Lewis Hamilton Makes F1 Championship Jacques Villeneuve Joke
Lewis Hamilton turned a Gilles Villeneuve tribute into a sharp joke about Jacques Villeneuve ahead of the f1 championship Canadian Grand Prix. The Ferrari driver said he did not know much about Gilles, then joked that he was “far better than his son [laughs].”
Hamilton’s comment landed during a week built around Montreal’s racing history, with Gilles Villeneuve still tied to the circuit that now carries his name. For Hamilton, who has won the Canadian Grand Prix a record-equalling seven times, the exchange kept his own name in the center of the build-up while linking Ferrari’s past to its present.
Hamilton on Gilles Villeneuve
Asked about Gilles Villeneuve’s legacy, Hamilton was blunt about the limits of his own knowledge. “Yes, as much as I can say about it, I personally didn’t really know a lot about him, to be honest,” he said.
He said he knew more about Niki Lauda because he got to spend time with him and had to learn and watch him when he was growing up. Hamilton then shifted to Gilles, saying that from the videos he had studied, Villeneuve looked like a driver who was “at the edge of his seat” and able to balance the car as it moved.
That view fit the way Ferrari still frames Villeneuve’s name. All six of his grand prix wins came with Ferrari, and the Montreal track was renamed Circuit Gilles Villeneuve after he died in a qualifying crash at the 1982 Belgian Grand Prix.
Jacques Villeneuve and Montreal
Hamilton’s joke about Jacques Villeneuve sharpened the moment. Jacques became Formula 1 world champion in 1997 and now works as a Sky F1 pundit, but in Hamilton’s retelling of the family legacy, the focus stayed on Gilles and the old Ferrari link.
The comment also came with a contrast that made the line land harder. Hamilton was discussing a driver whose reputation was built in a different era, while Jacques’ name surfaced as the son of that legacy and a former world champion in his own right.
Lance Stroll was asked the same question and said he had no memory of Gilles Villeneuve because he was not alive when Villeneuve was racing. He added that everyone says Gilles was “super brave” and talented, and that he was not afraid to push the car to the limit. Montreal’s tribute, Hamilton’s joke, and Stroll’s response all pointed back to the same figure before the 2026 Canadian Grand Prix began on track.
