Jacques Villeneuve gives clear verdict on Lewis Hamilton Dutch GP crash

1997 Formula 1 world champion Jacques Villeneuve has come to the defence of Lewis Hamilton following a disastrous Dutch Grand Prix, which saw the seven-time world champion crash at Turn 3. Blaming the conditions instead of driver error, the former driver discussed his thoughts on the Sky Sports F1 broadcast.

Hamilton’s race came to a premature end as the Ferrari driver lost control of his machinery on the wet, painted surface of Zandvoort’s banked corner. With the driver running in seventh at the time, light rain swept over the track.

Villeneuve was sympathetic to the former Mercedes ace who has had a difficult season so far.

“Drizzles – you just never know when it will be that drop too much. And we’ve all been caught like this,” the 1997 champion explained. “You drive in the dry, you drive as you would normally drive in the dry, and suddenly you slide.”

Slowly catching his former team-mate George Russell, Hamilton was making progress on his medium compounds. But lap 23 saw him sustain major damage to the front of the car after he hit the barriers, ending his race immediately.

Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari

Photo by: John Thys / AFP via Getty Images

“And the way he slid,” Villeneuve continued, “you could tell it was just a sudden lack of grip, a little bit of wet on the paint, and he really got caught out and not by much because he just glanced the tyre barrier and that was it.”

This was Hamilton’s first retirement of his season with Ferrari, adding to a difficult campaign where the driver has been openly critical of his performances. But despite the DNF, Hamilton was notably happier with his machinery.

“It took me by complete surprise what happened, I lost the rear up the bank, and that was it. Apart from that, it’s been a really solid weekend. I feel like I made progress, just overall, and my approach and everything.

“To come away with nothing is definitely painful. I feel fine mentally, I’ve felt lots of positives. I felt I was making progress, I was catching the car ahead. It’s tough to have a result like that for sure.

“But I’ve been racing for so long, I’ve had God knows how many races. You can probably count on one hand that sort of incident.”

Photos from Dutch GP – Race