Villeneuve and Häkkinen were guests at the festival in Trento.

      We told you about the Festival dello Sport, the annual celebration of Italy’s Gazzetta dello Sport, which took place last weekend in Trento, but it is also worth mentioning that yesterday two more world champions took the stage — Jacques Villeneuve and Mika Häkkinen.

      They were invited to the festival in honor of Formula 1’s 75th anniversary, which is being celebrated this year, and of course both recalled the hard-fought ’90s when they raced on the world championship tracks against Michael Schumacher.

      “Winning the championship by beating Ferrari was a special achievement,” Jacques said cheerfully. “Although I knew that not everyone liked it. First and foremost that applied to the Italian public, including those gathered in this hall. But that’s how it turned out. Still, you could see happy faces even in other teams.

      “Michael never gave up, he only strived for victories and was our main rival. A driver who managed to get the better of Schumacher understood that he had achieved something outstanding, because he had beaten the strongest.”

      Mika Häkkinen won both of his titles driving for McLaren, and he was asked to compare what the team was like in his day under Ron Dennis with the McLaren of 2025, which had just won a second consecutive Constructors’ Championship.

      “The team has made great progress thanks to managing to put all the necessary pieces together,” the Finn replied. “And now it’s harder than in the days when I raced in Formula 1. So I think Zak Brown is doing a great job. It’s all the more difficult when the team fields two young drivers, although Lando Norris is already an experienced professional.

      “McLaren is a good example of what has brought Formula 1 to the peak of its popularity today.”

      Villeneuve said without hesitation that Max Verstappen is the best driver in the championship: “He’s the best because he also belongs to the old-school drivers. He’s good at driving a simulator and competes in virtual races, but he’s also good on a real track.

      “Max learned to understand everything properly precisely thanks to constant practice, so he gives instructions to engineers that may contradict what they see on the telemetry. However, it often turns out that Max was right. Only he works like that, no one else, and the reason is very simple: the others are not as good as he is.”

      “Max is a driver without teammates, because teammates can’t compare to him,” Häkkinen added. “That is the true measure of Max’s skill, which speaks more eloquently about him than anything else.

      “But the title this year will, of course, be won by one of the McLaren drivers. Undoubtedly, to avoid trouble the team will have to intervene in their rivalry. Both are very good, and Lando has much more experience. And that is very important, even though he scores fewer points. In short, I don’t know who will become champion, but it will be one of them.”