'Surprised' Jacques Villeneuve opines why 'demoralised' Lewis Hamilton has struggled at Ferrari

Jacques Villeneuve expressed his surprise at how much Lewis Hamilton was demoralized in Hungary, but felt that it came down to how different things are at Ferrari, and hence his struggles at adapting to them. The 2025 F1 season was one of the more anticipated ones for the fans of the Italian team.

Ferrari almost won the constructors' championship in 2024 as the battle went to the last race of the season. To add to this, the team was welcoming Lewis Hamilton to the squad. In a partnership that comprises the most successful team in F1 history and the most successful driver, expectations were huge.

The early trends have been poor so far. Lewis Hamilton has been a shadow of himself at Ferrari as Charles Leclerc has continued to be the benchmark at the team. At the same time, the Italian team doesn't appear to have the performance that's needed to win or even compete for the title.

Lewis Hamilton, however, ended up having a disastrous weekend in Hungary that led to the driver calling on Ferrari to fire him. Looking at how demoralized the driver was, Jacques Villeneuve expressed his surprise, as he felt that a part of it came down to the driver being surprised by how different everything is at Ferrari. He said,

"Lewis comes from completely different experiences in Formula 1 and in the past he has always worked with the English and German methods, now he is realizing how different everything is at Ferrari. It's surprising to see him so demoralized . There always seems to be a bit of confusion at Ferrari in the decisions and communications, even over the radio, and this doesn't help his adaptation ,"

Villeneuve did however feel that the real battle would be next season between Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc. He said,

"Next year will be the one for the real showdown with Leclerc"

Lewis Hamilton gets the backing of F1 boss

F1 boss and former Ferrari ace Stefano Domenicali also came out in support of Lewis Hamilton after a tough weekend in Hungary. Talking about the 7x F1 champion, Domenicali felt that it was a difficult moment for the driver, but he backed him to come back strong after the summer break. He told Sky Sports,

“First of all, Lewis is a jewel, he is an incredible athlete, so no matter if it is a difficult moment, he will react, and I’m pretty sure he will show the reason why he is here. He wants to achieve his eighth title, and he will triumph again. So, stay with Lewis and he will do a great race, and be very, very strong after the summer [break].”

Hamilton is currently 42 points behind Charles Leclerc in the championship and while his teammate is one of the best drivers in F1, the gap is still quite big.