| One may not always agree with the good Mr. Villeneuve, but beyond the often brutal and clear-cut form of his views, they often bear a sense of truth and logic.There have been many unreasonable or silly fulminations or denunciations in the past, but last week the 1997 world champion went on record as saying that Lewis Hamilton – despite his inferior track record compared to the great Michael Schumacher – is in fact a better world champion than the German ever was.
For Villeneuve, Hamilton is “miles above ” Schumacher, the Canadian undertaking a relative compare between the two while relying on form rather than substance, on style rather than speed. “There’s just been too many negative stories,” said Villeneuve, referring to the seven-time world champion’s career. “Too many question marks on how some races or championships were won. And being a great champion is more than just winning races.” By contrast, Villeneuve underlined Hamilton’s sportsmanship, his respect for others and the complete absence of controversy to date in the Mercedes driver’s massively successful and outstanding career. As pundits debated Hamilton’s odds of securing the title in Austin, everyone was reminded last Friday that it had been sixty years to the day since Mike Hawthorn had been crowned. Indeed, Britain’s first world champion had defeated his closest rival, Stirling Moss, by a single point in 1958, after finishing second to Moss at the ultimate Grand Prix in Morocco. Hawthorn had prevailed that year, thanks his skills and speed, but also thanks to his opponent’s sportsmanship, of the type Villeneuve would have greatly appreciated. Two races before Morocco, as the title fight between Hawthorn and Moss was in full swing, the former had been disqualified from the Portuguese Grand Prix for pushing his car in the opposite direction of the track! The incident played straight into the hands of eventual winner Moss, boosting his title chances exponentially. Moss had seen the incident however, and feeling that his rival had been unfairly excluded, promptly visited the stewards to eloquently explain that Hawthorn had not proceeded against the race direction because he was on the pavement at the time, not on the track! Hawthorn was reinstated, classified second and retained his seven championship points. As Jacques Villeneuve put it, being a great champion is indeed more than just winning races. Phillip van Osten |
