Jacques Villeneuve, former Formula 1 world champion in 1997 and commentator for Canal+ for many seasons, recently spoke ravely about Daniel Ricciardo’s place in the F1 paddock. Asked to react as an expert for Sky Sports F1 during the Canadian Grand Prix, Villeneuve minced no words in assessing Ricciardo’s recent performances at Racing Bulls and McLaren a few seasons ago. According to him, the Australian no longer deserves his place on the grid.
Villeneuve pointed out that Ricciardo has been outplayed by Racing Bulls teammate Yuki Tsunoda during the first eight races of this year, yet is being tipped for another season with Red Bull’s sister team. This situation seems to deeply disturb the former Canadian F1 driver: “Why is he still in F1? For what ? » Villeneuve said.
“We’ve been hearing the same thing for four or five years now. ‘We need to improve the car for him.’ Sorry, this has been going on for five years. No, you are in F1. »
Villeneuve went on to point out that effort might be warranted for a driver like Lewis Hamilton, who has won multiple championships. But for Ricciardo, Villeneuve believes that this makes no sense. “Maybe you are making this effort [NDLR : adapter la voiture] for Lewis Hamilton who won several championships. You don’t make this effort for a driver who is not up to par. If you’re not up to it, go home, there’s someone else to take your place. This is how racing has always been, it’s the pinnacle of motorsport. »
An impression of performance against “strong” teammates
Analyzing Ricciardo’s career in more detail, Villeneuve recalled that his initial successes were against a late-career Sebastian Vettel and a barely adult Max Verstappen.
“And you all talk about that first season or two seasons, he was beating a Vettel who was exhausted, who was trying to invent things with the car to win and who was just wasting his weekends. Then he was beating Verstappen for half a season when Verstappen was 18, just starting out, that’s all, he stopped beating anyone after that. »
Asked about Ricciardo’s friendly image, Villeneuve said it was because of this mindset that he was still in F1: “I think his image has kept him in F1 more than his actual results. »
Ricciardo was considered the favorite to challenge Sergio Perez for the Red Bull seat alongside Max Verstappen, but his overall disappointing performances saw him removed from the shortlist. Ultimately, Red Bull decided to extend Perez’s contract for two more years, leaving Ricciardo and Tsunoda out. Yuki Tsunoda for his part should also extend his contract with Racing Bulls.
