Jacques Villeneuve believes that Lewis Hamilton's loss of an eighth world title in 2021 means that the Briton will come back and "be aggressive" in an attempt to win in 2022. Hamilton missed out on the World Championship at the season-closing Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, with Max Verstappen clinching the title on the last lap of what proved to be a highly controversial ending to the race. Whilst this turn of events is still sparking debate - and will be the subject of an FIA investigation - Villeneuve thinks that it has set things up nicely for Hamilton to make his comeback this season. "It's good for the sport anyway because Lewis now has to come back and try to win his eighth championship and be aggressive to try to win it," Villeneuve is quoted by Motorsport.com . "Ultimately, it got a lot of ink in the papers. It was slightly controversial, but it always is when it all comes down to the last race."
Will Hamilton return to F1 in 2022?
Hamilton has remained silent since the race in Abu Dhabi, and speculation remains over whether the Briton could choose to walk away from Formula 1. Villeneueve is not expecting Hamilton to quit, but admits that it is difficult to assess how he might be feeling. "Who knows? Nobody expected [Nico] Rosberg to not come back and suddenly he just woke up one morning and told everyone he actually wasn't passionate about racing in a way," the 1997 World Champion said. "That doesn't seem to be the case with Lewis, but who knows? "It's really a pickle to know what's going on in the head of people when the season is very long. You believe you know where it's going to turn out and it doesn't turn out how you expect, and you feel it's been taken away from you." Villeneuve believes that Hamilton needs to put his loss of the title behind him, adding: "I guess the reaction is quite negative. But you just have to get going again."
Villeneuve thinks Verstappen deserved to win the title
The way in which events unfolded ahead of Verstappen winning the championship may have been controversial, but Villeneuve believes that the Red Bull driver deserved to claim the title. "I guess it depends if you're a fan of Verstappen or a fan of Lewis when it comes to the reaction," the Canadian argued. "It was exciting and seeing how the whole season went, Max deserved this championship. He had been on top of it all year – race after race."
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