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Former F1 world champion Jacques Villeneuve has dismissed the significance of Lewis Hamilton's rookie season triumph over Fernando Alonso in 2007, claiming that the Spaniard was internally sabotaged by McLaren. Hamilton finished second in his rookie season, while Alonso finished third on the same number of points.
One of the biggest arguments against Fernando Alonso when ranking his legacy in comparison to Lewis Hamilton has been the fact that the 2x world champion lost to his rookie teammate in 2007.
But former world champion Jacques Villeneuve still ranked Alonso as a better driver than Hamilton, while appearing on The Red Flag Podcast recently. When asked about the Brit's triumph over Alonso in 2007, Villeneuve said:
"You also have to take into account that McLaren signed him [Alonso], or Ron Dennis signed him, as a double world champion, needed him for the sponsors and all that. Then they announced Hamilton, 'okay, Hamilton is our champion, we don't like you, Fernando'."
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"When the team boss unbalances the team internally like that, you have to fight back and that's what happened. So Alonso was not in a fair field at that point and he had to fight his own battle alone in the team and that actually destroyed the team ultimately," he added.
Both Hamilton and Alonso finished the 2007 season with 109 points and with 4 race wins each, the former ranked higher due to the counterback system. This means Hamilton finished higher because he had more second-placed finishes than Alonso that season. Both of them finished just a point behind champion Kimi Raikkonen.
Alonso expected to be the main man at McLaren as the reigining world champion, but Hamilton was given equal footing in the team, leading to intra-team tensions. After just one year at the British team in 2007, he left McLaren and returned back to Renault.
Jacques Villeneuve questions Lewis Hamilton's mental strength amid Ferrari challenge
Jacques Villeneuve has questioned Lewis Hamilton's ability to bounce back amid a tough start to life at Ferrari, claiming he struggles to "keep his head above water" in difficult situations. The Canadian former driver has also highlighted that Hamilton needs a "helping hand" to return back to his best.
Speaking on the aforementioned podcast, Villeneuve was asked if things will eventually go right for Hamilton at Ferrari. He replied by mentioning that a glimpse of brilliance was showcased in China this year, before adding:
"But in general, you can see that when things go a little bit wrong, a little bit tough, he goes down. He has a real hard time to keep his head above the water. That's not a good sign, mostly in a team like Ferrari."
"Ferrari is a tough team and you need to be really strong to survive it. So, he needs a helping hand to get his mojo back," he concluded.
Hamilton's best result yet in his debut season with Ferrari was the Sprint in China, which he won. But the 40-year-old is yet to finish a conventional race on the podium in 2025.
