Former world champion Jacques Villeneuve observes escalating tension between Lewis Hamilton and his racing team, Ferrari. According to the ex-Formula 1 driver, both the Italian team and the British racer are dissatisfied with the current situation, which is particularly evident in the (mis)communication between Hamilton and his race engineer, Riccardo Adami.
Lewis Hamilton has been with Ferrari for half a year now, but the collaboration has not yet yielded the desired results. Expectations were high when the Brit – after more than a decade of loyal service at Mercedes – switched to the team in Maranello. Apart from success during the sprint races, however, Hamilton has not been able to make a significant impact in Ferrari red.
Prior to the Dutch GP weekend, Hamilton himself indicated that he needed a ‘reset’, and this concerns former world champion Jacques Villeneuve. “Ferrari is not getting what they signed up for,” the Canadian tells Sky Sports F1. “So there will be some frustration, on both sides. Lewis is also not getting the car he was hoping for. When you hear Lewis in interviews, it doesn’t seem like he believes what he’s saying. It’s as if he doesn’t want to get to work.”
‘Two Different Planets’
According to Villeneuve, it is particularly evident in the communication between Hamilton and race engineer Riccardo Adami that things are not going well between the seven-time world champion and the Italian racing team. “It’s as if they’re on two different planets,” Villeneuve continues. “But the same is true for Charles Leclerc and his engineer (Bryan Bozzi). There’s something strange going on in that team, and it’s not heading in the right direction.”
