Jacques Villeneuve says Ferrari has to focus on Lewis Hamilton to have a chance of winning

Hamilton has been resurgent in 2026 compared to his maiden season with Ferrari, with many writing him off, but a reset over the off season and some changes behind the scenes—a new race engineer is one of them—in Maranello have turned the situation around.

Hamilton has also changed his approach to race weekends, ditching the Ferrari simulator, and has definitely put more input in Ferrari's SF-26, which seems to have paid dividends as the Briton has been on a roll recently.

Hamilton started the season close to Charles Leclerc, and since Canada, has beaten him, as the Monegasque, who signed a contract extension ahead of the Monaco Grand Prix, has struggled for pace and has also been error-prone—a crash in his home race and another in Qualifying in Barcelona.

With Mercedes still leading with Kimi Antonelli and George Russell dropping behind, Hamilton has jumped to second in the F1 Drivers' Championship and is now 41 points behind the Italian.

Villeneuve believes Ferrari should do the smart thing and back Hamilton if they hope to fight for the Title in 2026, especially as they now seem to have one of the best, if not the best, chassis on the F1 grid following their major upgrade package in Barcelona.

Speaking on Sky Sports' The F1 Show podcast, the Canadian said: "Lewis knows how to win, and he knows what it takes. And if he gets a sniff of it, there won't be any quarters.

"I think that's where he can make the difference," he maintained.

Mercedes may still need time before deciding to back one of their drivers over the other, but Ferrari have never been shy about applying team orders historically, favoring one driver over the other.

Villeneuve explained: "Mercedes right now are not in a position to be even able or allowed to choose a driver over another.

"Ferrari is, because Ferrari has to focus on Lewis if they want a small chance of winning, so the decision is easy to make because Leclerc is quite far back [in the F1 Standings]," Villeneuve concluded.

Leclerc is currently fourth in the 2026 F1 Drivers' Championship, 81 points behind Antonelli, who is in the lead.