Jacques Villeneuve keeps calling as he sees it and for that reason he is not high in the paddock popularity stakes, and he has not held back in his take on Haas retaining their drivers for 2020, the 1997 Formula 1 World Champion obviously caring less who he annoys.
In the wake of the surprise news that the American team would retain their drivers Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean for another season. The latter was expected to make way for Nico Hulkenberg who was ditched by Renault for next season.
But Hulk and Haas did not find enough common ground to strike a deal and Grosjean remains alognside KMag for another year of guaranteed bent metal.
While most lamented the decision, of course, Villeneuve had his unique view on Hulkenberg/Grosjean story and told journo Andre Wiegold, "These are the two drivers with the most races without a victory. Hülkenberg doesn't even have a podium, so why would you want to change?
"If you wanted to swap Grosjean, then you should either go for a young driver or an older one who knows how to win... like Ricciardo," added the Canadian.
After the tragic Anthoine Hubert accident, Villeneuve waded in with suggestions that young drivers are brought up in sim racing where 'virtual' crashes have little consequences. In other words: use of simulators as a hobby as part of an F1 driver's tasks was luring young drivers into a false sense of security.
It was an explosive accusation that prompted Lando Norris to respond, "I don't think it has anything to do with sim racing, it's just something [Villeneuve] wants to use as an excuse.
"Safety is getting better, especially compared to his time in F1, but it's not like we completely forget the danger, we recognize the danger!"
When questioned on the same topic, Lewis Hamilton took a swipe at Villeneuve, "I almost never agree with his opinions, but who does, personally I don't listen to the opinion of that individual."
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