Jacques Villeneuve insists that if Lando Norris fails to win this season’s Formula 1 Drivers Championship, the fingers will be pointed at McLaren and not the British driver.
Norris destroyed the competition in Singapore, winning the race by a margin of over 20 seconds to his championship rival Max Verstappen.
This reduced the gap in the standings to 52 points between the 24-year-old and the Dutchman with six rounds left in this enthralling 2024 F1 season.
However, after the result at the Marina Bay Street Circuit, Verstappen can now afford to finish second to Norris and still win the championship, even if the McLaren driver gets the fastest lap.
The title is in the hands of the three-time world champion, as Norris needs his rival to slip up if he is to snatch the title.
Villeneuve, however, has proclaimed that if Norris is not successful in his bid to win the title the blame lies with McLaren rather than the three-time race winner.
“If Lando is not champion, it will be McLaren’s fault, not his. McLaren has made a mess of things and it’s too late now,” Villeneuve said in an interview with Spanish media Marca.
“It started in Hungary, they have shown real weakness by not giving priority to Norris over [Oscar] Piastri.”
Oscar Piastri took his maiden victory at the Hungarian Grand Prix and Villeneuve reckons that Piastri has a clause in his contract that allows him to fight equally with Norris.
“We don’t know what Oscar’s contract says, but Mark Webber, his manager, is a smart guy. Mark was always at the wrong end of the spectrum at Red Bull, even when he was beating [Sebastian] Vettel. I am sure he will not let history repeat itself for Oscar,” he explained.
Villeneuve believes Monza mishap ‘should have never happened’
Verstappen is now on a run of eight races without a victory, which has not happened since the 2020 F1 season.
Despite Red Bull’s lack of performance over the last eight races, the 27-year-old still leads the championship but the former Williams driver says Verstappen has been helped by McLaren’s failure to support Norris.
“Max has changed his approach. He is not trying to win races, but just to rack up points, that shows maturity.
“The championship is more important than winning individual races. He knows that McLaren is not making the tough decisions that it should, and that will be in his favour.”
He also added that the Italian GP at Monza has cost McLaren and Norris deeply: “If you look at Monza, it should have been a one-two for McLaren. They lost points as a team and that should never have happened. Norris is the one who is fighting for the Drivers’ Championship.”
From where the team where at the start of the 2023 season, being one of the slowest cars on the grid, to now being a leading championship-contending team is rather impressive.
Norris has now won multiple races and led an opening lap from pole position in his most competitive season to date and Villeneuve believes Verstappen recognises the challenge he possesses to him.
“Max realises he is a threat. They have had some real battles, which is good, and I think he sees him as a real competitor now,” Villeneuve said.
“It just needs a bit more from Lando to be more competitive, but it will be a fun end to the season. It will be very close between Max and Lando.”
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