Villeneuve on Verstappen, Russell, McLaren 'civil war' ahead of Austria

Speaking to the media team at BetVictor, the 1997 F1 World Champion dissected the tensions in the title fight, Verstappen’s penalty risk, and whether Russell's seat at Mercedes is truly safe.

Villeneuve backed Red Bull Racing’s decision to protest Russell’s win in Montreal, claiming that Russell’s tactics were designed to provoke Verstappen into making an error that could have race-ban implications. “Yes, [Red Bull were right to protest], in a way.

"Mercedes and Russell knew that one penalty to Verstappen means he misses a race. And Russell did hit the brakes during the straight line to kind of force Verstappen into a mistake. That's not cool.”

Villeneuve didn’t shy away from the suggestion that Mercedes were exploiting the situation. Commenting on Russell’s post-race jibes regarding Verstappen’s penalty points: “That was funny. I thought that was hilarious. It is good to hear stuff like that. We want to see characters out there, not robots. Humans who can make fun of each other and play the game. It doesn’t mean you have to be nasty.”

Villeneuve also credited Russell for asserting his position now that Hamilton has left the team: “It would have been better to have seen that when Max was winning everything, when he had the better car. Russell is the team leader.

"Lewis is not there anymore, so that cements him a little bit and that makes him feel stronger. So that's maybe what's allowing him to come out with comments like that. As long as they're funny and clever, it's cool.”

Looking ahead to the Red Bull Ring weekend, the Canadian noted Verstappen remains at risk of incurring a race ban if he adds to his tally of penalty points: “It didn’t seem to make a difference in Montreal. That's how Max drives well. So, I don't know what to say.

"But the next race is at a track where there's a lot of potential overtaking, so it's an easy race to get penalties as well. And he has one more race to go and then he will have two points removed at the end of June. He doesn't have a lot of points to play with, but it didn't seem to affect his driving in Montreal at all.”

Villeneuve believes Russell is still very much in the 2025 F1 title picture, especially with ongoing friction between McLaren’s two frontrunners. “Yes, of course,” he said when asked if Russell is in the fight."

“Look at Russell’s form in Montreal and he's close enough. He's closer to the lead than Norris was to Verstappen last year and Norris ended up fighting for the championship. So, anything can happen.

You just need a couple more crashes between the McLaren guys. Austria is kind of a similar track in a way — slow speed corners, doesn't have the chicane, but slow speed corners, long straight lines. It could be a repeat, Villeneuve predicted.

Despite Russell’s recent win, ironically Villeneuve warned that his seat at Mercedes is far from secure if Verstappen becomes available: “Well, I wouldn't be comfortable if I were Russell because Antonelli is not going anywhere. So, there's a seat. If Verstappen was going to go to Mercedes, it would be in Russell's seat, not in Antonelli’s.

“One race does not make a difference. Mercedes know the driver, they know how quick Russell is, how he works with developing the car or not. Just having one win does not really affect the thought process about who you want in your car. It's a long-term project and they know exactly what Russell is worth to the team.”

Villeneuve turned his attention to Maranello (where his father Gilles is still cherished as a legend) criticising the team for failing to extract consistent performance from their car and for ignoring Charles Leclerc’s feedback in Montreal: “Ferrari have been saying every race that they have upgrades coming even when they don't.

“So, there's a lot of news being put in to try and push every time the fact that they're not competitive enough. And sometimes they hit the ground and they’re great, sometimes they're not. It's really hard to know in advance or understand why they're competitive one weekend and why they are not another. It's a lot of hit and miss," Villeneuve ventured.

On the Montreal strategy call that backfired for Leclerc, Villeneuve was blunt: “The incident in Montreal was very weird. Charles gave a clear indication on his tyres and you see, after the race, that he was right. You could see it while you were watching the race. It was obvious, we all were watching the race, and his indications were actually quite good. They're not always, that time they were.

“He told the team, listen, and the engineer's answer was, ‘Okay.’ That sounded like, okay you're right let's do this. But then they didn't. They just did whatever they wanted anyway. They pitted him and he asked why they did this when I told you what was happening, and they said, because we thought this was better.

“Where was the communication with the driver? What was the discussion? Did they actually care what the driver felt or the information he was giving them? Obviously not. And the driver was right.”

Villeneuve closed with a clear message to Ferrari management: “If they don't trust or believe the driver, then change the driver. Otherwise, start trusting in and believing your driver.”