1997 F1 world champion Jacques Villeneuve believes the controversial ending to 2021 sets things up nicely for Lewis Hamilton to come back and win a record eighth F1 driver's title in 2022.
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Whether or not Lewis Hamilton will be on the grid for the 2022 Formula 1 season is still up for debate. The seven-time world champion is contracted with Mercedes for 2022 and 2023.
However, he has not spoken out since the controversial Abu Dhabi GP that ended the 2021 season. The race, which saw Hamilton lose the title in controversial circumstances, has affected the veteran superstar of the sport.
There is a belief that Hamilton’s return hinges on how the FIA tackles the aftermath. There have been calls made to the governing body to make decision-making more transparent.
Thaat being said, the sport still needs Hamilton on the grid. Not only is he one of F1’s most successful drivers, he is also among the more marketable ones.
Among those keen to see this happen is Jacques Villeneuve. The 1997 world champion believes the controversial ending sets things up nicely for Hamilton to come back and win a record eighth F1 driver’s title.
“It’s good for the sport anyway because Lewis now has to come back and try to win his eighth championship and be aggressive to try to win it,” Villeneuve was quoted as saying by Motorsport.
“Ultimately, it got a lot of ink in the papers. It was slightly controversial, but it always is when it all comes down to the last race.”
That being said, Villenueve is unsure whether Hamilton will actually take the call to come back. The Canadian cited the example of Nico Rosberg’s shock retirement as proof it can be hard to predict anything.
“Well, who knows? Nobody expected [Nico] Rosberg to not come back and suddenly he just woke up one morning and told everyone he actually wasn’t passionate about racing in a way. That doesn’t seem to be the case with Lewis, but who knows?
“It’s a really a pickle to know what’s going on in the head of people when the season is very long, you believe you know where it’s going to turn out and it doesn’t turn out how you expect, and you feel it’s been taken away from you.
“I guess the reaction is quite negative. But you just have to get going again.”
Villenueve also said he believed Max Verstappen deserved to win the title given how he was consistently ahead of Hamilton throughout the season.
“I guess it depends if you’re a fan of Verstappen or a fan of Lewis when it comes to the reaction.
“It was exciting and seeing how the whole season went, Max deserved this championship. He had been on top of it all year – race after race.”
The 2022 season gets underway from March 18 at Bahrain. Pre-season tested is set to begin in February.
