1997 Formula 1 World Champion Jacques Villeneuve has slammed Daniel Ricciardo’s continued presence on the grid and believes his “image” has preserved his spot.
Ricciardo entered 2024 harbouring ambitions to stake a claim to a Red Bull promotion, but those hopes were soon dispelled amid a challenging start to the campaign.
The Australian has trailed the less-experienced Yuki Tsunoda on a consistent basis and has scored 14 fewer points than his RB team-mate in the opening eight races.
But Red Bull boss Christian Horner has continued to back Ricciardo, who appears likely to retain his place with the Faenza-based squad alongside Tsunoda next term.
However, Villeneuve has been scathing in his assessment of Ricciardo’s showings this season and has questioned the excuses being delivered to defend his troubles.
“Why’s he still in F1? Why?” Villeneuve told Sky Sports F1.
“We are hearing the same thing now for the last four or five years. ‘We have to make the car better for him’. Sorry, it’s been five years of that. No, you are in F1.
“Maybe you make that effort for Lewis Hamilton whose won multiple championships. You don’t make that effort for a driver who can’t cut it.
“If you can’t cut it, go home, there’s someone else to take your place. That’s how it’s always been in racing, it’s the pinnacle of the sport.
“There’s no reason to keep going and to keep finding excuses, and you all talk about that first season or first two seasons, he was beating a [Sebastian] Vettel that was burnt out, that was trying to invent things with the car to go win and just making a mess of his weekends.
“Then he was beating for half a season [Max] Verstappen when Verstappen was 18 years old, just starting, that was it, he stopped beating anyone after that.”
Villeneuve has argued that Ricciardo’s popular status being enticing for sponsors has served to ensure he has avoided being dropped rather than his on-track outings.
Asked whether he considered the seven-time race winner’s career to be overrated, Villeneuve added “I think his image has kept him in F1 more than his actual results.”
Ricciardo hasn’t had the chance to respond to the Canadian’s comments, but the RB driver stressed earlier this week that he is optimistic the inherent speed is there.
Meanwhile, Red Bull’s decision to issue Sergio Perez a multi-term extension appeared to have ended Ricciardo’s chances at returning to the drive he vacated in 2018.
However, Ricciardo, who conceded that he has not done enough to earn the step up, is adamant that Perez being tied down through 2026 has not curtailed his hopes.
