an almost perfect season. Then Ferrari got into trouble, they often made mistakes, which further increased the pressure on Charles. As a result, he also started to make mistakes. Perhaps his mistakes were the result of team mistakes. His mistake, when he led Paul Ricard, was decisive in the battle for the title.

At Suzuka, he made a mistake in the last corner. Of course Verstappen would still have won, but in the end Red Bull won the winning double on the Honda circuit. They have been very strong all year round and have had great success. Victory may seem easy, but make no mistake. I think their main advantage is that the RB18 doesn’t put as much strain on the tires as the Ferrari.

Apart from the title I saw a good season with good races. Last year was definitely an exciting year for the championship, but this year we’ve seen quite a few good fights. Formula 1 is now very popular thanks to the great races, that’s what we want.