Jacques Villeneuve does not spoil the physical discomfort in a Formula 1 car. The Canadian broadens the debate about quiques and has the same idea as Max Verstappen.
Jacques Villeneuve does not spoil the physical discomfort in a Formula 1 car. The Canadian broadens the debate about the quiques and has the same idea as Max Verstappen.
In the 1990s, when Villeneuve himself was active in Formula 1 and won his world championship, the cars also suffered bumps because they were too low. Villeneuve remembers hitting Argentina at the time and seeing stars. He therefore sympathizes with Lewis Hamilton, who suffers a lot of back pain in his W13.
The former driver criticizes however the FIA's action to start helping the teams with the problems. In his column on the Formula1.nl website, he shows that he agrees with Verstappen.
"I understand the concerns and I have the solution for Mercedes: increase the height of the car. Nobody is forcing them to drive so low, maybe the car is sensitive to that because of the minimal sidepods," the 1997 champion wrote.
Villeneuve doesn't have much faith in team boss Toto Wolff's motives, and thinks it's more likely that Mercedes is playing the "usual political game in Formula One" than actually caring about Hamilton's complaints.
Villeneuve: "Mercedes will use everything to get closer to Red Bull and Ferrari, just as they wanted to change as little as possible in recent years."