The fact that Jacques Villeneuve and Daniel Ricciardo’s growing animosity was maybe the main source of controversy during an exciting and wild Canadian Grand Prix says volumes about Villeneuve’s criticism of Ricciardo.
While McLaren established itself as Red Bull’s primary rival, Max Verstappen resumed his winning ways in Montreal on Sunday. However, the discourse was dominated by the verbal jabs that the RB driver and the 1997 Formula 1 world champion had thrown at one other over the weekend.
During a Friday Sky Sports show, Villeneuve questioned Ricciardo, asking, “Why is he still in F1?”
“For the past four or five years, we have been hearing the same thing: we need to improve things for him, poor guy. That’s been the case for five years.
“Maybe you could put in that extra effort for Lewis Hamilton, the multiple champion.
“You don’t put in that much work for a driver who isn’t good enough. Not able to cut it? There is someone else who can take your place, so go home.
Following his fifth-place qualifying effort on Saturday, Ricciardo responded bluntly, challenging Villeneuve’s mental state.
The 34-year-old stated, “I still don’t know what he said, but I heard he’s been talking s***, but he always does.”
“It seems like he’s had a few too many concussions; perhaps he plays ice hockey or something else.”
After receiving a scathing piece of advise, Villeneuve retaliated, accusing Ricciardo—who placed ninth on Sunday—of letting the criticism get to him.
He answered, “You can’t make it personal.”
“You have to have a thick skin, and although I got under his skin, it improved for his driving. But he needs to do more of this; it’s not enough.
Daniel Ricciardo’s struggles continue
Even if Villeneuve’s judgment may have been overly direct, there is no doubting that there was some truth to his harsh assessment.
Throughout the season, Ricciardo has consistently lagged behind teammate Yuki Tsunoda, which has caused his stock to take a negative turn.
With the exception of finishing fourth in the sprint race held in Miami last month, Ricciardo has not scored any points until Sunday’s eighth-place result in Montreal.
Despite spinning late in the race, Tsunoda finished in 14th place. This season, he has scored points in five races, including two in Miami.
In contrast, Ricciardo’s fastest qualifying time over his teammate in nine races this season came from the Canadian Grand Prix and China.
The Australian, who rejoined the grid in July of last year to take Nyck de Vries’ seat at Alpha Tauri, Red Bull’s youth squad that has since changed its name to RB, finds such numbers disheartening.
Ricciardo, a student of Red Bull team principal Christian Horner, was even floated as a possible successor to Sergio Perez, whose status as Verstappen’s partner seemed to be in doubt.
While Ricciardo appears to be veering perilously near to the kind of form that saw him fired by McLaren at the end of 2022 and replaced by fellow Australian Oscar Piastri, the Mexican has since inked a new contract with Red Bull.
There was still one year left on Ricciardo’s contract, but McLaren chose to end things sooner than expected following two mainly unimpressive seasons, which followed two forgettable years with Renault.
According to Piastri’s performance in his first 15 months of Formula 1, McLaren made the proper decision.
Ricciardo’s form must improve to keep RB seat
There are, admittedly, some mitigating circumstances for Ricciardo, who missed five races last season after fracturing his hand at the Dutch Grand Prix, only his third race for RB.
One of the stars of Netflix’s Drive to Survive series that has driven Formula 1’s surge of popularity in the USA, the 34-year-old is one of the most popular figures in the paddock but form has long deserted him.
The Australian hasn’t won a race since the Italian Grand Prix in 2021, which was also his last podium, and any chance of him returning to Red Bull is surely gone now.
In fact, he may well have to look over his shoulder with Red Bull reserve driver Liam Lawson waiting in the wings.
“When you’re trying to fight for a top seat, you need to be doing some pretty awesome things,” the 34-year-old admitted.
Horner pushed Ricciardo, who won seven races in five seasons with Red Bull between 2015 and 2019, to find his groove again and secure a spot before he left the team last year.
Although the principal of Red Bull, who is among Ricciardo’s strongest backers, employed less colorful language than Villeneuve, the core idea remained the same.
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