Ricciardo statement issued after FIERY clash over F1 exit

A statement has been issued over Daniel Ricciardo following his fiery clash with Jacques Villeneuve over his Formula 1 axe.

The 1997 world champion provoked controversy at the Canadian Grand Prix this year, after he launched into a brutal tirade about the Australian star.

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Villeneuve claimed that the fan favourite racer should not be in F1, and that he only beat former team-mate Sebastian Vettel at Red Bull because the champion was ‘burnt out’.

The comments provoked a fiery reaction from Ricciardo himself, who slammed the Canadian racing driver for his comments and produced a P8 result in the race to silence the doubts.

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Villeneuve addresses Ricciardo F1 career comments

However, Ricciardo was eventually sacked from VCARB for failing to perform in 2024, with Villeneuve addressing the Aussie star's exit for the first time since their fiery clash, providing an insightful statement.

"It never crossed my mind that I wanted to be proven right. It got a lot of reaction, a lot of negative and some positive,” Villeneuve said of his previous comments via Sportscasting.

"It got a lot of people discussing the subject openly. It's not a question of destroying someone but you have to look at reality. I think people realised 'Okay, Jacques has a fair point, let's discuss it in depth' and that happened. That's what I'm happy about.

"My feelings wouldn't be any different if Daniel Ricciardo stayed at Red Bull. I'm not saying 'Oh, I'm happy now he's left F1'. I'm just glad to have brought reality to the fore.

"Daniel still has a great image and a great career, it hasn't done him any damage. It was just a conversation about the racing industry which has got a bit sidetracked about what is important. It was a case of saying what everybody was thinking. It's not about me feeling vindicated about him being out of F1 or not.

"When you do punditry, you just try to talk about what is pertinent. It doesn't mean you're right and it's hard to be neutral, no matter how hard you try. We all have feelings which come out. You want to make sure you give enough food for thought and enough food to make sure discussions happen. That's what I'm glad about."

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