Jacques Villeneuve has labelled Daniel Ricciardo a “nuisance” after the Australian driver fired back at the 1997 Formula One World Champion during the Canadian Grand Prix weekend.
In the run up to the Montreal weekend, Jacques Villeneuve appeared on Sky F1's weekend coverage and questioned why Daniel Ricciardo was still in F1, asking: “Why is he still in F1? I've been hearing the same thing for the last four or five years: they need to make the car better for him. It's a shame, but it's been like this for five years now.”
Daniel Ricciardo hits back at Jacques Villeneuve's criticism
When Ricciardo heard what Villeneuve said about him, he naturally responded to the 1997 Formula One World Champion with comments of his own.
“I've heard he's swearing,” he told the media, “but he does that all the time. I think he's hit his head too many times. So I don't know if he's playing ice hockey or anything.”
“I don't have time for him, but those guys are all rubbish. I'd like to say more, but I'm going to leave him alone.”
Ricciardo admitted he took to the track afterwards “feeling frustrated” but enjoyed a good weekend, qualifying fifth and finishing eighth in Sunday's race, his strongest performance so far this year.
Villeneuve responded by saying he finds it very difficult to criticise Ricciardo because he is so well-liked that there are many fans who are willing to turn a blind eye to his struggles.
“Daniel Ricciardo is a pain,” he told CryptoSportsBetting.
“It's always dangerous to criticise him because he's so protected by the team, the media and the fans on social media. It's a tricky issue. Even if you say something constructive, it's going to be tricky either way and a lot of people are going to get angry.”
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Ricciardo had a strong weekend in Canada, following on from his strong showing in Miami a few weeks ago, but Villeneuve said results like this alone are not enough to justify Ricciardo staying in F1 as he aims to keep his seat for 2025.
“In the end it didn't work out,” Villeneuve said.
“He was really good at Red Bull but after leaving Red Bull it was very difficult and his comeback was not spectacular. He qualified well and had a decent race yesterday but he got a penalty for a false start and then in the end he got the points because the driver in front of him made a mistake.”
“He got the points unscathed but in the context of the season it means very little and he needs to do more than that. It's that simple. The scoreboard doesn't lie and that applies to every driver. Of course I felt bad for him because it gave him more speed and even Christian Horner thought it gave him a bit of momentum. Maybe he needed it. At least he got a lot of media coverage for it!”
As for Ricciardo choosing to hit back after Villeneuve's initial critical comments, the French-Canadian said Ricciardo cannot withstand criticism without taking personal flak for a lack of professionalism.
“I can't believe the reaction some drivers are getting in the media these days,” he said.
“It's completely unprofessional, has nothing to do with business and it's amazing how personally insulting it could be. I can't imagine Daniel saying something like that to any other media outlet. It's bizarre. How constructive and how professional would that be if he said someone hit him in the head playing ice hockey?”
“It's very childish and someone like Daniel is a role model and thinks it's the right thing to do. You have to be careful about that. Some people say they don't care what people say but I think that's really strange. You have to be tough. In F1 you will be criticised and you have to accept it. Don't say childish or insulting things.”
“I don't know why Daniel Ricciardo is so protected, but there is a huge aura around him. Good for him, but imagine if he could back it up with results. He knows he's not up to speed, he's not good enough, he hasn't lived up to expectations, he's not consistent, that's it. There's nothing wrong with saying that. It may hurt to say it, but you're in F1, you just accept it and move on. The truth hurts.”
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