Lewis Hamilton has received a furious response from Jacques Villeneuve after the Sky Sports pundit was left frustrated by a comment about his father. Speaking at last month's Canadian Grand Prix, the Ferrari driver jumped at the chance to have a cheeky dig at Villeneuve's expense.
The race was held at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, named after the iconic driver who sadly died in a crash in 1982. Gilles was just 32 years old and, although he did not win an F1 title, he was regarded as one of the greatest racers of his generation. His son, Jacques, went on to follow in his footsteps and did become a world champion, winning the title in 1997.
In a press conference, Hamilton was asked what he knew about Gilles and the 41-year-old took the opportunity to have some fun at Jacques' expense. He said: "I personally didn’t really know a lot about [Gilles], to be honest. I obviously knew about Niki [Lauda], more so because I got to spend a lot of time with him, and obviously, I had to learn and watch him when I was growing up.
"Reading up on some of the great drivers that have been here, all I really knew is that he was a great driver. He seemed to be, from some of the videos, a driver that really was at the edge of his seat. Really being able to balance the car as it’s moving, which was pretty cool to see... and obviously, far better than his son."
Even though Hamilton meant no malice towards Jacques, the one-time world champion was clearly rattled. He labelled the comment 'stupid' and expressed surprise that Hamilton would say such a thing, insisting that he had never criticised him in the past. Appearing on Sky Sports alongside Nico Rosberg, the younger Villeneuve said: "He did make a stupid comment in Montreal, where he said at least my dad is better than me. I was like: ‘Why would he say that?’
"I don’t remember criticising him, so I don’t think that was about me, no. It must have been about you [Rosberg] from the time you were together. Come on."
Hamilton won his first Grand Prix as a Ferrari driver last weekend, taking the chequered flag in Barcelona ahead of Mercedes rival George Russell.
