Former F1 champion Jacques Villeneuve has questioned why Australian Daniel Ricciardo is still in F1 and believes his image has finally saved his career in a wild live television rant.
The 34-year-old is desperately clinging to the hope that he can finish his career where it began, with Red Bull, despite the door seemingly being slammed shut when the team renewed Sergio Perez’s contract earlier in the week.
After two years with Renault and another two with McLaren, Ricciardo hoped to return to the leading team with Max Verstappen and had been putting pressure on the Mexican driver in 2023.
Although Pérez has not stood out and is currently fifth in the drivers’ championship in 2024, his four podiums in eight races before the Canadian Grand Prix weekend convinced Red Bull to extend his contract for another two years.
It is a blow for Ricciardo, who is six months older than Perez and now has to fight to keep his seat in the Visa Cash App RB team after a disastrous season.
Former F1 champion Jacques Villeneuve wonders why Daniel Ricciardo is still in F1
Ricciardo currently drives for Visa Cash App RB and is fighting to prolong his career.
Now 1997 F1 world champion Jacques Villeneuve has gone off on the Australian driver, telling him to give up and “go home”.
‘Why are you still in F1? Because?’ Villeneuve was furious with Sky Sports F1.
‘We have been hearing the same thing for four or five years. “We have to improve the car for him.” Sorry, it’s been five years since that. No, you are in F1.
‘Maybe you make that effort for Lewis Hamilton, who won multiple championships. No such effort is made for a driver who cannot do so.
‘If you can’t do it, go home, there is someone else to take your place. That’s how it’s always been in racing, it’s the pinnacle of the sport.
“There is no reason to move on and keep looking for excuses, and you all talk about that first season or the first two seasons, he was beating a Vettel who was burnt out, who was trying to invent things with the car to win and just doing Your weekends are a disaster.
“Then he was beating Verstappen for half a season when Verstappen was 18, just starting out, that was it, he stopped beating anyone after that.”
The door seemingly closed on a fairytale return to Red Bull this week when the team re-signed Sergio Perez.
Ricciardo enjoyed many successes during his first spell with Red Bull, including winning the Monaco GP in 2018.
Ricciardo also enjoyed one of his most famous victories in Italy when driving for McLaren.
Asked if he thinks Ricciardo’s career is overrated, Villeneuve said: “I think his image has kept him in F1 more than his actual results.”
F1 fans were stunned by the harsh balance of Ricciardo’s career, although he is closer to the end than the beginning.
“It doesn’t surprise me and it doesn’t change anything for me,” Ricciardo told Sky F1 of Perez’s new deal.
“Obviously, my goal is that at some point I would love to go back there (at Red Bull). But I also know that my season has not been spectacular. I think I had a spectacular moment in Miami, but otherwise, I have had a bit of ups and downs.
‘And look, I’ve been doing this for quite a while, I know I want to do it better.
“I think already after the first few races, I was very focused on trying to do the most I could here. And through that, maybe I will have the most control over my future.
“So far, yes, I probably haven’t been amazing enough, but equally, I’m happy to be here and to be back in the Red Bull family.”
“So we’ll keep moving forward and yeah, I don’t think that means it’ll never happen.” But we’ll see.’