Villeneuve urges Ferrari to back Hamilton over Leclerc in 2026 title bid

Jacques Villeneuve has urged Ferrari to throw its full support behind Lewis Hamilton in the 2026 championship fight, arguing that the team must choose its number one driver if it wants any realistic shot at the title — and that Hamilton is now clearly that man.

The 1997 world champion made his case in the wake of Hamilton’s breakthrough win at the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix, which ended the 40-year-old’s victory drought and opened a 40-point lead over team-mate Charles Leclerc in the drivers’ standings. It was Hamilton’s first grand prix victory as a Ferrari driver.

“Lewis knows how to win, and he knows what it takes. And if he gets a sniff of it, there won’t be any quarter,” Villeneuve said. “And I think that’s where he can make the difference. Ferrari has to focus on Lewis if they want a small chance of winning.”

Villeneuve drew a contrast with Mercedes, where he argued the team cannot afford to favour either Kimi Antonelli or George Russell at this stage of their respective careers. Ferrari, he said, faces no such dilemma given Leclerc’s position in the standings.

“The decision is easy to make because Charles Leclerc is quite far back,” Villeneuve added, before offering a pointed assessment of the Monégasque driver’s development at the Scuderia. “He was quick and that was plenty because the perception was, ‘Well, that’s a car that cannot win a championship anyway’. You win a few races, you beat your team-mate — who was Vettel — everybody was happy.”

Villeneuve argued that Leclerc had never been forced to build a team around himself in the way Hamilton has done throughout his career, suggesting the Spaniard’s arrival has exposed that gap. “The minute Lewis woke up, the minute Lewis made that car and that team his own and he’s going for it and doesn’t give any quarter, Leclerc is not prepared for that.”

Hamilton’s win in Barcelona marked a significant turning point in what had been a difficult first season at Ferrari in 2024. With the 2026 regulation reset on the horizon — widely seen as the most significant rule change in a generation — the question of how Ferrari manages its driver pairing could prove decisive in determining whether the team can end its long wait for a constructors’ championship.