Despite having a nightmarish season in F1, Daniel Ricciardo has maintained his ever-smiling personality. He continues to make jokes and engage in friendly banter with his fellow mates on the grid. His latest post on Valtteri Bottas, however, hasn’t gone down well with the fans.
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Valtteri Bottas recently surprised everyone with his look sporting a thick mustache. Fans loved the look and complimented him on it. Some even cracked jokes and compared the Alfa Romeo driver with Hollywood legend Tom Selleck, which is a compliment, by the way. McLaren driver Daniel Ricciardo too tried to engage in friendly banter, but a simple mistake landed him in trouble with the fans.
Posting Valtteri’s photo on his Instagram, Ricciardo wrote, “This is a thing of beauty. Enchante Valterri. Enchante.” Yes, the Honey Badger got Valtteri’s name’s spelling wrong.
It probably was an honest mistake, but fans had none of it and called the act disrespectful. Some even accused Ricciardo of doing it on purpose. Have a look at some reactions from Twitter.
it is disrespectful and any danyric apologists keep ur mouths shut. it's not funny, it isnt cute, it isnt banter. it's rude and disrespectful and he has to get it together. his number is 77 LITERALLY BECAUSE his first and last name have 2 T's both. https://t.co/WxNErBvn1H
— kai⁶ (@haikeakaiha) November 11, 2022
his ass does this on purpose https://t.co/67uzREzNie
— ' (@eleyhsa) November 11, 2022
im convinced he did it on purpose 😂 https://t.co/NlMrU6z4jk
— LiZi ||| now i got u in my space 💕 (@lady_hatty) November 11, 2022
The disrespect of my fav finnish king, unbelievable https://t.co/cJMAYqTUQn
— Lucia #2theMax (@luciaxfl) November 11, 2022
he’s gotta do it on purpose
— kd🇧🇷 (@pireIli) November 11, 2022
Some fans, however, found it hilarious and were reminded of the time when Ricciardo in the past tagged a French supermarket chain ‘Leclerc’ while addressing Charles Leclerc in a post.
i think he’s joking, he post charles and then tag a supermarket named leclerc, TWICE https://t.co/cjIkXumk97
— mar (@f1beIls) November 11, 2022
Let’s not even talk about him tagging the wrong Leclerc in his photo account.🤣🤣 He tagged some random French company called Leclerc.
— Manon van Bladel (@BladelManon) November 11, 2022
Another user found the mistake relatable.
He’s just like me fr https://t.co/2WjYDBLYeE
— lou 🐛 (@midcedes) November 11, 2022
After a failed 2-year stint with McLaren, Ricciardo decided to take a year off from Formula 1. While multiple teams approached him offering regular and reserve driver roles, he denied racing as a regular in 2023. However, he is still open to a 3rd driver role.
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Speaking ahead of the Brazilian GP, The Race quoted Ricciardo saying, “Fortunately I feel like I’ve done enough to make this case a little unique and cater for it in a way – obviously it has to work on both side – but it has to sit well with me.”
He added, “It’s why I don’t want to just jump on the grid again next year, I don’t want to just to jump into something.” “I want to take this opportunity to make sure I get enough time for myself to feel the way I need to feel about the sport again.”
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What do you think of Daniel’s Instagram post on Valtteri? Was it an honest mistake? Was it friendly banter? Or was it a joke made in bad taste?