Lewis Hamilton may decide to quit Formula One if there are no signs of Mercedes improving over the rest of the year, Jacques Villeneuve has warned.
Villeneuve, the 1997 winner of the Drivers’ Championship, has experienced the highs and lows of F1 himself as he fell out of the title race almost immediately after lifting his sole crown - before exiting the sport midway through the 2006 season by announcing “screw this”.
Some champions, such as Alain Prost and Nico Rosberg, have been able to leave on a high but the Canadian has outlined why being off the pace is different for previous winners.
”Will Hamilton still be there in two, three years? Will he even reach the end of this season?” wrote Villenueve for Formule1.nl.
“You can’t see into someone’s head; you can be down and depressed or you can be unable to deal with no longer winning. Then maybe it’s time to decide that life is better without racing.
“We’ve been surprised in the past: it’s happened that champions have sometimes just had enough.”
Hamilton came home 13th at the weekend’s Emilia Romagna Grand Prix after spending a frustrating race stuck behind Pierre Gasly, earning a public apology from team boss Toto Wolff that Villenueve described as “aimed at the whole world”.
“Hamilton wasn’t in the right rhythm from the off this weekend,” he said. “He also didn’t look aggressive enough, as if he couldn’t fight.
“That he ended up getting lapped, can happen. That’s the sum total of all the factors, plus the bad car. He won’t keep having such terrible weekends, and he’ll beat [George] Russell [again].”
