Former F1 star Jacques Villeneuve thinks Lewis Hamilton can continue racing for another 10 years – but believes the ‘sensitive’ driver will need the ‘full support’ of Ferrari in order for that to happen.
The 39-year-old has returned to form in recent times, winning races in Britain and Belgium after a stuttering start to the season.
Hamilton will move to Ferrari next year, having penned a two-year contract with the F1 side.
It is currently unclear what his intentions are once that deal expires, however, with retirement a genuine possibility.
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Fernando Alonso is the only F1 driver older than Hamilton, with the Spaniard still going strong at the age of 43.
And Villeneuve has now backed the Briton to keep going for another decade – but only if he gets the support he is ‘sensitive’ to.
He told Prime Casino: “Alonso is still quick, he’s still hungry.
“It depends how it goes [for Hamilton] at Ferrari, if it sucks the energy out of him or not. That’s all.
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“He could do another 10 years. He’s fit, he’s super fit, he’s strong, why stop? Why not?
“Unless at some point he’s just had enough and he gets tired.
“It’s when that kicks in, when you’re just too tired.
“If you wake up and get to the door and think, ‘Oh gosh, I have to go to the track today’ – if that kicks in, that’s when you have to stop.
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“[F1] is very chaotic and it seems to be hard to constantly have the full support.
“It seems to be a moving ball, and Lewis needs the support – that’s been obvious.
“Take Max [Verstappen], even without support he’s out there killing it. Lewis seems to be more sensitive to the support.”
Hamilton struggled at the start of the season but, since winning the British Grand Prix, has added the Belgian GP to his collection.
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Villeneuve has been impressed by the hunger the veteran continues to show, despite everything he’s already achieved.
He says he’s still inconsistent, however, and has warned Hamilton that Ferrari will be a ‘tough place’ for him to work.
“[Hamilton] still seems to be hungry,” he continued.
“It looks like he still has a harder time in qualifying to get that last tenth somehow, but once you get into that race mode, like we saw at Silverstone, when he gets that focus in place and gets a taste of the possibility of winning, then the Lewis of old is back.
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“The problem is that it’s not there all the time.But if you look at older winning years there were always downs.
“There was never a season like Max is doing except that with the car they had it didn’t make a difference. You would just win by a few tenths instead of 10 or 20 seconds.
“Now the difference is very costly but he seems to still have that hunger. It’s still there. The champion is still in him.
“He needs to get that energy flowing before he reaches Ferrari because Ferrari is a tough place to be in.”