Ferrari have yet to provide Charles Leclerc with a car capable of making him Formula 1 champion, though that has not stopped the Monegasque from committing his future to the team

Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc want to be the ones to restore Ferrari back to their former glory(Image: Formula 1 via Getty Images)

Former Formula 1 world champion Jacques Villeneuve has cast doubt on Charles Leclerc’s chances of emulating his success. The Canadian believes the Ferrari driver will not live out his dream of winning the drivers’ title, having committed his long-term future to the team.

Leclerc was one of several drivers who entered F1 within a couple of years of one another, who were highly regarded as the future stars of the sport. And while he has largely lived up to that billing in terms of his performances, he has yet to have the opportunity to fight for championship glory.

The closest he came was in 2022 when he started the season at the top of the standings and looked to be a stern rival for Max Verstappen, only for Ferrari’s pace to fall off. He finished second behind the Dutchman but 146 points behind.

He has won eight Grands Prix over his seven seasons on the F1 grid and, ahead of his 28th birthday in October, Villeneuve believes Leclerc may have made a mistake by signing a contract extension to remain with Ferrari until at least 2029.

“Charles is frustrated because he is probably starting to understand that he will never be World champion,” the 1997 title-winner said. “It has gone bad, it has got worse. Next year is a whole new set of regulations and normally that is not when Ferrari is at its best, so it is a difficult situation for him.

“He has been there for a long time and his star has fallen a little bit. At least Lewis can rely on the fact that he is a multiple World champion so it does not matter if the star falls a little bit. He will always be that big global star anyway, that goes beyond F1.”

As referenced by Villeneuve, Leclerc’s team-mate Lewis Hamilton has joined Ferrari this year having already won the title seven times. But the Brit joined the Scuderia not only to live out his childhood dream but to also become champion for the eighth time before he retires.

That will not happen this year and Hamilton, who turns 41 in January, looks to be increasingly reliant on Ferrari getting it right next year. If they do not, then time may well have run out for his to fully surpass Michael Schumacher, with whom he shares the all-time record for the most drivers’ titles won.

As for this year, no-one will stop McLaren from romping to the constructors’ title and they have had obviously the quickest cars on the grid. Ferrari are second in the standings, but Villeneuve believes the two teams below them have actually been faster – but without as strong of a driver line-up to make the most of it.

He added: “They might finish second in the constructors’ championship, but they actually are the fourth horse. They are simply lucky that in Red Bull, there is only one driver scoring points and the same thing with Mercedes.”