Jacques Villeneuve questions Daniel Ricciardo’s return to F1, citing his popularity over performance.
1997 World Champion Jacques Villeneuve has directly criticized Daniel Ricciardo, one of the sport’s most popular figures and drivers.
He believes that Ricciardo, an ever-smiling and joyful Australian who revived his career with RB F1 after being dropped by McLaren in 2022, doesn’t deserve a Formula 1 return solely on his merits.
“Ricciardo is purely a product of modern image and social media,” Villeneuve told Betideas.
“You can’t base his lengthy career on results. You just can’t. They don’t compare,” the Canadian added, referring to Ricciardo’s 8 wins as he nears 250 Grand Prix starts.
“It’s incredible. He can thank Netflix and all that sort of stuff. His smile, his demeanor in the paddock in front of the camera. In the end, even against Yuki Tsunoda, he doesn’t perform brilliantly.”
“But he adds value to F1, and that’s why he’s here. There are many drivers who are as fast or even faster than him but don’t have his image. So, might as well choose the one with the image.”
Villeneuve Ricciardo F1 Critique. Villeneuve Ricciardo F1 Critique
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