Villeneuve takes aim at Hamilton, Schumacher over success

Jacques Villeneuve has dismissed the achievements of Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton, saying the pair only found success when furnished with the best car on the Formula 1 grid.

Hamilton is near-certain to win a sixth world championship in 2019, which would put him just one behind Schumacher's record tally.

The Mercedes man eclipsed Schumacher's record number of pole positions in 2017 and needs just 10 more grand prix victories to move beyond another Schumacher benchmark – one that had been considered unbeatable previously.

Asked to compare Hamilton's achievements with Schumacher's, Villeneuve took aim at both instead.

"These two drivers only won when they had the best car," he told Motorsport-Total.com.

"They've always had the best car in their entire career, and if you put Lewis in a Williams, you do not win.

"He's super good and always makes the right decision as to which team to go to.

"There he builds a team around him, that's all. He might not have won in a Ferrari."

Former Ferrari driver Gerhard Berger, who replaced Schumacher at Benetton, said earlier this year that Hamilton was the first driver in F1 to remind him of the legendary Ayrton Senna, although this is another comparison that the 1997 world champion has little time for.

"This is the stupidest comment," said Villeneuve. "You could also say he's the first one on [Juan Manuel] Fangio's level, how do you compare that? It was a very different time, who knows?

"And also with Senna: He won in the best car. [Alain] Prost too, that's just how it works."

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