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Jacques Villeneuve believes Lewis Hamilton wasn’t dealt the best card by Ferrari at the Japanese Grand Prix.
Lewis Hamilton had to settle for P6 at Suzuka, his worst finish so far this season. And much of his performance came down to one particular pain point – the battery.
Hamilton was irate with Ferrari over the battery issue, especially after he saw his teammate, Charles Leclerc, not have to deal with any of it en route to a podium finish.
No Mercedes one-two in Japan!
Oscar Piastri takes second, with Charles Leclerc third
Hamilton was vocal on the radio about his struggles, questioning Ferrari as to why he was dealing with these inconsistency issues.
And while Fred Vasseur didn’t pay any mind to these criticisms, Jacques Villeneuve believes these issues cost Lewis Hamilton greatly at the Japanese Grand Prix.
READ MORE: Timo Glock urges Ferrari to ‘intervene’ into Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton’s battles
Jacques Villeneuve claims Ferrari didn’t exploit ‘race craft’ advantage over Mercedes
Jacques Villeneuve spoke on the F1 post-race show after the Japanese Grand Prix, where he questioned why Ferrari weren’t able to deliver against Mercedes.
He noted that Ferrari’s cars being racier gives the drivers an advantage which they weren’t able to exploit, primarily due to the lightness of the rear, pointing out how it cost Lewis Hamilton and almost Charles Leclerc as well.
“That car is very racy. The drivers can play with it, they can fight, and it reacts very quickly even to acceleration. So, it gives them a better sense of race craft than the two Mercedes drivers.
“Because every time the Mercedes got in a fight, the two of them, they would either lose out, or lose an extra position with a car that’s a lot faster, and that’s the odd thing.
“But we see the Ferrari has got a much lighter rear end. And sometimes they get caught out with that. You could see Leclerc sliding out of the corners more.
“Lewis, as well, a little bit too much, and he had to pay the price at the end of the race. And that’s a trend we have from the beginning of the season with the Ferrari, and that will carry on. Now, we’re getting on tracks that are very different, less high-speed corners, and it should help them.”
READ MORE: Lewis Hamilton could have a new race engineer at Ferrari for the Miami Grand Prix
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Lewis Hamilton’s upgrade desires unlikely to be met by Miami Grand Prix
Hamilton made it no secret that he was unhappy with the battery and power deployment issues he experienced at Suzuka.
However, even with the five-week hiatus, Ferrari are unlikely to upgrade the power unit in time for the Miami Grand Prix.
There is a hope that the aerodynamics of the car can be improved upon, even if it takes long days at Maranello during April.
After what had been a strong start to the season, Lewis Hamilton is returning to the frustrated figure he was cutting during his debut season with Ferrari.
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