Formula 1 News: Villeneuve slams Daniel Ricciardo yet again

After Daniel Ricciardo told Jacques Villeneuve to go eat shit in Montreal, the Canadian has again criticized Daniel Ricciardo’s performance.

–by Mark Cipolloni–

Villeneuve has launched another scathing attack on Daniel Ricciardo, labelling the F1 ace as “childish” following their fiery exchange at the Canadian Grand Prix.

The spat kicked off when Villeneuve, serving as a pundit for Sky Sports F1, declared on television that Ricciardo simply “can’t cut it” in the top tier anymore. The Australian driver hit back by securing fifth place in qualifying and later lashed out.

Ricciardo retorted about the 1997 F1 world champion Villeneuve: “I heard he’s been talking s**t, but he always does. I think he’s hit his head a few too many times. So I don’t know if he plays ice hockey or something. I won’t give him the time of day but all those people can suck it. I want to say more but we’ll leave him behind.”

Despite the challenging conditions, the Italian-Australian managed to clinch eighth place, marking his strongest performance of the season. Post-race, he admitted to being motivated by a “bit of a chip on my shoulder”, eager to silence his critic from Canada.

Daniel Ricciardo of Australia driving the (3) Visa Cash App RB VCARB 01 on track during the F1 Grand Prix of Canada at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on June 09, 2024 in Montreal, Quebec. (Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images) // Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool

Yet Villeneuve has not backed down. In an interview with Crypto Sports Betting, the 53-year-old insisted that Ricciardo is overly coddled by “extremely protected by his team, the media and by fans on social media.”

“Ultimately, the results have not been there,” said Villeneuve. Ricciardo was really good at Red Bull and since he left them, it’s been very difficult and his return hasn’t been flamboyant. He had a good qualifying session and then an okay race yesterday, marred by the false start where he got a penalty and in the end, he scored points because drivers in front of him messed up.

“Obviously I got under his skin because it made him go faster and even Christian Horner thought that it gave him a bit of a boost, and maybe he needed that. At least he got a lot of media mileage out of this! What I find incredible is the reaction that some of these drivers have nowadays in the media.

“It’s completely unprofessional and has nothing to do with the business and it can be personally insulting which is amazing. I can’t imagine Daniel saying that to other media so that’s weird. If he says that someone hit his head playing ice hockey, how constructive and how professional is that?

“It’s very childish and people like Daniel are role models and they think that’s the right way to act. You have to be careful with that. I found that really strange when someone says I don’t care what people say. You need to have tough skin, in F1 you will be criticized and you have to take it. Don’t say something childish and insulting.

“I have no idea why Daniel Ricciardo is so protected but he has a huge aura around him. Good for him but imagine if he could back that up with results? He’s not lived up to expectations and he’s not consistent so he knows he’s not up to speed and he hasn’t had results that have been good enough. It’s that simple. There’s nothing wrong with saying that. Saying it might hurt but you’re in F1, just take it and move on. The truth hurts.”