Pundit Jacques Villeneuve believes Sebastian Vettel’s ill-fated move on Max Verstappen in last Sunday’s Japanese Grand Prix reflects what separates the Ferrari driver from arch-rival Lewis Hamilton.
Vettel’s bold attempt to overtake Verstappen for third at Suzuka’s Spoon corner on lap 8 sent the German down the order and his title hopes down the drain.
Villeneuve was among those who believe Vettel’s maneuver was risky and ill-timed.
“He was too far behind when he overtook,” the 1997 world champion told Sky Italia.
“Max couldn’t just say ‘Please go past me’. Vettel tried something and didn’t play dirty, but it was too risky.
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“He could write a book about his season called ‘How to lose a world championship’.
“The key difference between him and Hamilton this year is that Lewis first thinks about the situation before making an aggressive attack.”
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Indeed, the Mercedes star, who will now enjoys a massive 67-point lead over Vettel in the Drivers’ standings, with four races to go, has rarely been involved in controversial moves or clashes with his opponents.
For Villeneuve, Hamilton now enjoys a clear path to a fifth world championship title while Vettel appears clearly resigned.
“Already at the last race we could see that he has accepted he cannot win. You can see that he is more relaxed already,” said the Canadian.
As for Ferrari’s mistakes and tapering performance, like many Villeneuve is left scratching his head.
“It’s not easy to understand Ferrari, and not just because they lost some races. After some mistakes they never returned to the right path and that’s impossible to understand from the outside,” he said.
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