Not Max Verstappen Or Lewis Hamilton, Ex-F1 World Champion Names This Driver As Favourite For 2025 Title

The former world champion Jacques Villeneuve supported Lewis Hamilton to cement his place in Ferrari while choosing Lando Norris as a favorite for the title before the opening of the Formula 1 season in Australia this weekend. Hamilton moved to Ferrari after a successful 12 -year race in Mercedes where he won six of his seven world titles to date. His teammate will be a much younger but seasoned Charles Leclerc who has been in Ferrari since 2019. Leclerc appreciated the status of a main pilot until last season. Will this change with the arrival of Hamilton?

“Lewis knows how to cement his position within a team. He was cut when Russell joined (Mercedes). I think he had become a little complacent with all easy years with Bottas. And he did not see him coming on Thursday.

“But he enters Ferrari knowing that it is the Leclerc team and that he must become the team leader. So I think he will be brutal in this regard. He knows how to win.” Ferrari has not won the title of pilots since 2007, although it is the most corrected and popular team of the grid. This can be a difficult place to work, said the 1997 world champion.

“Lewis knows how to advance a team. It will be interesting because Ferrari is not an easy team. There is a lot of pressure from the fans, the team. It is a very energetic place, but not an easy place to evolve. And Leclerc knows it very well. And for Ferrari, it’s a win-win situation.

“If they win with Lewis, Bingo, incredible. If Leclerc beats Lewis, then they manage to create a Leclerc star. So, at the moment, I assume that they are just what will happen,” said Villeneuve.

The performance in the pre-season tests indicates that McLaren is likely to take the momentum they won in the second half of 2024, making Norris the favorite to beat the champion reigning Max Verstappen.

“It’s actually quite simple. Certainly Lando, because McLaren seems to have made a very strong car. They continue to know how they went last year. If you just look at their season and how they progressed, they continued to take steps forward. And Lando was the only driver on the ground that could go to Max.

“It was on this on each race. So, if it is still in the same state of mind, then the season should start strong. But then, obviously, Ferrari goes ahead with Lewis there to help the team. So we will have to see half the season how it takes place. But the favorite right now is Lando and McLaren,” said the Canadian.

What will also be interesting to see is how Red Bull works without the star designer Adrian Newey who left the team after 19 years to join Aston Martin.

“Adrian Newey was a very key and important part of the Red Bull program. But he was not the only one to design the car. He was the head, the top of the pyramid. And this is the most important position. He understands how to work with drivers inside a car. So he is not just an engineer or a designer.

“He also understands the psychology of the human being who is really in the car. And that is what made him very good. And it was also very good, well it is always, very good to find gray areas in the rules and exploit them to their maximum.

“So, getting the most out of what has been written in the rules. The people in place are always good. They just need to advance their pace,” said Villeneuve.

It has become much more difficult to be yourself in F1

The former Williams pilot was questioned about the recent FIA distribution on the mistreatment of the driver on team radio. He himself a colorful personality in his racing days, Villeneuve supported this decision but recognized that it was difficult to be yourself in the era of social media.

“It is good to be colorful and to have personality, but you should always be educated. And I suppose that is why there was a distribution. I do not know if I agree with the repression or not. I do not know if it should be in the rules. But the drivers needed a little calming because they swore every five words.

“And finally, you have children looking. You are an example. So you should have a form of education, a minimum.

“Was it the right way?” That I don’t know. This is a very difficult subject. But it’s not just in the race.

“In general now, it has become much more difficult to be yourself, to be colorful, or even to have an opinion. You are not even allowed to have an opinion these days because of all social media,” added the 53-year-old.

(With the exception of the title, this story has not been published by NDTV staff and is published from a unionized flow.)