The embattled Formula 1 star Daniel Ricciardo has fought back at the Canadian Grand Prix: on the track, where he scored his first points of the season, and off the track, where he poured scathing scorn on his critic Jacques Villeneuve. Now the former champion is going on the counterattack describing Daniel Ricciardo as a ‘potato’.
Villeneuve’s sharp comments came during an appearance on CryptoSportsBetting, where he branded Ricciardo a “hot potato”. He went on to outline the dangers of criticising the Australian driver, highlighting the protection Ricciardo enjoys from his team, the media and fans on social media.
Ricciardo faces criticism
Daniel Ricciardo’s place in Formula One may have been seriously threatened by recent developments in the driver market, but the Australian is unlikely to be “going home” any time soon, as Jacques Villeneuve harshly suggested at the Canadian Grand Prix.
Ricciardo responded to his chief critic after qualifying with a sharp retort: “I heard him talking shit… But he always does that.”
He added: “I think he hit his head a few too many times. I don’t know if he plays ice hockey or something,” mocking Villeneuve in reference to Canada’s national sport.
While Ricciardo had plenty of affection for Canada, as evidenced by his helmet design in a curious maple syrup look, his respect for the only Canadian F1 world champion seemed to evaporate after the verbal attack.
“I’m not going to spend any time on him, all these people can go kiss my ass,” Ricciardo declared, ending the Villeneuve topic with another bang.
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Villeneuve’s response: “He seems to need the pressure”
The 1997 world champion had to smile after Ricciardo’s sensational fifth place on the grid, which suddenly made it look as if the criticised driver had proved him wrong (Ricciardo went on to finish in the points on Sunday with an eighth place).
Villeneuve, in his role as Sky pundit, tried to put things in perspective: “It’s working well, the car suits him this weekend and when that’s the case you do your best. But it was a good qualifying.
“If he can keep it up for four, five, six races, it will be good. But he said himself that he lacks consistency this year,” noted Villeneuve, not willing to let the struggling Australian off the hook so easily.
“He’s still getting his chances, even though it’s been a tough season. He has to show it on track and today was a good qualifying, he has to keep it up”.
Villeneuve couldn’t resist a little dig: “As Christian (Horner) said, he seems to need the push and the pressure. So it worked, it paid off,” laughed the 1997 champion, referring to his harsh words the day before and his special role as “motivator”.
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Villeneuve hits back
It is always ‘risky’ to criticise the Australian, “because he is extremely protected by his team, the media and the fans on social media,” the 1997 world champion explained in another interview, this time with CryptoSportsBetting.
“It’s a hot potato. Even if you say something constructive, you burn yourself on one side and a lot of people get angry,” Villeneuve continued.
The 53-year-old had criticised Ricciardo harshly in the run-up to the Canadian Grand Prix and questioned his place in Formula 1.
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Ricciardo well behind Tsunoda
Villeneuve described the outburst of the 34-year-old crowd favourite as ‘completely unprofessional’.
“In Formula 1, you need a thick skin, you get criticised and you have to take it. You shouldn’t say something childish and insulting,” the Canadian ranted.
Villeneuve’s criticism remains – even though Ricciardo finished fifth in qualifying in Montreal and scored points in eighth place in the race.
“He has not met expectations and is not consistent, he knows that he has to improve, his results were not good enough. It’s as simple as that,” said the former rival of Michael Schumacher.
The championship table does not lie, emphasised Villeneuve. And Ricciardo is only in twelfth place with nine points – ten points behind his team-mate Yuki Tsunoda (10).
The Japanese driver is also usually the faster Racing Bull in qualifying this season.
Ricciardo’s options dwindle
Ricciardo’s appearance in Canada was a challenging one, with Red Bull having just announced a two-year contract extension with Sergio Perez. The Racing Bulls also officially announced on Saturday that teammate Yuki Tsunoda would remain with the team.
This meant that Ricciardo’s promotion to the senior team was off the table and his stay with his current employment was in jeopardy. Junior Liam Lawson was pushing from the reserve bench and two other Red Bull junior squad talents, Isack Hadjar and Ayumu Iwasa, were waiting in the wings.
Motorsport advisor Helmut Marko’s words about the Racing Bulls still being a junior team probably made Ricciardo’s ears perk up.
“You have to think about what is going to happen in the future,” Marko said in no uncertain terms in an interview with Sky.
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Ricciardo on his own performance
Reflecting on his performance, Ricciardo said, “This year hasn’t always been about speed or whether I still have it. It’s just been about consistency, which I haven’t been able to show week in week out,
“It has definitely been harder than I expected, but I know the speed is there and it is showing more now. I’m looking at myself first.”
“Of course you always try to get the car better. But I feel like it’s more about feeling comfortable – and yes, maybe it was easier ten years ago,” Ricciardo admitted.
“Maybe when you’re young you just jump in and drive and the older you get, the more things there are around you that can get involved or maybe get in the way.”
New approach for Ricciardo
To deal with these challenges, the 34-year-old has recently changed his approach: “I just try to acknowledge it and go into the weekend with a clear head.”
He explained that getting older has its advantages: “I’m almost 35, I don’t need people around me to pat me on the back. I prefer people who are very direct with me.”
Ricciardo encouraged an even more open exchange with his team and engineers, which was “productive” and characterised by “constructive criticism”.
After the last race in Monaco, he made a conscious effort to look at other aspects of his life.
“I was looking at things on the track all the time: ‘I can brake later here, or do this and that. But then I thought: ‘OK, what if other things are affecting my performance? Maybe I don’t have enough energy going into a race weekend, or I don’t feel this or that?”
This form of mental hygiene seemed to have borne fruit: “I came into this weekend feeling a little lighter, hungry, happy and ready to say: ‘Fuck you!'”
Especially to Jacques Villeneuve…?
Ten years after the first win
Ricciardo’s performances in Canada have always been particularly strong for one reason: “I love the track and today, June 8, is exactly ten years since I won my first race here. That day changed my life. So a lot of great emotions, the feel-good factor is always there when I come back here.”
From day one of the weekend, Ricciardo felt “just confident” in the car: “The car felt good, I could slip a little bit and drive a little more aggressively, it felt like I had it under control,” he said, confirming that impression with a strong fifth-place finish.”
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Tsunoda praises Ricciardo’s performance
Team-mate Tsunoda lost out to Ricciardo by more than two-tenths of a second in Q3 on Saturday, with the Japanese qualifying eighth. Nevertheless, Tsunoda praised his team-mate’s performance under pressure: “Daniel did well here from the start. He is experienced, so he knows how to deal with the pressure…”
Looking ahead, Tsunoda hinted that he would like to continue working with Ricciardo: “He is a fast driver and I have already learnt a lot from him. So far we have a good relationship,” said the younger of the two Racing Bulls drivers.
Reflecting on his own performance on Saturday, Tsunoda admitted: “I would say I left a lot on the table. In turn two I got a bit of a bad gust of wind and completely lost control of the car.”
“In Q1 and Q2 I was pretty consistent and always in the top five,” said Tsunoda, suggesting he could have matched Ricciardo’s performance.
“Considering how bad my lap was,” Tsunoda can live with eighth place in the end.
“It’s the first time for the team to have both cars in the top 10. So there’s still a lot to be positive about.”
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