Villeneuve: Call to pit Vettel early was their biggest mistake

Speaking on Sky Italia in the wake of a tense Sunday night at Marina Bay Circuit, Villeneuve said, "It's a heavy defeat but they must always keep believing.

"The call to pit Vettel early was their biggest mistake, because after that he lost three seconds behind Perez when Verstappen was on his in lap."

"The error that Ferrari made was to be arrogant in the choice of tyres for the race, opting for only one pair of softs for the weekend, which they were unable to use."

"They bet everything on qualifying, a big blunder that you cannot make when fighting for the world championship," added Villeneuve.

Before the summer break, Hamilton capitalised on errors made by Vettel and Ferrari, now the Briton has hit his best ever form and raised the bar accordingly. As a result, he has won four of the last five races and leads the championship by 40-points with six races remaining.

Villeneuve acknowledged, "Lewis understands when he must be exuberant, aggressive or when he must keep it in control."

"He drives beyond the means of the car. There's a huge difference compared to his teammate. Bottas is no Hamilton, he has never had his talent," opined the 1997 Formula 1 World Championship.