Former Formula One world champion Jacques Villeneuve believes that Max Verstappen will win the 2021 world championship. The 1997 world champion has picked the Dutch driver over the 7-time world champion Lewis Hamilton as his favorite for the title.

The Canadian mentioned that since the retirement of Nico Rosberg, Lewis Hamilton has fallen asleep. He also gave his take on the Verstappen-Hamilton crash at the Italian Grand Prix last weekend.

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Max Verstappen is superior: Jacques Villeneuve

As reported by Corriere, the former world champion has mentioned that the Red Bull driver has a better chance to win the title as he is currently superior to Lewis.

“Verstappen is superior. He made no real mistakes. He always went on the attack. Instead, Lewis showed weaknesses. And Mercedes too, more than Red Bull,” said Villeneuve.

Lewis Hamilton has won every single drivers’ championship since 2016 when Nico Rosberg defeated the Brit. Jacques stated that since Rosberg’s retirement, Hamilton has won the title too easily without much competition.

“After Rosberg, he had an easy life. Maybe he had fallen asleep a little, this year he woke up suddenly. But it remains a phenomenon,” said the former Williams driver. (Translated via Google Translate)

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Former world champion gives his opinion on Hamilton-Verstappen crash

Jacques Villeneuve knows a thing or two about battling for a championship with a fierce competitor. He was able to beat Michael Schumacher in the 1997 championship despite them crashing at the last race. The Canadian believed that the crash between 2021 title rivals was a racing incident and does not agree with Verstappen‘s penalty.

“No, in Monza they ‘played’ in two. Max was aggressive. He could have cut the chicane, but then he would have had to give up the position. Lewis could have left 10 cm more, but he wanted to stay in front.

“It seemed like a process of intentions. You cannot punish someone thinking that he did it on purpose when the contact starts meters before the maneuver becomes intentional,” said Jacques.

Max Verstappen was given a three-place grid penalty for the next race. But he still leads Hamilton by 5 points in the championship going into Russia.

Do you agree with Villeneuve? Let us know.