Villeneuve: Max’s departure due to bad luck is almost inevitable

1997 World Champion Jacques Villeneuve summarized the results of the Canadian Grand Prix and continued to criticize the leadership of the Mercedes team.

Jacques Villeneuve: “I don’t think the last race was particularly exciting, in fact it disappointed me a bit. Carlos Sainz was unable to take a position on the track that would allow Max Verstappen to attack. In addition, the Race Directorate changed the balance of power by enabling the virtual safety car mode. All this led to the expected result.

The Red Bull car is very fast on the straights. I got the impression that Carlos Sainz couldn’t get out of the hairpin well, which kept him too far away from Verstappen on the long straight. For the rest of the lap the Ferrari was fast, maybe even faster than the Red Bull, but Sainz didn’t manage to get through the hairpin, the most important part of the lap. He couldn’t run effectively enough.

Verstappen leads the competition by a large margin, but there is still a long way to go. I keep saying the season is long. We know that Max will never weaken or succumb to pressure. Everything always works in favor of the champion – think Lewis Hamilton at Imola last year.

The factor of a technical failure or a strategic error could get in the way of Max, but it was Sergio Perez who had problems yesterday, not Max Verstappen. However, it is likely that Verstappen will also retire due to a breakdown – this is almost inevitable.

A few weeks ago I was very critical of Lewis Hamilton, but now I want to praise him. The car was competitive and Lewis performed very well. It was important for him to get on the podium. Hamilton won Saturday’s qualifying game after a very strange decision by George Russell.

Hamilton made the most of the race, made the right decisions and demonstrated high speed throughout the distance. The season is difficult for him and maybe Lewis needed a result like that. Perhaps all problems will be a thing of the past and Lewis returned to “combat mode”.

To a lesser extent, I was impressed by Toto Wolff and the campaign he organized. Mercedes has always done everything possible to maintain its lead over the years. Now they’ve built a bad car, but that’s their problem, not the FIA. Other teams have been able to eliminate the build-up, but why would they be penalized by changing the rules now?

It seems to me that Mercedes has already found a solution. Their car swung less and was faster. It is clear that at the same time they did not increase the ground clearance. But I can’t understand the constant whining. Racing is dangerous. Inhaling carbon dust from the brakes is also unhealthy, as is overloading or dehydration during a long and hot race. No one is forcing Mercedes to set up a car that way.

Finally, I would like to praise Fernando Alonso. He can still do it, he’s still the same Alonso, just with more experience. Alpine made a mistake with the strategy and they had problems on the straights. Alonso is competitive, but this season usually things go wrong on Sundays. Alpine has a bright future though – the team is getting better and better.”