Jacques Villeneuve Slams Daniel Ricciardo’s “Image” Problem Amidst Dreams of a Red Bull Return

Australia’s favorite driver, Daniel Ricciardo, has been going through a difficult time in his career ever since he left Red Bull. The choice that took everything away from him had him off the grid midseason with McLaren. Christian Horner was the one to take him in as a reserve driver and give him a seat in 2024 on the VCARB team. However, this season, he is being outperformed by Yuki Tsunoda consistently, which takes away the chances of his goal of the Red Bull seat next to Max Verstappen.

Although it was only yesterday that the seat got re-reserved for Sergio Perez until 2026, Ricciardo is not demotivated; rather, he still believes that by the time the seat becomes available again, he will be ready for it. However, this is not what everyone believes. As we headed to the Circuit Gillies Villeneuve in Canada, the son of the driver whose name the track was given had an unpopular opinion about the Aussie. Here is what he had to say about Ricciardo in a recent interview.

The reason why Daniel Ricciardo is in Formula 1

In 2022, Daniel Ricciardo was almost on the verge of falling out of Formula 1. After his performance, McLaren was not happy as he was outperformed by Lando Norris in his second year in Formula 1. Although Ricciardo managed to win a race for the team, he was taken off at the end of the season. Besides that, he, being the more experienced driver, has not managed to show that he is the better driver in the VCARB. This was noticed by Jacques Villeneuve, and this is what he had to say.

Speaking as a guest pundit for Sky Sports F1, Villeneuve commented on Daniel Ricciardo’s seat in the VCARB. Stating the problems the driver has had in his career, the Canadian World Champion asked, “Why is he [Daniel Ricciardo] still in Formula 1? He has had the same problems for 5 years…… there’s no reason to keep making excuses. I think his image rather than results has kept him in Formula 1.”

Now it’s a well-known fact that Daniel Ricciardo is a popular driver because of his personality. That has made him a huge celebrity across the world due to his smile and traditions like the infamous “shoe-y.”

All these traits make him a highly loveable personality among motorsports fans, and that in itself is an asset to F1. However, that’s all of the appeal to Daniel Ricciardo, according to Jacques Villeneuve. While this is not true, Ricciardo is one of the highest-achieving drivers on the grid, being the 10th-highest point scorer in his career.

The eight-time Grand Prix winner is just struggling to find his rhythm in an F1 car. He needs to iron out some creases before he can aim for the Red Bull seat; that’s why it’s a favorable scenario, according to him, that Perez has the seat for 2 years as he can work towards it.

Here’s what Daniel Ricciardo said about Sergio Perez’s contract extension

Ricciardo knows that he is not impressing anyone with his performance so far. He has only had one triumph at Miami, where he scored points for the team in the sprint race, but that is not enough to keep him around. According to TheMercury, the Aussie said, “I want my season to go better than it is, really to help with any opportunities like that.” Here he is referencing the Red Bull seat that Sergio Perez just reclaimed.

He is working on becoming a quicker driver, and the mindset hasn’t changed, Ricciardo says. But after explaining his shortcomings this season and what he wants to prove to himself, the 8 time Grand Prix winner concluded by saying, “Right now, I’m here… I need to do well and get some more points, and I’m happy doing that here. The team is doing a good job to help me out with that, so it’s just up to me.”

VCARB is performing quite well this season, as it’s dominating the midfield. The only competition they have is Aston Martin, and so far, Ricciardo’s missing points are what’s creating the gap.

If Danial Ricciardo wants to remain in Formula 1, he will need to prove himself this season. Liam Lawson is being prepped to join F1, and if he is to join the grid, it will mostly mean Ricciardo moving out. Do you think Ricciardo will do better this season from now on? Let us know if you think he will score points at the Canadian GP in the comments below.