Villeneuve: Hamilton seems “very strong” but nothing is decided
Jacques Villeneuve believes that although the momentum is in favor of Lewis Hamilton after his victory at the Singapore F1 Grand Prix compared to Nico Rosberg, for whom everything has been going wrong since Spa, the end of the season remains open between the two men.

The 1997 World Champion and consultant for Canal + in F1, Jacques Villeneuve shared his opinion on the battle for the 2014 title after the Singapore Grand Prix, won by Lewis Hamilton on Sunday.
After two consecutive victories, the Briton has reclaimed the lead in the championship by three points, something that hadn’t happened since the Spanish Grand Prix. The momentum seems to be in his favor: « You never know how people will react in these high-pressure moments. Everyone is different. It can have a negative effect because it can mentally send you on vacation or it can push you to work even harder because things are going well, » explains the Canadian to the website of the Daily Mirror. « But Lewis seems to be the kind of guy who stays calm in these situations. »
Reflecting on his personal experience, he believes that every detail matters, even those that seem the most distant: At Suzuka [in 1997], I was disqualified and went from a 9-point lead to suddenly being one point behind, but it ended well. In 1996, I had an oil leak during the first race. The points lost at that moment decided the championship. There are always moments like that. Anything can still decide the championship. They may have issues, or someone might crash into one of the two at the start.
The 2014 season has already been marked by problems and twists at Mercedes: Lewis Hamilton’s retirement in the early laps of the Australian Grand Prix, the brake issues with both cars leading to the retirement of the 2008 world champion in Canada, Nico Rosberg’s gearbox problem leading to his retirement at Silverstone, Hamilton’s brake and engine failures during qualifying in Germany and Hungary, the collision at Spa, and finally, Rosberg’s retirement due to an electronic issue in Singapore.
Regarding the GP in the Asian city-state, precisely, Jacques Villeneuve sees a real performance from Hamilton: « It was an epic drive. It was the right moment, he fought all year, and there he was totally in control. And you could hear it because he was explaining the strategies calmly and really in control of his destiny. It’s really the right time for him to be leading in the title race. He is on a roll and he looks very strong. »
On the other hand, Nico Rosberg is in a more delicate phase: « Everything has gone wrong for him since Spa. There was that major setback, there’s been a decline, and now he had an unfortunate failure in Singapore. Psychologically, it’s difficult. »
He does not forget, despite everything, that such a problem can affect anyone, starting with the current championship leader: « Nico’s failure did not happen because the car was poorly built, it was just an unlucky moment and it can happen to either of them, at any time. It’s still very open. Lewis could be unlucky in the next race, who knows… »
With five races remaining in the season, the two drivers are separated by three points and there are a maximum of 150 points still up for grabs.