© NASCAR Whelen Euro Series / Stephane Azemard
1997 Formula 1 champion Jacques Villeneuve doesn’t want to pick sides in the 2021 championship fight, but hopes “we have a nice clean race”.
The Saudi Arabian Grand Prix will be remembered as one of the most controversial races in the history of Formula 1. We had numerous red flags, race starts, penalties, questionable tactics, crashes, and so on.
Jacques Villeneuve, who currently drives in the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series, is especially critical of the decisions made by the FIA in the race.
“It wasn’t F1, it was rental karting,” the Canadian told Motorsport.com.
“Everything was wrong. So I’m not sure what to say. And it’s hard to stay neutral, it’s hard to give a comment on what happened every time and be perceived as being neutral.
“You will always be perceived as taking sides, and that’s when it becomes a bit too much.
“Do we want sport and good F1? Or do we just want a Hollywood show? If you want a Hollywood show, today was amazing. But is that what F1 is all about?
“I don’t know. I mean, I think today Frank [Williams] would have turned in his grave, seeing this race.
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“And then when you see the team principals, everybody is shouting, and putting pressure even on the marshals and so on, that becomes ridiculous. It really has become ridiculous.
“It was great for the fans. So that probably will increase the viewership. Which is great for F1. But we’re starting to get away from the sport, that’s all.
“So ultimately, it depends if you’re a purist or not.”
Villeneuve also gave his comments on the collision between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen.
“Someone slows down in front of you, you overtake. The problem is those stupid DRS lines. And Lewis didn’t want to cross the DRS ahead of Max.
“He knew Max was letting him by. He just didn’t want Max to have the DRS for the next straightline, because Max would have overtaken him, so they both played dumb there.”
He also criticised the FIA for offering Red Bull and Mercedes ‘a deal’ to agree on where Max Verstappen will start after the red flag period, before his controversial on-track manoeuver is referred to the stewards.
“A deal being made? Never heard of that. It’s not in the rules. That one, I just I didn’t get it.”
Ultimately, Lewis and Max are approaching the final race of the season with equal points, but with Max ahead on the number of wins. This means if both do not finish the race, Max will be the champion.
Villeneuve has previous experience of going into the final race with this kind of disadvantage. In 1997 Michael Schumacher famously crashed into him in an attempt to prevent them both from finishing, so that he could become champion.
At the time it didn’t work as Jacques was able to finish the race and win his first F1 title. Now, he says he hopes the 2021 season finale will not feature any dirty moves or “Hollywood” decisions by the FIA.
“It’s a Red Bull track. But with the engine that Lewis has every track is a Lewis track now. I just hope we have a nice clean race.
“And may the best man win, and not anything like today, not Hollywood, at least not in the last race.
“We already got our Hollywood hits this year,” concluded the 1997 champion.
