Jacques Villeneuve tells Charles Leclerc that Lewis Hamilton is ‘almost unbeatable’ right now

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Jacques Villeneuve has welcomed Lewis Hamilton’s more positive demeanour at the Chinese Grand Prix and thinks it is actively feeding his performances on track.

Hamilton matched his best Grand Prix qualifying result as a Ferrari driver on Saturday as he took third on the grid behind the two Mercedes cars. He outpaced teammate Charles Leclerc by just 0.023 seconds.

The seven-time world champion also got the better of Leclerc in Sprint qualifying, when the Ferraris were fourth and sixth. It’s the first time Hamilton has prevailed in consecutive qualifying sessions since Canada and Spain last year.

George Russell suffered reliability issues but will start the Chinese GP from P2 on the grid

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Jacques Villeneuve thrilled to see more ‘positive’ Lewis Hamilton

Hamilton was visibly delighted for Mercedes successor Kimi Antonelli, who became F1’s youngest-ever polesitter. Villeneuve says this epitomises his newfound positivity.

Despite his age – Hamilton is the second-oldest driver on the grid at 41 – he is extremely difficult to beat when his ‘energy’ levels are high. Not even a one-lap specialist like Leclerc could match him in Shanghai, even if the Monegasque regards this as one of his weakest circuits.

Villeneuve says Hamilton’s negativity outside the car last year bled into his performances, but the opposite is happening in 2026. He delivered an impressive Sunday performance in Melbourne, fighting his way from seventh to fourth.

• READ MORE: Lewis Hamilton’s theory about Mercedes’ F1 engine proved wrong at Chinese Grand Prix

“It’s nice to see Lewis like this,” Villeneuve told Sky Sports. “There are two Lewis’s. When he’s positive like this, he’s almost unbeatable. We’ve seen it today – he beat his teammate, who’s a pro at qualifying. He’s older, he’s got a lot of experience but he still has that energy.

“Then you have the Lewis like last year who just goes down and drags a lot of negative energy with him. That’s never nice to see. If he can keep like this all season, he’ll be a force to be reckoned with.”

‘There’s no helping each other’ – Jacques Villeneuve on Ferrari driver battle

After an elbows-out battle between Hamilton and Leclerc in the Sprint, Villeneuve ruled out the two Ferrari drivers cooperating during Sunday’s race.

Ferrari have taken the lead in both races so far despite not starting on the front row in either. Simon Lazenby floated the idea that they could climb to first and climb after lap one then work together against Mercedes.

• READ MORE: Anthony Davidson disagrees with what Charles Leclerc said about Lewis Hamilton in the China Sprint

But Villeneuve says both drivers would sooner Mercedes win the race than their teammate.

“Look at the Sprint race,” the 1997 world champion pointed out. “Look how aggressive they were towards each other. Each of those two drivers is trying to be the Ferrari man, to write history. There’s no helping each other.

“They don’t want the teammate to win a race. What they care about is beating their teammate. They’re happier to be third and fourth than helping their teammate to finish first.”