Lewis Hamilton has been brutally accused of giving off an air that he does not want to work at Ferrari, and that he and his engineer are operating on different planets.
That is the damning assessment of F1 champion Jacques Villeneuve, who feels there is "zero chemistry" between Hamilton and Ferrari, and the reason why the seven-time title-winner has struggled since joining the Scuderia.
Without a grand prix podium to his name so far this season, Hamilton delivered a scathing self-assessment after the last race in Hungary, describing himself as "useless" and in need of a reset over the summer break.
On his return to the F1 paddock at Zandvoort on Thursday, there appeared to be little change to Hamilton's mood as he stated he wanted to discover the "fun" element of driving in F1 again, and that the pressure of being at Ferrari was unexpected.
Delivering a scathing assessment of the situation, speaking on Sky Sports F1, 1997 champion Villeneuve said: "They're not getting what they signed, so there will be some frustration in there from both camps, from the team, from Lewis, because he's not getting the car he wanted.
"He doesn't feel the team is behind him. The team doesn't feel Lewis is with them. It's not gelling, and you can hear it when he's communicating with his engineer [Riccardo Adami] on race day. There's no chemistry, not at all. It's as if they're on a different planet. They don't communicate with each other.
"But the same is true with [Charles] Leclerc and his engineer. There's something really odd happening with that team that is not progressing in the right direction.
"And when you hear Lewis' interviews, he doesn't seem excited. He doesn't seem to believe what he says. It's as if he doesn't want to go to work. It's really, really strange.
"Now, 2026 is coming. He knows that will be a new season. This year is done. He's focusing on 2026, but for that, you need to make sure that it will be your car, it will be your team."
Pressed on the lack of chemistry, Villeneuve feels Ferrari and Hamilton are in a position where now is the crucial time when it should occur.
"If there's no chemistry, what's the point?" he questioned. "Chemistry happens even in a tough season. That's when you really build it, when the going is tough. When things are easy, you don't need to build chemistry.
"But there doesn't seem to be any chemistry inside the team, not just Lewis and his engineer, the whole team. Leclerc with his engineer, probably the engineers amongst each other. There's no chemistry. You can't get the ball rolling."
After witnessing Leclerc and Hamilton finish a wretched 14th and 15th in first practice for the Dutch Grand Prix, 1.6 seconds behind McLaren's Lando Norris, and pointed out that a lack of chemistry does not mean a slow car, Villeneuve replied: "It means you're not making progress, and they haven't been progressing.
"They're one of the biggest teams out there, and they have two great drivers, so why aren't they progressing?
"They have all the tools, everything they need, so then it's just down to the people, and the fact that there is zero chemistry."
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