Jacques Villeneuve doubles down on Daniel Ricciardo criticism with ‘truth hurts’ dig
Jacques Villeneuve and Daniel Ricciardo battled, verbally, in Canada
Jacques Villeneuve has branded Daniel Ricciardo a “hot potato” after the Australian fired back at the 1997 F1 World Champion over the Canadian GP weekend.
Heading into the Montreal weekend, Jacques Villeneuve questioned why Daniel Ricciardo is still in F1 as he appeared on Sky F1’s coverage of the weekend, asking: “Why is he still in F1? We’re hearing the same thing now for the last four or five years, we have to make the car better for him. Sorry, it’s been five years of that.”
Daniel Ricciardo fired back after Jacques Villeneuve criticism
Ricciardo, having heard what Villeneuve had said about him, duly responded with his own comments towards the 1997 F1 World Champion.
“I heard he’s been talking s**t,” he told the media. “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.”
Ricciardo, who admitted he then took to the track with a “chip on his shoulder” put in a good weekend as he qualified in fifth before racing to eighth on Sunday in what was one of his stronger displays of the year so far.
In response, Villeneuve said he has found that it is very difficult to criticise Ricciardo due to the legions of fans that are willing to turn a blind eye to his struggles due to his immense likeability.
“Daniel Ricciardo is a hot potato,” he told CryptoSportsBetting.
“It’s always risky to criticise him because he’s extremely protected by his team and the media and by fans on social media. It’s a burnt subject, even if you say something constructive, you’ll get burnt one way or another and you’ll have a lot of people who get angry.
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? Daniel Ricciardo raced with ‘chip on my shoulder’ after savage Jacques Villeneuve criticism
While Ricciardo popped in a good weekend in Canada, a follow-up to his improved showing in Miami a few weeks ago, Villeneuve said such a display isn’t enough to justify his continued presence in F1 as Ricciardo aims to retain his seat for 2025.
“Ultimately, the results have not been there,” Villeneuve said.
“He 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 ok 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.
“He kept his nose clean, he brought home some points but that means very little in the context of the season and he needs to do more than that. It’s that simple. The scoreboard doesn’t lie and it’s like that for every driver. 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!”
With Ricciardo choosing to hit back at Villeneuve after his initial critical comments, the French-Canadian driver said Ricciardo’s inability to take the criticism without getting personal smacks of unprofessionalism.
“What I find incredible is the reaction that some of these drivers have nowadays in the media,” he said.
“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 criticised 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.”
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