Lewis Hamilton and Sky F1 pundit in tense exchange live on air

Lewis Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton and Sky F1 pundit in tense exchange live on air

Lewis Hamilton has bagged his first Ferrari grand prix win

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Sunday 14 June 2026 18:59

Seven-time F1 world champion Lewis Hamilton hit back at a former driver after his 106th F1 grand prix victory, causing a fiery debate.

Hamilton claimed victory at the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix, his first grand prix victory for Ferrari, and his first in F1 since the 2024 Belgian GP.

The 41-year-old has been rejuvenated in 2026 following a difficult first year at Ferrari in 2025, and is now second in the drivers' championship, just 41 points behind Mercedes' championship leader Kimi Antonelli.

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And during that dismal run in 2025, a number of critics of the Brit's performances suggested that he was coming towards the end of his career. But following the victory in Barcelona, the seven-time champion was defiant in his response.

He criticised said pundits and former drivers, which Sky Sports F1 pundit Nico Rosberg then claimed was aimed at his colleague this weekend Jacques Villeneuve.

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Hamilton sparks fiery debate

Sky F1 pundits Villeneuve and Rosberg are never ones to shy away from the difficult topics, and their presence alongside one another in Barcelona on Sunday was always sure to create fireworks.

Hamilton told Sky Sports F1 in the media pen after the race: "I think it’s easy to be negative about people. I think what is worse is when it’s a driver that knows how hard it is in this field to do a job and they don’t even have the success that I have and they talk negatively."

When they went back to the Sky team, Rosberg said: "Jacques, he was speaking to you in that piece there. He says he hates when ex-drivers criticise him who have not had his success. He was speaking about you 100 per cent in that moment."

Villeneuve: "[Hamilton] did make a stupid comment in Montreal, where he said at least my dad [Gilles Villeneuve] was better than me and it came out of nowhere, and I was like ‘why would he say that?’. And I don’t remember criticising him, so I don’t think that was about me. No it must have been about you, from the time you were together. Come on."

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F1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes Nico Rosberg Jacques Villeneuve Barcelona-Catalunya Grand prix