Formula 1: What does Jacques Villeneuve have against Charles Leclerc?

1997 Formula 1 champion Jacques Villeneuve continues to make ridiculous claims about Charles Leclerc. What does he have against Ferrari’s rising star?

Jacques Villeneuve has made a habit out of bashing Charles Leclerc, as he has done so even since before the 21-year-old Monegasque landed at Scuderia Ferrari for the 2019 Formula 1 season and even before he was confirmed as a Ferrari driver.

The 1997 Formula 1 champion continued this trend following the Italian Grand Prix, which Leclerc won after holding off both Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport drivers on different tire strategies while teammate Sebastian Vettel was nowhere in the fight after spinning out, damaging his car and receiving a penalty early on.

Villeneuve believes that Leclerc should have been penalized for the way he raced Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton. Here is a video of this run-in.

As you can see from the video, Leclerc took the traditional line the whole way around, and by the time he made the “questionable” move, Hamilton was already on the curb with little to no chance of executing the pass anyway.

Here is what Villeneuve had to say, according to Motorsport-Magazin.

"“You have to judge him the same way as any other driver and this Sunday he did ‘a Magnussen’, that’s the truth. When he made the move before the second chicane, at the most dangerous place – if that was on another track or if it was another driver, that would normally have been a penalty. He knew he could risk it, so he played with the limits and it worked for him.”“It’s like being allowed to do a stupid action in the race. They’re going to start abusing it soon, depending on whether the yellow card is transferred to the next race, then of course the driver does not have that option.”"

More from Formula One

Hamilton ended up having to pit for new tires anyway, which he would have had to do regardless of this run-in with Leclerc because he was on older medium tires compared to Leclerc’s newer hard tires and he had already spent a bunch of laps in Leclerc’s dirty air, so the outcome of the race wasn’t affected in the slightest.

While there are those who share Villeneuve’s opinion that the race stewards should have altered the outcome, even though doing so would have unjustifiably given the victory to Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas for finishing in second place less than five seconds behind Leclerc, Villeneuve’s hot take is particularly notable because he has become known for such hot takes. Moreover, he has been known for negative hot takes about Leclerc.

Here is what Villeneuve had to say less than one month before Leclerc was confirmed at Ferrari for the 2019 season last year, according to Formula 1.

"“Put a young ‘cub’ next to Vettel and what will Vettel do? He’ll try to eat him alive. Either he will destroy the young cub or it will end in tears and the whole team will end up going slower within two years. That’s not constructive.”"

Looking back on this quote, it’s hard not to laugh.

But it didn’t stop there. After Ferrari struggled to start the season, Villeneuve pinned their struggles solely on the driver who had been with them for just four races at the time.

Here is what Villeneuve had to say following the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, according to Motorsport.

"“If you listen to any fan or go on the forums, even the qualifying accident [in Baku], Leclerc doesn’t get criticized. If it had been Vettel, he would have been destroyed by the media and everyone, for the same mistake.“Ultimately I think that’s having a negative effect for the team. Seb’s spin in Bahrain came because of that, then the team orders in China, it all comes from there. And Leclerc’s accident in qualifying also, wanting to prove that he’s the number one of the team. Ultimately that’s damaging the whole team…It’s not had a good positive effect on the team, that’s all.”"

Leclerc “doesn’t get criticized”, yet here is Villeneuve on his seemingly endless Leclerc-hating rant.

Did he miss the fact that a Ferrari engine issue cost Leclerc a dominant victory in just his second start for Ferrari in the Bahrain Grand Prix and the fact that it was Vettel who cost himself a victory (factoring in Leclerc’s eventual engine issue) in that race by spinning out?

Did he miss the fact that Ferrari goofed on strategy in both the Australian Grand Prix and the Chinese Grand Prix, both times conveniently helping Vettel in the process?

But one mistake, and Leclerc is to blame for Ferrari’s shortcomings.

Right.

At this point, there really is no “proving he’s the number one of the team”. At this point, it’s not even debatable; Charles Leclerc is Ferrari’s number one driver, and Vettel’s crucial error after crucial error have helped to pave the way for that reality.

So what does the 48-year-old Canadian have against him? Is he still sour at the fact that he replaced Kimi Raikkonen after Raikkonen’s first winning season in five years?

By the way, Leclerc doubled Raikkonen’s win total over his five seasons during his second stint at Ferrari in the matter of one week, even after all of the unfortunate blows he was dealt earlier in the year. So any doubters still questioning that decision, of whom there were many when it was simply in the rumor stages, should consider paying more attention to Formula 1.

Before I close, I can’t end without giving Villeneuve credit where credit is due. He did give Leclerc some credit where credit was due after he won the Italian Grand Prix, as he stated the following, according to Motorsport-Magazin.

"“It’s great because he really did a great job, he was really strong, do not forget that he’s only 21 years old. He was in control of the tyres until the end, that was all good, it was a great race finish.”"

So at least there’s that.

What does Jacques Villeneuve have against Charles Leclerc? Will he continue to come after every detail of his Ferrari tenure in Formula 1 with negativity?