Racing
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Jacques Villeneuve says Ferrari should now make Lewis Hamilton its clear 2026 title spearhead after Hamilton’s Barcelona win cut his deficit to championship leader Andrea Kimi Antonelli to 41 points.
Speaking on Sky Sports’ The F1 Show podcast, the 1997 Formula 1 world champion argued Hamilton has become Ferrari’s only realistic drivers’ championship threat after seven races. Hamilton is second in the standings, while Charles Leclerc has slipped out of the fight after back-to-back retirements in Monaco and Barcelona and now sits 40 points behind his team-mate.
“Ferrari has to focus on Lewis if they want a small chance of winning, so the decision is easy to make because Leclerc is quite far back [in the championship],” Villeneuve said.
The case for that shift has strengthened quickly. Hamilton’s victory in Barcelona was his first for Ferrari and followed a run of podiums that included second places in Monaco and Montreal. One report said that sequence brought him 43 of the last 50 available points, turning an encouraging spell into a genuine championship push.
Villeneuve believes that rise leaves Ferrari facing an awkward internal call. Leclerc was only recently given a major long-term contract and has long been treated as the team’s cornerstone, yet Hamilton is the one delivering the points and carrying the title challenge.
“Internally at Ferrari, they just re-signed Leclerc two races ago for the best contract ever, lifetime contract,” Villeneuve told Sky Sports in Barcelona. “But who’s actually getting the points, who’s going to the front? Lewis. That will create a little bit of an issue internally as well. Lewis is in the hunt for the championship, Leclerc isn’t, so will they need to start making decisions at some point? They will need to put everything in their bag if they want to fight for the championship.”
Villeneuve also framed Hamilton’s resurgence as a sign that Leclerc has failed to fully shape Ferrari around himself during his time at the team. He said Leclerc arrived after what he described as an average season at Sauber and was handed “a world champion contract” before ever needing to build that authority inside Ferrari.
“Leclerc had time to build the team around him and he didn't,” Villeneuve said. “But the minute Lewis woke up, the minute Lewis made that car and that team his own and he's going for it and doesn't leave any quarter, Leclerc is not prepared for that.”
For Ferrari, that is the real significance of Hamilton’s recent surge. It has not just revived his own campaign. It has changed the balance inside the team at a point in the season when backing the stronger championship contender could define whether Ferrari remains in the 2026 drivers’ fight at all.