Ex-F1 Champion Declares Lewis Hamilton Lacks Personal Bond with Ferrari

Jacques Villeneuve did not hesitate to claim that Lewis Hamilton was still not personally connected to Ferrari.

Ex-F1 Champion Declares Lewis Hamilton Lacks Personal Bond with Ferrari

Lewis Hamilton (via Ferrari)

Lewis Hamilton made his dream move to Scuderia Ferrari this year. The seven-time world champion ditched Mercedes to race for Maranello in what might be the last chapter of his career. The Briton’s decision was driven by emotions. However, results are yet to come. Now, former F1 champion Jacques Villeneuve has claimed that Hamilton simply lacks a personal connection with the Italian team.

The seven-time world champion’s stint at Maranello has not started well. In the first seven races, the 40-year-old has only a sprint win to his name. Lewis Hamilton has struggled to make gains over the course of the season so far as he tries to adapt to Ferrari. Though, the F1 star had high ambitions for his debut stint, including the target of battling for the championship.

Jacques Villeneuve pointed out that at the Emilia Romagna GP, Hamilton didn’t feel the race to be his home race, rather just a home race for the team. While the Briton has incredible energy every time he races at Silverstone. As such, Villeneuve asserted that Ferrari was still not a personal bond for the F1 champion. Perhaps this bond will be deeper by the Italian GP at Monza.

Even though it’s a home race, it’s a home race for Ferrari, not for him. For him, the home race has always been Silverstone. He’s very British, and that’s where he could feel the energy. But it’s not yet personal to him. It will come, maybe by the time we get to Monza.

Jacques Villeneuve told Sky F1

Ferrari full of ‘ups and downs’ for Lewis Hamilton

Scuderia Ferrari is the most successful team in motorsport history. However, the Prancing Horse has its fair share of controversies. The culture at Maranello has been criticized by many for years. Though, team boss Fred Vasseur has changed this to some extent. Moreover, drivers like Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso have failed to achieve success with the team, and faded away against the competition.

Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc (via Getty)
Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc (via Getty)

Villeneuve highlighted that it has never been easy for any driver to fit in at Ferrari. The Canadian pointed out that every driver has a journey full of ups and downs at the Scuderia, including Lewis Hamilton. So much so, that Jacques Villeneuve claimed Maranello was full of hot seats where no one could really sit with comfort.

But does anyone ever fit in at Ferrari. That is more the question to ask. It’s ups and down, it’s difficult. So it seems very, very difficult, like the seats are very hot and nobody sits down comfortably.

Jacques Villeneuve added

Certainly, Lewis Hamilton is not in a good place right now when it comes to performance. Though, the Briton got some much-needed morale boost following an impressive recovery at Imola. There is still a long way to go if the seven-time world champion wants to match expectations with his new team. However, Hamilton’s best bet to fight for the world championship is to wait for the next season, while trying to get the best results possible this year.

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