Villeneuve: Williams 'sold their soul' to Stroll family

Villeneuve: Williams 'sold their soul' to Stroll family

Friday 5 January 2018 14:07

Former Formula One world champion Jacques Villeneuve has once again criticised Lance Stroll for not having the speed or ability required to compete in the sport, and suggested that his compatriot only has the seat at Williams because of the financial backing of his family.

Villeneuve has regularly sent verbal jibes towards Stroll, suggesting the young driver is not fast enough for the sport and was lucky to gain a podium spot in Azerbaijan last season.

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"Even Massa was faster than Lance," Villenueve told Auto Bild.

"His podium in Baku does not convince me as it was pure luck."

The 1997 world champion thinks that Stroll only has the spot in Formula One because Williams were only interested in him for the financial backing they would receive from the Stroll family.

"They [Williams] already sold their soul to the billions of Lawrence Stroll, who only cares about his son."

Not content with criticising Stroll, Villeneuve also reserved from negative words for Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas, who he described as 'embarrassing' with his performances in 2017 as he should have ended the campaign much closer to his team-mate, Lewis Hamilton, in the championship rankings.

"Mercedes won because they still have the best engine, but only Hamilton was able to take advantage of it. Bottas' performance was almost embarrassing," Villeneuve continued.

"He is a solid number 2 and no more. I would have chosen [Pascal] Wehrlein."