On Friday, former F1 driver Jacques Villeneuve offered some harsh criticism of Renault driver Daniel Ricciardo to Sky Sports.
“Why is he still in F1? We've been hearing the same thing: the last three or four years, we have to make the car better for him, poor guy. Sorry, it's been like that for five years now. No, you're in F1,” Villeneuve said. “You might work for Lewis Hamilton, who has won many times. You don't work for a driver who isn't good enough. If you're not good enough, go home. There are others who can take your place. It's always been that way in racing. Racing is the pinnacle of sport. There's no reason to keep looking for excuses and continue.”
Villeneuve won the 1997 Formula One World Championship and is the son of the late F1 driver Gilles Villeneuve. The Canadian Grand Prix's Circuit Gilles Villeneuve is named after him. Ricciardo, 34, won seven Grand Prix with Red Bull before leaving the team in 2019 for Renault. Since then, he has only won one race, at Monza in 2021, with McLaren. He was without a regular seat last season until moving to AlphaTauri mid-season to replace Nyck de Vries. Since his return, Ricciardo has only finished in the points once, at Mexico City last fall, and has been outperformed by teammate Yuki Tsunoda this season.
Villeneuve suggested Ricciardo's early success with Red Bull had been overstated.
“You talk about the first season, the first two seasons. He [Sebastian] Vettel was exhausted and had ruined his weekend by tinkering with his car to win, but then [Max] Verstappen was 18 and just starting out and that was it. He never beat anyone again.”
Ricciardo remains one of F1's most popular drivers since becoming the de facto star of the Netflix documentary series Drive To Survive, a fact Villeneuve pointed out when asked if his criticism of the Frenchman had been too harsh.
“I think it's his image that has kept him in F1 more than his actual performance.”
Earlier this season, Ricciardo admitted his performances could be better and said he wasn't concerned about what outsiders were saying.
“As far as the fuss goes, you see people in the media saying, 'so-and-so said,' but that's the first I've heard,” Ricciardo said. “I know I'm in the middle of this little process or journey right now so I just need to focus on myself.”
“If you let in any noise, it can distract you from the path you're on. I think it's been really good to try to not let in any negativity.”