Former Formula 1 World Champion Jacques Villeneuve has named the key difference between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen in an exclusive interview with yaysweepstakes.com.
The Canadian racing legend also talked up the prospect of what a revitalised Lewis Hamilton could do on and off the track at Ferrari, and how Aston Martin’s big moves to bring in Adrian Newey and court Verstappen could propel the team forward.
He also commented on the future of how Michael Schumacher would feel about Lewis Hamilton breaking his records and given his thoughts on Carlos Sainz’ switch to Williams.
Read the full interview below.
McClaren finished last season on a high and are rolling into 2025 as you say. Do they have unstoppable momentum?
The only problem with McLaren is they didn’t seem to be too keen on really trying to go for the Drivers’ Championship last year. They didn’t really help Norris. He even got hindered somehow.
So, I don’t know how this will pan out this year. What’s the balance there? They just chop points from each other. Piastri needs to step up on a race to race basis.
There’s always been glimpses from Piastri that make you say wow, amazing but he didn’t stay up there at that level whereas Norris was always up there. That’s the difference.
What do you make of the rumours that Max Verstappen could leave Red Bull?
It depends on what’s available. Maybe next year there’s not an exciting team available for him to leave to join. Even if most teams would want him, maybe the opportunity is not there.
It’s really difficult to understand. He is a peculiar driver. He really drives to the limit and is always on it. He needs a specific car. Not every car that would suit his driving style.
Does Max’s style of driving make it even harder for his teammates given how the car needs to be developed to suit his way of racing?
He seems to love very precise cars, very pointy cars with a very good front end, and he can manage the rear. Not many drivers can do that or can do that consistently and not many cars get driven like this or are designed like this.
Basically the way he drives and the way the car then gets developed makes it really difficult for Formula 2 drivers because they come from an inherently understeering car in Formula 3, and Formula 2 they’re designed similarly — huge amounts of understeer so they drive differently.
What are you expecting the 2025 season to hold for the rest of the grid?
A lot will depend on which team will think, okay, we have a shot at the championship, so let’s invest on this season and forget a little bit about next year, and who will focus on next year, and will pay the price later on this season.
It will be very interesting strategically to see how they approach that.
Which team are you expecting to go all out to win in 2025 rather than looking to 2026?
Ferrari. They need to get off to a bang this year. Lewis has just arrived. If they can get a shot at winning, then it’s worth it.
Do you stand by your previous view that too much is being expected of Antonelli too soon?
It’s too much too soon. He had a terrible season in Formula 2. Is it because he was already signed for F1 and the pressure got the better of him, who knows?
Or maybe because he didn’t like that kind of car and maybe it’s better for him to be in a Formula One car. These are all question marks that we will find out very quickly, very soon.
He seems to be capable of taking risks and pushing the car, but then feeling where that edge is, we don’t know yet. Or how does he work on a full season developing, evolving the car?
How will the balance be between him and Russell? Will they work hand in hand with similar driving styles or completely opposite driving styles which then makes it difficult for the team to evolve the car in direction that pleases both drivers.
The jury is out on Antonelli but so many people in the media want him to be amazing. I hope he is because if not, it will be a very heavy load to carry for him. A lot of pressure on his shoulders.
Valtteri Bottas is the reserve driver at Mercedes. Is he the insurance policy for Toto Wolff if Antontelli struggles?
Is Bottas really better? It doesn’t matter if he has more experience if you look at the last season. If you’re not quick, you’re not quick.
They’ve taken a risk and gambled based on something that they were deeply wanting, more than based on results from last year and so on. They’ve made the decision and they will make sure that that decision will work out.
It’s more they’ve decided what the outcome should be so they will try to make sure that this outcome happens.
Toto took Antonelli on when he was 12 when they started financing his go kart career. It’s a long relationship that started then and when you take under your wing a 12 year old, it’s like a father and son relationship. That kind of builds up a little bit. And if that happens then the thought process is a little bit skewered.
You want it to happen, so I don’t know. He’s definitely been competitive and super quick in every category except for Formula 2 so that’s something we will have to find out
They’ve been heavily invested financially in him for so many years too. It’s hard to come to the point where you think oh maybe he’s not good enough. No, hold on. We’ve invested so much into this that he will be good.
There’s a little bit of that in the process. And he has everything in his hands to prove that he’s good. Out of all those years, he’s had one average season, which was Formula 2, which was last year. So let’s hope that that was the odd season.
Max Verstappen is reportedly paid more than Lewis Hamilton and designer Adrian Newey would be the fourth-best paid individual on the grid if he were a driver. Does that make sense to you?
Well, Lewis brings more value. More money value. But his international image goes beyond Formula One and racing. He’s known in circles that have nothing to do with racing. Max is a pure racer and he brings wins and the victories to the team which ultimately has been bringing money to the team as well, so he’s definitely worth it.
But it’s not as linked to the image and the value brought in from outside of racing. It’s from two different angles, basically. They’re both worth the money that they’re paid.
Lewis is making a killing. It’s amazing. It’s something that will be written in history books. In terms of what he’s doing in the global space which is inside racing with his results, his records, and his image that’s touched everything. He’s known. He’s a brand. That’s the big difference. That’s the big difference with most of the drivers he actually is a brand.
Does it make you envious that you were a world champion in an era before all this attention and increased opportunity?
I’ve won one championship so no I’m definitely not envious of both Lewis and Max making so much money. They’ve worked hard at it. I believe we are in an era where F1 is worth ten times more than what it was worth so if you compare it to that, compared to what Michael and I made in the 90s, they are actually not paid a lot.
Michael made so much more even after one championship. But hey listen, he was big, he was winning everything.
What will be Newey’s focus this season? Will it be on trying to help the team win in 2025 or looking to the new car next year?
Next year — 2025 was already designed. You can give a few nudges, get the right people in place, but that’s really to prepare the mid and long-term future.
He’s always managed to make cars that were using the extremities of the regulations, always able to see either loopholes or some areas that were super clever and really get the maximum out of them. He’s always managed to work with drivers which is possibly the main difference he has with most others in his role.
He understands there’s a human being driving the car and you also have to adapt to that and understand that. So that’s very specific.
He doesn’t single-handedly design a car. He gets a team of people, he gives directions, but ultimately there’s all a group that works. But you still need the top of the pyramid.
The new season of Drive to Survive airs this week and Max Verstappen has again chosen not to take part. Would you have been happy to be involved in your racing days?
No because we were much freer with our speech back then and it would have been very damaging.
Basically a few times some people have tried to have a series like this it was always linked to one driver or another. They tried with me as well and I refused. I didn’t want someone on my back from morning to night.
It wasn’t that I think the workload has changed. It’s different. We used to race, test, race, test, race, test and there were many more journalists on race weekends than there are now. Much more because you didn’t have social media. You didn’t have influencers.
These influencers want to be journalists and their words are probably now viewed more than real journalists which is wrong. It can be very damaging but that’s the way it is so there’s not many of them. All the real journalists are almost gone.
So, there’s a lot less people in the paddock and the workload on that aspect is a lot easier. Because there would be 200 journalists, and it was just non-stop. For each country, each paper, and radio, and so on and so on. And that’s kind of died away.
You can have Netflix in the paddock because there’s more room, there’s more space, and more time for it.
What are you expecting from Pierre Gasly this season now he doesn’t have to worry about Esteban Ocon?
It’s a different team now. It’s really difficult to understand the politics, the balance, but Flavio is there to clean up and everybody’s at risk.
How is Gabriel Bortoleto looking going into the new season?
He was solid in Formula 2. He seems to be very mature for his age and he seems to be good under pressure like you’d expect from a Brazilian driver. That is what you need in F1 and he’s in a team with no expectations this year.
He has a very experienced team mate to learn from. Out of all the rookies he’s in the easiest, safest position.
Everybody is just there waiting to see how it is against Hulkenberg and if he’s clever he’ll just take his time and learn from Hulkenberg because nobody will pay much attention with Sauber being at the back anyway.
All the eyes will be riveted on Antonelli and on Lawson.
Does the status of F1 in Brazil add pressure on him given the legacy of Ayrton Senna and others?
Well, that’s something they do themselves. It was like with Barrichello, and it was like that with Massa. But they have a very strong history of being strong, of being good racers. Mostly when the going gets tough.
Carlos Sainz ended up at Williams after the uncertainty he faced last year. Is he the right guy to lead the team forward?
Williams made a great move there. When it’s said that he deserved better, I don’t know. He doesn’t go in as a number two. Every other team he’s gone to, he was almost brought in as the add on. Even though every team he went to ended up getting better when he was there and got worse when he left.
He was obviously an important factor and that’s what Williams saw in him, a team builder, and Williams is the perfect team for him. In that situation, they will rely on him. He has a lot of experience and that will make him feel good and content and important.
That’s not something he was getting from the other teams so if you look at the testing results they were actually quite competitive. He was even surprised at how good the car was. Let’s see how it hits the road but it’s a good, very good match. It will also give a good base to see what Albon is really worth
Since he came back to F1 after his Red Bull spell he hasn’t had a teammate to compare with. We all know he’s super fast but is he super super fast or just super fast? It’s hard to say. It’s that tiny little margin, you know those couple of tens where you just don’t know. With Sainz we’ll have a very good reference.
What was your relationship like with Michael Schumacher?
There wasn’t one then. Not at the time. When you don’t have a relationship with someone you don’t see who has one with them. You’re not in the circle anyway.
It was easier when he came back with Mercedes, I think but you see that with every driver. They go away for a couple of years and whenever they come back, it seems they understand better the value of how amazing racing and F1 is and enjoy it more.
Did he mellow?
Maybe that’s the word I was looking for. You’ve seen it with Alonso, for example. So, you see it with everyone. They go away and come back for a bit.
Given how fierce of a competitor he was, do you think he’d be happy to see Lewis win eight?
No. Nobody who holds a record wants to be beaten. It’s the name of the game, that’s why you’re a sportsman. And every driver, including me, always said oh the number of wins don’t matter, records don’t, but that’s not true. You just don’t want to seem pompous or arrogant. So you just say, no, no, I don’t care, don’t look at these numbers, but of course you do. It’s part of your ego, it’s part of why you’re a competitor. Because you want to win, you want to beat everyone, you want to be the best.
You want the results, you want the wins, you want the championships, you want the biggest salary. That’s how you judge yourself. It’s super important.
What did testing show you in terms of who is looking like a contender this season?
Well, there’s no reliability issue this year. They will hit the ground running. It will be a continuation of last year. It almost won’t feel like it’s a new season which is different from what we’ve had most other seasons.
For once we get to that first race wondering what the pecking order will be. Which is great. And there could be, what, four teams competing? I think two for the championship but four fighting for the races.
They’re the two teams [Ferrari and McClaren] that stand out a bit. But if either of those don’t have a perfect weekend, you have other teams that are quick enough that, on a good weekend, will beat them. That’s why it’s exciting. There’s not a gap.
Will the results of the Australia Grand Prix set the tone for the season?
I don’t know. We’ve always seen the first few races change once they get back to Europe, once they come to a pause. Now there’s the first five races until Saudi Arabia and then once you come back to the races after that, when you come back to Europe, normally that’s when you get a clearer idea of the proper thinking order.
How much pressure is there on Jack Doohan? People are writing him off already.
A lot because he’s been an extra driver for too many years doing testing and so basically not racing.
Not racing for long there’s always the risk that you might lose your mojo and you become complacent so that’s a little bit difficult. The race he did last year at the end of the season wasn’t impressive. You know you get one race at the end of the season you have to be a bit tougher.
It wasn’t impressive when you put him under that pressure so it will be good to see how he reacts to that pressure now. I hope it goes well. You know he’s a nice guy. He’s passionate. He’s been working hard at it for a long time. He’s prepared himself and it would be a shame if all this preparation came to nothing.
He has to drive out of his skin. He has to be at the worst on Gasly’s level. Like, not even behind, on his level. Like, a few hundredths in front or behind, but just there, at worst. And he actually needs to beat him.
Did the way Franco Colapinto announced himself to the sport last season add more pressure?
Yeah, Colapinto came in with a bang, then did a little bit too much damage and tarnished it a little bit after the initial positive image he earned, but he’s still viewed as a super quick driver. He is there trying to take one of the two seats, obviously.
He’s the one that has no pressure on his shoulder so it cannot go bad. He’s in the slowest car you know so it won’t matter too much if he beats the competition, that would be a wow, what a surprise. If he doesn’t, people won’t really mind.
He needs time to learn so it won’t do any damage to him. He’s the one with the least pressure on his shoulders which should allow him to learn and perform.
How does this pressure manifest in the cockpit for a driver?
It’s a unique place. For some it helps the focus. It gives adrenaline. It helps you to make the right decision in a crucial time, if you have to make a move or not to go for the win or not.
Others just lose their marbles and suddenly nothing works anymore and it’s either one or the other and it’s impossible to know until they get into F1. It’s really hard to read in the smaller categories.
Rosberg thrived under pressure. He did really, really well. Obviously Verstappen seems to perform under pressure.
This interview was conducted on March 5th 2025 by the Yay Sweepstakes Social Sportsbooks team.