Jacques Villeneuve thinks people are now ‘beginning to realise’ the true worth of one Formula 1 driver with even his team also starting to question, ‘What have we done?’.
F1 is five rounds through the 2024 season but a lot of focus has also been put on the grid for next term. Teams up and down the field have moved early to sign drivers for 2025, including Ferrari, Aston Martin and Sauber as Audi starts to get its feet under the table in Switzerland.
Audi has tempted Nico Hulkenberg to leave Haas by giving the German a three-year contract with Sauber. The German giants take the Swiss squad over as a factory entry in 2026. Ferrari have even tempted Lewis Hamilton to leave Mercedes and replace Carlos Sainz racing in red.
Jacques Villeneuve thinks Carlos Sainz is ‘undoubtedly beating’ Charles Leclerc
Hulkenberg will offer Audi his wealth of experience as it starts planning for Formula 1’s 2026 engine and technical regulations. But Villeneuve believes Ferrari might regret dropping Sainz to sign Hamilton as the Spaniard is comprehensively beating Charles Leclerc in the same car.
Sainz has scored 69 points in his four rounds compared to the 76 that Leclerc posted from five rounds. Ferrari had to hand Oliver Bearman his Formula 1 debut at the Saudi Arabian GP as Sainz needed surgery for appendicitis. Yet Sainz then won the Australian GP on his return.
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Ferrari even saw Sainz finish third at the Bahrain GP and the Japanese GP before taking fifth in the Chinese GP. Leclerc only reached the podium in Jeddah (P3) and Melbourne (P2) yet. The Monegasque has also sealed fourth in Sakhir, at Suzuka and in Shanghai so far this year.
Villeneuve has also now praised Sainz for stepping up after Ferrari confirmed that he would not receive a new contract in February. The 29-year-old will leave the Scuderia at the end of 2024 when his current deal expires. Yet Villeneuve feels Sainz is leading Ferrari, not Leclerc.
“Sainz is undoubtedly beating Leclerc,” Villeneuve has told Marca. “People are beginning to realise that Sainz is a serious contender. Sainz is mature, dedicated, intelligent [and] hard-working. He is making a difference.”
Ferrari will wonder, ‘What have we done?’, by dropping Carlos Sainz
The 1997 F1 champion even thinks Ferrari will be asking themselves, ‘What have we done?, after replacing Sainz with Hamilton. Sainz is the sole non-Red Bull driver to win a Grand Prix since George Russell won the 2022 Sao Paulo GP, having also won the 2023 Singapore GP.
Villeneuve added about the five-time pole sitter: “Sainz has responded very well after being basically kicked out of Ferrari. We see that he is not there to be Leclerc’s No2.
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“He is there to play his game and show the world what he can do. [Sainz] has put himself on the showcase in a big way. He is the only one who wins races for Ferrari. His value will have risen a lot in the last three years…
“There are two sides at Ferrari. One wanted Hamilton and the other wanted to keep Leclerc. So, Sainz was the sacrificial lamb. Ironically, Sainz will probably come out with a better situation. You have to wonder if they think, ‘What have we done?’.”
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