“Take Max Verstappen out, nobody cares. Take Lewis Hamilton out, people care”

Jacques Villeneuve believes “nobody” would care if Max Verstappen quit F1, but thinks it would be a different story if Lewis Hamilton left.

The 1997 F1 world champion made the comparison between Verstappen and Hamilton when describing the latter’s switch to Ferrari as the “most high-profile” driver signing since the great Michael Schumacher joined the Italian outfit.

According to Villeneuve, seven-time world champion Hamilton has “broken the mould” of what it means to be an F1 driver and has captured a universal fanbase that extends beyond the sport.

“Lewis Hamilton moving to Ferrari is the most high-profile F1 move since Michael Schumacher left Benetton for Ferrari,” the Canadian told Action Network.

“Independent of race results, Lewis Hamilton is the biggest driver of all time because of all the following he has.

“He’s very different. He’s unique. He’s broken the mould. There’s a lot that hangs on him. He has the biggest image. His image goes beyond F1. And there’s not many drivers like that.

“Take Verstappen out of F1. Nobody cares. Take Hamilton out of F1, people care.

“So yes, it is the biggest signing. And Ferrari is also one of the biggest brands in the world, if not the biggest. So put the two together, yeah, of course, it’s amazing.”

Briatore ‘short-sighted’ for Hamilton comments

Flavio Briatore was among F1 figures to question Ferrari’s decision to sign Hamilton in place of Carlos Sainz for 2025.

The Alpine executive director told Sport.de: “It will be strange to see Lewis in the Ferrari. Of course, I respect such decisions, but I also wonder whether it makes sense. Ferrari had two top drivers in Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz.

“I don’t understand why they split up this great pairing. It’s not my job to judge, but if I had been in a position of responsibility at Ferrari, I wouldn’t have signed Lewis.

“In principle, it’s good for Formula 1 if Lewis drives for Ferrari. And everything that’s good for Formula 1 is good for me too. It’s certainly good for television and the ratings too. Let’s wait and see. Time will tell how well he drives in the Ferrari.”

But Villeneuve argued that Hamilton’s switch to Ferrari is the “best move they’ve ever done”.

“That’s very short-sighted from Briatore suggesting he can’t see the logic of signing Lewis Hamilton at Ferrari,” Villeneuve said. “You just have to look at the value of Ferrari the minute they signed him.

“You can’t look at Ferrari just as a racing team. It’s a whole industry. Yes, they are there to win, but winning helps them sell more cars and adds to the value of Ferrari.

“That’s what the business is and signing Lewis was worth millions and millions, so it was the best move they’ve ever done.”