Racing
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Lewis Hamilton’s first Ferrari Grand Prix win in Barcelona has turned Ferrari’s internal balance into a live debate, with Jacques Villeneuve saying the team should now back Hamilton as its main title hope while team principal Fred Vasseur refuses to discuss any number-one call.
Hamilton’s turnaround over the last three races has given that argument real weight. After finishing second in Monaco and Canada, he won in Barcelona on merit, climbing from fifth to second in the drivers’ standings. In that run he moved ahead of Lando Norris, Charles Leclerc and George Russell, and cut his gap to championship leader Kimi Antonelli from 49 points to 41.
Villeneuve told Sky Sports’ The F1 Show podcast that Ferrari no longer has much reason to keep treating its drivers equally. “Ferrari has to focus on Lewis if they want a small chance of winning,” he said. “The decision is easy to make, because Leclerc is quite far back.” He also argued that Hamilton’s experience changes the equation, saying, “Lewis knows how to win,” and, “If he gets a sniff of it, there won't be any quarters.”
That shift is striking because Villeneuve had been one of Hamilton’s more severe critics only six months ago. On the High Performance podcast in December, Jacques Villeneuve, the 1997 Formula 1 world champion, had argued that many of Hamilton’s titles came without a true internal fight, saying, “A lot of championships were won against a team-mate, and there was no real battle really.” He added: “The one fight he did have was against Nico, and he lost.”
Now Villeneuve’s view is the opposite: Hamilton has reasserted himself just as Leclerc has fallen away. The Ferrari gap between them is now about 40 points, and Leclerc’s recent run has fed the pressure. He retired in Monaco with a brake problem, crashed in qualifying in Barcelona, and then reported a suspected hydraulic issue in the race.
Leclerc did not push back after Hamilton’s victory. Charles Leclerc, Ferrari’s other driver, said afterward: “It’s great for the team, it’s great for Lewis.” He also praised Ferrari’s latest development step, saying, “The team has been pushing massively to bring upgrades and it seems to be working fine.” But he acknowledged the competitive reality inside the team: “Now I’ve got to be with him up there, which hasn’t been the case since Canada.”
Vasseur, though, would not let one result become a public change in policy. Asked after the race whether Ferrari would be prepared to put everything behind Hamilton if an eighth title bid became realistic, Frederic Vasseur, Ferrari team principal, replied: “I’m not sure that I want to reply to this kind of question.” He said the reaction to Barcelona had swung too far, too quickly. “Two weeks ago, everything was a disaster, and now we are speaking about the world championship. This is the worst approach that I could have.”
Vasseur said Ferrari would head to Austria “with exactly the same approach” as in Barcelona, rather than publicly commit to a hierarchy. Even so, Hamilton’s surge and Leclerc’s recent losses have changed the conversation around Ferrari from whether Hamilton could adapt to whether the team can afford not to center its title hopes on him.